Visual brand identities? Yes please, My cup of tea. I find it a fantastic challenge to design individual graphic elements that all together form a perfect harmony. How to stay consistent within your house style is described in a brandbook.
WHAT IS A BRANDBOOK?
A Brand Book is essentially a set of rules that explain how your brand works. These brand rules should be flexible enough to be creative, but rigid enough to keep your brand easily recognizable and stylistically consistent.
WHY DO I NEED A BRANDBOOK?
By developing a Brand Book in conjunction with your logo, you can help to ensure that all of your customer touch-points (advertising, social media, website, campaign, events) are carried out in a high-impact, consistent manner. Choose if you want to add more detailed information.
Your finished Brand Book is a user-friendly PDF document that can be conveniently provided to any contact that needs to better
understand your brand.
Some businesses also include their brand guidelines on their website or via an online link that is only accessible to those
designated to view them.
However, to make sure all your bases are covered, you may choose to develop with a more detailed Brand Book that also includes:
- Photography style
- Supporting graphic elements
- Design layouts and grids
- Social media profile page applications
- Website layout
- Signage specifications
- Advertising treatments
- Merchandising applications
- Tone of voice
- Editorial guidelines
A Brand book can have many different shapes and forms. The most basic Brand Book covers this information:
- An overview of your brand’s history, vision, personality and key values.
- Logo set-up specifications — including tagline usage
- Visual examples of your correct and incorrect logo treatments
- Your chosen color palette
- Your chosen type style(s)
- Business card and letterhead design