Pixels To Print: Your Guide To Brand Guidelines

April 11, 2019

Brand Guidelines (also referred to as Brand Style Guide or Standards Manual) are the set of rules that define your brand identity. This rule book contains key information for those seeking how to properly use your brand by explaining in detail what is acceptable and what should never happen. Additionally, it is for anyone who needs instruction on how to use your brand – from your graphic designer to your accounting department. Having these rules defined is important for brand consistency across all channels where your brand will appear.

 How to Start: Coming up with a whole set of rules can seem like a large task, but taking it one step at a time will make the process easier. When complete, you’ll have answers to any questions someone may have about your brand.
Start by having your logo design completed. Using that as a reference, you can select a color palette and fonts that go along with your logo. From there, the rest will fall into place.


Topics that should be covered in brand guidelines:
  • Logos – variations, usage, clear space
  • Color Palette – Primary colors, Secondary colors, & conversions for Pantone, CMYK, RGB, HEX values
  • Typography – Primary typefaces, web safe typefaces, & formatting for headlines, body copy, etc. (such as size, leading, kerning, alignment, etc.)
Optional Topics:
  • Imagery & icons
  • Tone & personality
  • Core Values, mission statement, & messaging
  • Design examples – such as stationery templates, email signatures, and more
  • And anything else brand related such as trademarks you have, or how words should be spelled, what words to avoid, tradeshow overviews, and more. Basically, if you want something a particular way for your brand, write it down

How do I create them?
  • A PowerPoint or Word file
  • Have your marketing team design a branded PDF
  • Consider a hard-copy print to refer to
  • A dedicated web page for anyone to access and download assets
When do I use them?
  • Refer to them when designing new brand assets
  • Share when working with a designer or printer
  • Educating a new employee
  • Your guide should be a living document that should always be updated or added on to
At NorthPoint, we keep a copy of your brand guidelines on file if we need to refer to logos, colors, fonts and other brand rules so we are sure to keep your brand consistent and honor your brand integrity. Be sure to send updated guidelines whenever you have an update.

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