Brand guidelines: what to include and why they matter

Edara Akpan · Sep 22, 2026 · 3 min read

Brand guidelines are the instruction manual for your identity. Without them, every new designer, printer, freelancer and team member makes small guesses, and those guesses add up to a brand that looks different everywhere.

They do not need to be long. A clear ten-page guide that people actually open beats a sixty-page document that sits in a folder.

What to include

1. Brand overview

A short statement of who the brand is for, what it stands for and the personality words that guide decisions. This is the reason behind every other rule, and it comes from the work described in five brand strategy questions.

2. Logo

Every version and when to use it, the clear space around it, the minimum size, and a few examples of what not to do, such as stretching, recolouring or adding effects.

3. Colour

Each colour with its role, plus its values for screen (HEX and RGB) and for print (CMYK, and Pantone if you use it). Include rough proportions and the approved text and background pairs (see the contrast guide).

4. Typography

The heading and body fonts, where to get them, how sizes and weights work together, and a fallback font for documents and emails where your main font is not available.

5. Imagery and graphic elements

Your photo style, illustration style, icons, patterns and shapes. Show a few examples that fit and a few that miss.

6. Voice and tone

How the brand sounds, in three or four traits, with short examples of copy that is on voice and copy that is not.

7. Applications

How everything comes together on the things you use most: social media posts, website sections, business cards, packaging, presentations and email signatures.

8. Files and contacts

Where to download logos and templates, and who to ask when something is unclear. The files you hand over alongside the guide are covered in logo file formats explained.

How long should they be?

Match the guide to your size. A solo founder may need one or two pages: logo rules, colours, fonts and a few examples. A growing business with a team, freelancers and several channels needs more. Start small and add sections as real questions come up.

Format and upkeep

• A PDF plus a shared folder: a document to read and a set of ready-to-use files
• A version number and date on the cover: so people know they have the latest
• Updates when things change: a guide that no longer matches reality gets ignored

Write for the people who use it

Your readers are printers, freelancers, social media managers and new hires. Skip jargon, show examples and put the most-used rules first. If someone has to ask you a question that the guide should answer, add the answer to the guide.

Signs your guidelines are working

• A freelancer can create an on-brand flyer without calling you
• Printers get the colour right the first time
• Your website, social profiles and packaging look like one brand
• New team members use the right fonts and logo on day one

Guidelines are the last stage of an identity project, and they are what make the earlier work last. If you want the full picture, read how a brand identity project works, step by step.