The short version
- A brand style guide is a short document of rules that tells anyone how to apply a brand's logo, colours, type, backgrounds, imagery and voice.
- Guides get used when they are written as specific rules with examples, not as descriptions of how the brand should feel.
- Most small brands only need a one-page guide covering positioning, voice, logo, colours with proportions, type, background and a few do and don't examples.
- Every rule is easier to follow when it is shown next to a correct and an incorrect example.
- A style guide stays alive when one person owns it, it carries a date, and its rules are built into the templates people already use.
On this page
A brand style guide is a short set of rules that lets anyone, from a new hire to a freelancer to an AI assistant, make something that looks and sounds like your brand. The ones people actually use share three traits: they are short, they are written as specific rules rather than descriptions, and every rule is shown with an example. For most small brands, one well-made page does more than a fifty-page PDF nobody opens.
A style guide is the written half of your identity; the brand kit is the files. You need both, and they should point at each other.
What to include in a brand style guide
| Section | One-page guide | Full guide adds |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | One sentence: what you do and for whom | Audience notes, key messages |
| Voice | Three words, two example sentences | Word list, words to avoid, tone by channel |
| Logo | Main and one-colour version, minimum size, clear space | Lock-ups, co-branding, misuse examples |
| Colour | Hex codes with names, jobs and shares | RGB, CMYK, accessible text pairings |
| Type | Headline and body fonts with sizes | Full type scale, web and fallback fonts |
| Background | The signature ground and its flat fallback | Variations by format, texture rules |
| Imagery | Three example images and one sentence | Photo treatment, illustration rules |
| Do and don't | Four to six pairs | One pair per section |
What to leave out
- Long brand stories and founder essays. They belong on your About page, not in a working document.
- Values written as single words like "innovation" and "quality". Nobody can apply them.
- Every possible tint of every colour. List the ones you actually use.
- Pages of logo misuse that nobody would ever do. Show the two or three mistakes people really make.
- Rules you won't enforce. Each rule you ignore teaches people the whole guide is optional.
Write rules, not descriptions
The most common failure in style guides is description where there should be instruction. "Our palette is vibrant and optimistic" tells a designer nothing. "Coral is for buttons and prices only" tells them exactly what to do. Every line in your guide should be something a person could check a design against.
Description (unusable)
- Our colours are bold and energetic
- Our typography is modern and clean
- We use lots of white space
- Our voice is friendly but professional
- Photos should feel authentic
Rule (usable)
- Night blue covers about 60% of every design; coral is for buttons and prices only
- Headlines in the display face at 64 px or larger; body at 16 px, never bold
- Keep a margin of at least 8% of the width on every side
- Use contractions, short sentences and no exclamation marks
- Natural light only, people mid-task, no posed smiles at camera
A one-page brand style guide example
Here is a complete one-page guide for a made-up bakery. It fits on a single screen and answers most of the questions a freelancer would ask.
CORNER LOAF: BRAND STYLE GUIDE (v1.2, updated October 2026, owner: Sam)
WHO WE ARE
The neighbourhood bakery that bakes overnight in small batches.
VOICE: warm, unhurried, honest
Yes: "Rye's back tomorrow. We made forty."
No: "Don't miss our AMAZING new rye!!!"
COLOUR (share, job)
Night blue #0e1424 60% backgrounds
Flour #f3e6d0 30% text and panels
Oven glow #e0823d 10% times, prices, buttons only
TYPE
Headlines: condensed sans, 64 px and up, sentence case
Body: humanist sans, 16 to 18 px, regular weight
BACKGROUND
Signature: oven glow rising from the bottom of night blue
Fallback (small sizes, one-colour print): flat night blue
LOGO
Wordmark only. Minimum width 96 px. Clear space = height of the C.
DON'T
Put text over the glow. Use cream backgrounds. Add a second accent.Show every rule with an example
People skim guides and look at pictures. Put a correct and an incorrect example next to each important rule, ideally using real formats from your own feed. The rule below is one every gradient or photo brand needs: where the words sit.
Incorrect: the headline runs over the busiest, brightest part of the background.
Correct: the calmest, darkest area sits behind the words.
Colours need the same treatment. List each one with its name, code, job and share, and include the text pairings that pass colour contrast checks so nobody has to test them again.
How to keep a style guide alive
- 1
Give it one owner
One named person approves changes and answers questions. A guide owned by everyone is updated by no one.
- 2
Date and version it
Put the version and date at the top so people know they have the current one.
- 3
Build the rules into templates
The best rule is one people can't break by accident. Templates with the right ground, type and logo position enforce the guide silently. See brand consistency.
- 4
Keep it where people work
Pin it in your design tool, shared drive and team chat. If people have to search for it, they won't.
- 5
Write a version for AI
Assistants follow clear, literal rules well. Brand guidelines your AI can follow shows how to adapt the page.
- 6
Review it every quarter
Delete rules nobody follows, and add the questions people asked twice.
In Gradiently, the brand kit holds your logos, colours and fonts beside every design, and your Mark carries the signature background, so most of the rules in a one-page guide are already applied when someone opens a template.
Questions people ask
What should a brand style guide include?
At minimum: positioning, voice, logo rules, colours with hex codes and shares, fonts with sizes, the signature background and fallback, imagery guidance and a few do and don't examples.
How long should a brand style guide be?
As short as it can be while still answering real questions. For most small brands one page is enough; add sections only when the same question comes up twice.
What is the difference between a brand style guide and a brand kit?
The style guide is the rules. The brand kit is the files: logos, fonts, colour codes, backgrounds and templates. Each should link to the other.
How do I make people follow brand guidelines?
Write specific rules with examples, give the guide one owner, and build the rules into templates so the correct choice is the easy one.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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