Brand guidelines template: what to include, section by section

A good brand guidelines template has ten sections in this order: introduction, logo, colour, typography, backgrounds and imagery, layout, voice, applications, templates, and files and contacts. Fill each one with short rules and a visual example of each, and keep the whole thing to a length people will actually open. Below is the template to copy, then what belongs in every section.

If you want the thinking behind guidelines, what to leave out and how to keep them alive, read how to make a brand style guide first. This page is the practical skeleton.

The brand guidelines template

BRAND GUIDELINES: [Brand name]   Version [1.0], [Month Year]

1. Introduction
   Who we are (one sentence)
   Who we serve (one sentence)
   How we want to feel (three words)

2. Logo
   Primary logo, horizontal, stacked, icon, one colour
   Clear space and minimum size
   Do / don't examples (at least four)

3. Colour
   Primary, secondary and accent colours
   HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone for each
   Proportions (for example 60 / 30 / 10)
   Approved text and background pairings

4. Typography
   Heading face, body face, weights
   Type scale with sizes
   Where to download the fonts

5. Backgrounds and imagery
   Our backgrounds and when to use each
   Photography style, with examples
   Icons and illustration

6. Layout
   Margins, grid, logo position
   Where words sit on a design

7. Voice
   Personality in three words
   We say / we don't say
   Sample headlines and captions

8. Applications
   Social post, story, email, slide, business card

9. Templates
   Links to every template, by format

10. Files and contacts
   Where the logo and font files live
   Who approves new work

What to include in each section

1. Introduction

Keep it to a page. One sentence on what you do, one on who it's for, and three words for how the brand should feel. Those three words are the test for every decision that follows, so choose them carefully. Your brand archetype can help.

2. Logo

Show each logo variation on its own, then on light and dark backgrounds. State the clear space as a measurement taken from the logo itself, such as the height of a capital letter, and give a minimum size for screen and print. Finish with misuse examples: stretched, recoloured, outlined, placed on a busy photo.

3. Colour

Name each colour, give its codes, and say how much of each to use. The proportions matter more than people think: a brand that is mostly cream with a little forest green looks completely different from one that is mostly green.

Add a short list of approved pairings, such as ink on cream and cream on forest, and check each one meets colour contrast guidelines for text.

4. Typography

Name the heading and body faces, the weights you use, and a simple scale: headline, subhead, body, caption, with sizes. Link to where the fonts can be downloaded or licensed. A typography system goes deeper if you need one.

5. Backgrounds and imagery

This is the section most templates forget, and it covers most of what people see. Show the backgrounds you use, when each is right, and where words may sit on them. Then show three or four photos that capture your style and three that don't.

6 to 10. Layout, voice, applications, templates, contacts

Layout is margins, logo position and where text goes. Voice is three traits and a table of phrases you use and avoid; brand voice has examples. Applications are finished designs in real formats. Templates are links. Contacts are one name and an email address.

How to write rules people follow

A useful test: could someone new follow the rule without asking you a question? If not, add a measurement, an example or both.

Turning the template into a working kit

A guidelines document describes the brand; a kit is what people design with. In Gradiently, the brand kit holds the same core sections, name and description, logos, colour palettes, heading and body fonts, voice, audience and what the brand does, and it can read your website to fill in the basics. The Designer writes in the kit's voice and applies it when it lays out a design, so the guidelines are followed by default rather than by memory. Brand kit setup shows how to fill it in, and brand guidelines for AI covers writing rules an assistant can follow.