You’ve got a logo, a couple of colours you like and a font you picked once for a flyer. Then the sign writer asks for your exact green, the printer wants a vector file and someone helping with Instagram is using a font you’ve never seen. A simple brand style guide stops all that guessing.
It doesn’t need to be a glossy booklet. For most small businesses, a few clear pages are plenty. Here’s what to put in one and how to use it.
What a brand style guide actually is
It’s a short reference that records how your brand looks and sounds. Anyone who makes something for your business, from a web designer to the person printing your uniforms, can follow it and get the same result.
Think of it as the instructions that come with your logo. The logo is the part people see. The guide explains how to use it properly.
The logo section
Start with the logo itself, and include every version you have:
- Main logo: the full version you use most often.
- Simplified or stacked version: for tight spaces like a social media profile picture or a website header on a phone.
- Reversed version: white or light, for dark backgrounds and photos.
- Single-colour version: for embroidery, stamps and some signage.
Then add a few simple rules. Leave clear space around the logo so it isn’t crowded. Set a minimum size so it stays readable. And list the things not to do: don’t stretch it, don’t change the colours, don’t add shadows or outlines.
File formats to keep on hand
Note which file to use where. SVG suits websites because it stays sharp at any size. EPS is what printers and sign makers usually ask for. PNG with a transparent background works over photos, and JPEG is fine for emails and documents. Our logo design and branding service supplies all four as standard.
Colours and fonts
Write down the exact colour codes
“Dark blue” means something different to everyone. Your guide should list each brand colour with its codes, so it comes out the same on screen and in print:
- HEX (a code like #1A4D7A) for websites and social media.
- RGB for other on-screen use.
- CMYK for printed items like business cards and brochures.
- Pantone, if your printer or sign maker works with spot colours.
Most businesses only need two or three main colours, plus a neutral or two for backgrounds and text. Mark which one is the main colour and which ones are accents. That helps a designer decide what goes on a button and what sits in the background.
It also pays to check readability. A pale yellow can look lovely in a logo but be very hard to read as text on white. Note which colour pairs work together for text, and which don’t.
Choose your fonts and how to use them
Pick one font for headings and one for body text. Two is usually enough. Any more and things start to look busy.
For each font, record:
- the name, and where to get it;
- which weights to use, such as regular and bold;
- a back-up font for when the main one isn’t available, like in an email signature or a Word document.
Choose fonts that work on screens as well as paper. Some fonts look elegant on a business card but turn thin and hard to read on a phone. If your website will use the same fonts, check they’re licensed for web use too.
Photos, graphics and tone of voice
A good brand style guide covers more than the logo. A short section on images helps everything feel connected. Maybe you use bright, natural photos of real people, or clean product shots on a white background. Write a sentence or two describing the style, and include a few examples.
Real photos of your team and premises make this much easier, because you have a consistent set to draw from. That’s one reason we suggest brand photography over stock images. There’s more on that in our article on real photos versus stock photos.
Add a few lines about how you sound, too. Friendly and casual, or calm and professional? A handful of example phrases helps anyone writing a social post or a quote on your behalf.
Doing it yourself vs getting help
If you already have a well-made logo and a clear idea of your colours, you can put together a basic guide yourself in a shared document. List your logo files, colour codes and fonts, and you’re most of the way there. For a side project or a business that’s just starting out, that’s a perfectly sensible place to begin.
It gets harder when the pieces don’t exist yet, or they don’t quite work together. Maybe your logo only exists as a low-resolution JPEG. Maybe the colours look different on every printout. That’s when it helps to have a designer make the decisions properly and document them in one go.
At Inversit, logo design starts from $395 + GST and includes 2 to 3 custom concepts, two rounds of revisions and final PNG, JPEG, SVG and EPS files. If you want the bigger picture pulled together, our brand identity kit is $795 + GST. We’ll talk you through what’s included in a free consultation, and you’ll get a clear written quote before any work starts.
Because Bella designs the brand and Carrie builds the websites, both in the same Lismore office, your guide flows straight into your website. Your colours become your buttons and headings, and your fonts are set up properly from the first page.
Keeping your brand style guide useful
A guide only helps if people actually use it. A few simple habits make a difference:
- Save it with your logo files in one shared folder, so they’re always together.
- Send it to every new supplier: printers, sign writers, uniform suppliers and anyone helping with social media.
- Update it when something changes, like a new tagline or an extra colour.
If you plan to protect your logo as well, IP Australia’s trade mark information explains how registration works.
Want help pulling your brand together?
If your logo, colours and fonts feel a bit scattered, we’re happy to take a look. Book a free consultation and we’ll give you honest, plain-English advice on what you have and what’s missing. Call us on 02 6610 9202, Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm.
