# Brand guidelines for AI: rules your assistant can follow

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-guidelines-for-ai)

A style guide written for people relies on taste and context. An AI has neither unless you write them down. Here is how to write rules a model actually follows.

## The short version

- Brand guidelines for AI work best as explicit constraints, such as never use exclamation marks, rather than adjectives such as friendly or premium.
- Exact tokens, meaning hex codes, font names, sizes and contrast minimums, remove the guesswork that makes AI output drift off-brand.
- Paired examples of on-brand and off-brand copy teach a model a voice faster than descriptions of it.
- Guidelines are most reliable when they live inside the tools the AI uses, such as a brand kit a design tool reads before every design.
- Test guidelines by giving the same brief several times and fixing the rules wherever the results disagree.

Good **brand guidelines for AI** read less like a mood board and more like a specification. A person can interpret *warm but premium* from context and taste; a model will interpret it differently every time. So write rules as constraints it can check (*headlines under seven words, never use exclamation marks*), give exact values (*headings in Fraunces, ink #1c1410*), show paired examples of right and wrong, and put the whole thing where your tools read it automatically.

This guide shows how to turn a normal style guide into one an assistant can follow. If you don't have a style guide yet, start with [how to make a brand style guide people actually use](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-style-guide).

## Why ordinary style guides fail with AI

Most brand guidelines are written for designers who already share a lot of context. They lean on adjectives, on visual examples in a PDF, and on the reader's judgement to fill gaps. An AI reads the words literally, has no memory of last month's campaign, and fills gaps with the most common choice, which is the opposite of distinctive.

### Written for people

- Our voice is friendly and professional
- Use our brand colours
- Keep it clean and modern
- Photography should feel authentic
- Be concise

### Written for AI

- Write in second person. Sentences under 20 words. No exclamation marks. Never say amazing or excited.
- Background #1c1410; text #f3e6d4; accent #d98a4a only on one element per design
- One headline per design. Two fonts only. At least 64 px margin on a 1080 px canvas.
- Real product photos only; no stock people; tint photos in brand colours
- Headlines of 7 words or fewer. Detail line of 12 words or fewer.

## What to put in AI brand guidelines

| Section | Write it as | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Who we are | Two sentences of plain fact | A small-batch coffee roaster in Leeds, selling beans and brewing kit online and in one café. |
| Audience | One sentence about real people | Busy professionals who care where their coffee comes from. |
| Voice | Three tone words plus rules | Warm, calm, precise. Second person. No slang. |
| Always | A short list of habits | Name the origin. Give the roast date. |
| Never | A short list of bans | Exclamation marks. Discount language in headlines. Emoji in headlines. |
| Visual tokens | Exact values | Hex codes, font names, logo file for dark and light grounds |
| Layout rules | Numbers, not adjectives | One headline, up to 7 words; margins; logo placement |
| Examples | Pairs of right and wrong | See the voice examples below |

The sections of an AI-readable brand guide. It fits on one page, which is part of why it works.

## Give exact tokens, not descriptions

Tokens are the named values a design system is built from: colours, fonts, sizes. Give them to an AI exactly, with each colour's job, and say which combinations meet contrast requirements. The W3C's guidance sets a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 : 1 for normal text; [colour contrast](https://gradiently.design/guide/color-contrast-accessibility) explains how to check it.

- Ink: text, dark grounds: #1c1410
- Cinnamon: supporting: #6b3b22
- Crema: one accent only: #d98a4a
- Oat: light grounds, light text: #f3e6d4
- Leaf: sparingly: #2f5d50

Colours written as tokens with a job each. "Crema: one accent only" is a rule a model can follow; "use orange sparingly" is not.

```text
BRAND: Crumb Coffee
FONTS: headings Fraunces 600; body Inter 400. No other fonts.
COLOURS: ink #1c1410 | oat #f3e6d4 | accent #d98a4a (one element per design)
CONTRAST: text must reach 4.5:1 against what is behind it.
LOGO: light logo on dark grounds, dark logo on light grounds. Bottom left.
HEADLINES: 7 words or fewer. Sentence case. End with a full stop.
VOICE: warm, calm, precise. Second person. Never: amazing, excited, exclamation marks
FACTS: use only details given in the brief. Never invent dates or prices.
```

A compact brand block you can paste at the start of any AI conversation, or keep in your assistant's custom instructions.

## Teach the voice with examples

Models learn style from examples faster than from descriptions. Three or four pairs of *this, not that* do more than a paragraph about tone. Pick examples from the kind of copy you actually need: headlines, captions, calls to action.

- **This:** *Roasted Tuesday. In your cup by Friday.* **Not:** *Freshly roasted coffee delivered super fast, with love*
- **This:** *Meet our darkest roast.* **Not:** *We're so excited to introduce our amazing new dark roast*
- **This:** *Brew guide: pour-over in four steps.* **Not:** *Unleash your inner barista with our ultimate guide*

[Brand voice](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-voice-and-visuals) covers how to decide the voice in the first place, and [writing copy for visuals](https://gradiently.design/guide/writing-copy-for-visuals) covers the short lines that go on designs.

## Put the guidelines inside your tools

Pasting guidelines into every conversation works, but it relies on remembering. Better is to store them where the tool reads them automatically. In Gradiently, the brand kit holds your logos, colours, fonts and voice, including **Always** and **Never** lists, and the Designer reads it before every design; an assistant connected over MCP can read the same brand profile. [Setting up your brand kit](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-kit-setup) shows each field.

A portrait post with a short on-brand headline about freshly roasted coffee on a warm living gradient

Following the rules: one headline, sentence case, no exclamation marks.

The same headline as a vertical story on the same Mark

The same rules produce the same brand at another size.

## How to test AI brand guidelines

1. **Give the same brief five times** Run one realistic brief repeatedly and lay the results side by side.
2. **Find where they disagree** Differences in tone, colour use or layout show where a rule is missing or vague.
3. **Turn each disagreement into a rule** If two results used the accent colour differently, write down exactly how it is used.
4. **Check the bans** Search the outputs for the words and marks you banned. If they appear, move the ban higher and make it more explicit.
5. **Re-test after every change** Keep the guidelines versioned, so you know which change fixed what.

## FAQ

### How do I write brand guidelines for AI?

Write rules as explicit constraints with numbers, give exact tokens such as hex codes and font names, include paired examples of right and wrong copy, and store the guidelines where your tools read them.

### Why does AI ignore my brand guidelines?

Usually because the guidelines use adjectives a model can interpret many ways, or because they aren't loaded into the tool at all. Replace adjectives with checkable rules.

### What should an AI brand guide include?

Who you are, the audience, three tone words with rules, Always and Never lists, exact visual tokens, layout rules with numbers, and examples.

### How long should AI brand guidelines be?

About one page. Short, explicit rules are followed more reliably than a long document.