Brand guidelines: what to include (with template)
Eight sections, one copyable template, and how to keep the rules short enough that people use them.
Brand guidelines are the rules that keep your logo, colors, fonts and words the same everywhere. Without them, every designer and every freelancer guesses, and your brand drifts. Here is what to include, with a template you can copy.
The eight sections of brand guidelines
Who we are. One paragraph on what you do and who for.
Logo. The versions, the clear space, the smallest size, and what not to do.
Color. Hex codes, which one leads, and which text and background pairs are allowed.
Type. Two fonts, their sizes and their licences.
Imagery. What a good image looks like, and what a bad one looks like.
Voice and tone. How you sound, and how that shifts by situation.
Layout and templates. The grids and files people start from.
Owner and files. Who keeps the rules and where the files live.
Keep each section short. If nobody reads it, it does not work.
Copy this brand guidelines template
BRAND GUIDELINES: [brand name]
Owner: [name]. Last updated: [date].
1. WHO WE ARE
[One paragraph: what we do, who it is for, our one promise.]
2. LOGO
Versions: [primary / stacked / icon / one-color / reversed]
Clear space: [rule]. Smallest size: [px or mm].
Never: [stretch it / recolor it / add effects].
3. COLOR
Main: [hex]. Ink: [hex]. Paper: [hex]. Accent: [hex].
Approved text pairs: [hex on hex = ratio to 1].
4. TYPE
Headlines: [font, weight]. Body: [font, weight].
Licence: [type]. Checked on [date].
5. IMAGERY
Good: [style in one line]. Bad: [style in one line].
6. VOICE AND TONE
Voice in three words: [word, word, word].
Words we use: [list]. Words we never use: [list].
Tone by situation: [error message / launch / apology].
7. LAYOUT AND TEMPLATES
Start from: [file names and where to find them].
8. FILES
Folder: [link]. Ask [name] before changing a rule.Write voice and tone as two things
Mailchimp's content style guide splits them. Voice is the consistent personality of the brand. Tone shifts with the situation and the reader's mood. See its voice and tone page.
Do the same. Pick three words for your voice, ten words you use and ten you cut. Then add one line of tone guidance for each situation, such as an error message, a launch and an apology. Our brand brain builder turns these answers into a document you can paste into an AI tool. The post on building a brand brain for AI shows how.
Make the color rules testable
Give hex codes, then list the text and background pairs that are allowed, with their ratio. WCAG 2.2, contrast minimum asks for 4.5 to 1 for normal text and 3 to 1 for large text at level AA. Check each pair with our color palette and contrast tools and write the result next to it.
Why consistent rules matter
The Nielsen Norman Group lists "consistency and standards" as a core usability heuristic (published 24 April 1994, last reviewed 30 January 2024). It says people should not have to guess whether different wording or actions mean the same thing. The same logic applies to brand. If your posts, ads and emails look and sound different, people have to guess that they come from one company.
Not sure how consistent you are today? Our brand consistency quiz scores twelve habits in two minutes.
Keep the guidelines alive
Name one owner. Put a date at the top. Review them when something changes, such as a new product, a new font or a new channel. Share the file where designers already work.
When we ship work, you own it, source files included. Want a designer who follows your guidelines from the first request? Book a call.
Five mistakes that make guidelines fail
They are too long. People stop reading.
They show only good examples. Add a "never" example for each rule.
They have no owner, so they go stale.
They live in a file nobody can find.
They give taste, not tests. "Friendly" is a taste. "No exclamation marks" is a test.
A short worked example
Here is a filled-in section for a made-up brand, a small coffee roaster. It shows how specific a rule can be.
VOICE AND TONE: Northfield Coffee
Voice in three words: direct, warm, dry.
Words we use: fresh, small batch, roasted this week.
Words we never use: premium, artisanal, handcrafted.
Tone by situation:
- Late order: apologize in one sentence, give the new date.
- New roast: short and a little proud.
- Complaint: calm, plain and quick.Notice that each line can be checked. A freelancer can read it and write something that fits.
What we could not verify
The eight sections and the template are our own structure, not a standard. The Mailchimp page is dated 2023 in its footer. We describe it, not the whole guide.
