Agree that the company’s charter is an obvious thing, but the need to develop a guideline or brand book raises questions among many. In fact, these are the same integral documents of the company that regulate its activities and relationships with other organizations and clients.
Many people don’t make brand books and guidelines at all, and those who do often confuse these two concepts with each other. In this article we will tell you how they differ, and why it is so important to call a spade a spade.
Guideline – a guide to the use of visual elements of a corporate identity.
This is a purely technical document of an open type, intended for designers, printers and advertisers. It contains a detailed description of the elements of corporate identity (logo, fonts, colors, style-forming elements), as well as the rules for their use (location of objects, color schemes, logo security field, etc.). The extended version can demonstrate the principles of designing business documentation, souvenirs and other materials that promote the brand. The guideline is mandatory for a company that needs to create advertising materials and other visual communications with its clients.
1. Show, don't tell. Make the reader a participant. Text style is key. Keep the text short and easy to understand. Depending on the company, you can use humor here and there - this will bring lightness and creativity. Remember that people will read it.
2. The rules should be flexible enough so as not to kill the designer’s creativity, but clear enough so that the brand remains recognizable. There are situations when the rules can be “bent”, but in no case can they be “broken”. Consistency is also very important, especially if the brand will be represented on different media.
3. Help designers get started. Make a Toolkit. This can be a single page with an overview of your brand, which includes identity, colors, typography, images and other visuals. Make all branding elements available for download from your website or provide them on disk as an attachment.
Brand book is a description of a brand’s values and how to convey them to consumers.
This is a document for internal use, which records the company’s DNA: mission, values and much more. It is also important to write down in the brand book the fundamental principles of identity, which must be preserved even in the event of rebranding. The brand book is a kind of company bible, where top managers and other employees should look to check if they are on track. It simplifies strategic decision making, communication with customers, stimulates sales growth and brand awareness. Brand books are made either by experienced internal employees or by professional branding agencies after a thorough audit.
The brand book should cover such issues as: mission, philosophy, values and principles of the company, target market and audience, key channels and methods of communication with customers, brand identifiers.
1. Since this document is intended only for your employees, try to captivate them with the idea and infect them with the company’s philosophy.
2. The brand book records the values, principles, and ideology of the company. It cannot be a dry instruction, which is what a guideline is.
3. When working on a brand book, you need to take into account that this document will be the backbone of the company for decades. It outlines the general vector of development. All creativity, unique offers and fluctuations in the market should subsequently fit harmoniously into the overall strategy.
Photo by Mark Stanjo
It’s interesting that both in Russia and in the rest of the world, the concepts of guideline and brand book are constantly confused. There are very common cases when advertising agencies receive an order for a brand book, but they create a guideline, because there is no word about any mission, but 150 examples of prohibited use of the logo and fonts. Or they write down both the values and the design rules in one beautiful thick book. And customers are not particularly picky.
At first glance, there is nothing criminal in such a mixture. But think about how prepared you are for your competitors to become aware of your company’s internal principles and guidelines? Therefore, the design, i.e., the guideline, is separate, and the mission and principles, i.e., the brand book, are separate. This will be correct and convenient for everyone.
Mtrading brand book
This brand book displays the values, target audience, mission, etc. In general, everything that should be here.
The Cisco brand book
Less about the company, more about the elements of corporate identity.
Ford brand book
The target audience and consumers are well shown
VX guideline
Skype guideline
We have collected several layouts and templates that will greatly facilitate the designer’s work. All that remains to be done is to fill in the required fields with visual information.
Each organization has its own corporate style. It allows stand out among competitors, expresses the image of the company, associates and defines positions and views. This is a set of elements that reflect the company: logo, advertising posters, billboards - all graphic and style-forming elements. This is how customers recognize the brand.
To simplify, unify and regulate the corporate style, a brand book and guideline are used. They regulate the integrity of the image, establish rules for the design of the brand, logo, posters, billboards, signs and other elements.
The main thing is to understand these concepts, determine why each of them is needed, whether it is needed at all, and how a brand book differs from a guideline.
A guideline is a set of rules and principles for using a company’s corporate identity. A guide with the help of which a unified external and internal image is built. This document is mainly used by designers, layout specialists and other specialized employees.
Guideline contains standards, instructions, rules on the application, use, design of visual elements of corporate style, rules for placement on various media. How, where and in what form the logo will be placed, the colors used, development of advertising products. The guideline often serves as the basis for the design and development of uniforms, printed materials, souvenirs, points of sale and service.
Brand book is a document describing mission, goals and principles of the company, ideology and philosophy brand. It serves as a guide to brand management and is used by managers and marketing departments. It describes the means by which a brand is formed, methods of promotion, channels of communication with clients, partners, and competitors.
The brand book reflects the rules for the formation of corporate style elements, brand media, their use and design. These objects are permanent and can be clearly defined in the document: logo, fonts, company colors and other elements that form the company’s style. Does it look like a guideline? Right. This is how they are similar. What is the difference between a brand book and a guideline? The second can be part of the first or be an independent document.
A brand guide is a necessary and important thing for effective work in the market. In fact, a brand book is the main assistant in promoting a brand and maintaining its position in the market, and the guideline is an example of the design of all brand attributes.
— if the organization is large, has many channels of communication with partners, clients, and competitors. Consequently, such a company has an impressive staff of employees who will benefit from a manual with written brand features. This will be a cheat sheet for your work and will allow you to clearly adhere to a single corporate style.
- if the company has offices, retail outlets, branches. It is difficult to regulate work when everyone is in different regions. A set of rules and instructions for the design and use of brands will be a great help here.
- if the company cooperates with third parties. In order to correctly formulate the necessary requirements for the provision of services by marketing or design companies, it is convenient to use a single document containing a clear description of the rules and principles of corporate identity.
Thus, it is clear that it is very convenient to work with a single, clear and beautifully designed instruction in the image of the company. Having approved it once, you can use it for a long time without asking unnecessary questions.
So, it is obvious that a company stands out from its competitors if it has a corporate identity that emphasizes its significance and uniqueness. Therefore, it must be clearly defined and formalized. You never know how it will get lost or forgotten. Guideline and brand book help to consolidate differences companies, present them beautifully.
However, these are completely different documents. The brand book serves as a strategic tool, serves as promotion of the brand, and the guideline is a technical book, an example of the use of corporate style media. Of course, they can be combined into one, but it’s worth thinking about whether it’s necessary.
One thing is obvious - corporate identity needs beautiful packaging and clear presentation.
There is not much information in the public domain about the principles and stages of guideline development. For some reason this information is kept secret. However, we at CASTCOM believe that everyone should have the freedom to choose whether to create a guideline themselves or entrust this work to a contractor.
That's why we'll cover the basic principles that will help you develop this extremely useful information product.
But it is usually divided into chapters describing:
It also helps if the rules are not too strict. It is advisable to leave a little space for the implementation of creative ideas of designers. This approach also extends the life of the guideline.
But even if you already use a corporate style, you can create a detailed guideline based on it. However, a slightly greater level of your involvement in the process will be required. The fact is that the specialists responsible for the development of this set of rules will ask questions, request source files of certain elements, etc.
Otherwise, there are practically no differences in the stages of guideline development. At CASTCOM, for example, we work according to the following scheme:
Please note that the guideline in any case is created after the corporate style has been formed. The principle works here: “first create a product, and then describe and systematize it.”
Many, for example, use several dozen pages to describe the principles of drawing a logo. It seems to be useful. But are you sure that your marketers or contractors will draw it from scratch, instead of just using a ready-made vector file? Most likely, this will not happen. But excessive information can confuse guideline users.
On the other hand, when trying to meet tight deadlines or limited budgets, contractors or in-house employees save time on brand identity research. As a result, the guideline turns out to be very stingy. At best, there will be a few examples described there. Having studied all the information presented in such a guideline, a new marketer will not be able to create anything new that complies with the rules.
Ensure that those in charge maintain a balanced guideline. Only this kind of work will be useful.
If you decide to entrust the development of the guideline to internal specialists, you will not have to enter into any contracts. However, the workload on in-house designers, analysts, marketers and editors will temporarily increase. Their main affairs will fade into the background, because they will be busy with an important common cause.
By entrusting this task to a company that specializes in guidelines, design and corporate identity, you receive a guarantee of quality results. At the same time, your key employees are distracted from the main tasks only when they participate in the coordination of intermediate and final results.
The concept of “branding” appeared relatively recently – at the end of the 19th century. It was at that time that many consumer goods appeared and companies competing in the market needed to develop a concept for the appearance of their products. This helped the product, designed in accordance with the manufacturer's rules, to stand out on the store shelf. In addition, branding increased the percentage of company recognition. And if she began to promote a new product to the market, then it was packaged in the same way as the manufacturer’s other products. Information about the company’s field of activity and its identity requirements needed to be somehow systematized - this is how the first corporate documents appeared, which would eventually turn into brand books and guidelines.
At first, the brand book and guideline were one and the same. However, over time, companies, especially large ones, were faced with the fact that their brand books became very voluminous and the employees for whom this document was intended began to poorly assimilate information about the company’s mission and its corporate identity. With the advent of national and transnational corporations, the importance of branding information has greatly increased, therefore, everything that was related to the mission, ideology, principles and values of the company needed to be highlighted in a separate document. This is how brand books appeared. They described the company's development prospects, its philosophy, basic ideas - that is, the development vector for many years to come.
Brand book is a document for internal use. This is something like a charter with rules of conduct common to all employees of the company. At the same time, the main task of the brand book is to motivate staff to work more efficiently and help contribute to the development of the company with their work. This is by no means a “dry” document with many boring paragraphs; on the contrary, any brand book is carefully thought out calls to action and a description of the wonderful future that awaits both the company’s employees and the brand itself.
Many people confuse brand books and guidelines. What is most surprising is that they are often confused by specialists who are directly related to advertising and brand promotion. So what is the difference between a brand book and a guideline?
Unlike a brand book, which is an internal document, a guideline is a passport of standards that describes everything that is related to the company’s corporate identity. This is a logo, a sign, primary colors, ways of placing the identity on various media, etc. When a company decides to create or change its corporate identity, it turns to an advertising agency. After the corporate identity is created, the customer receives a document that describes how to correctly use all the elements of the identity. This is the guideline. The guideline also necessarily contains examples of inappropriate use of brand identifiers.
Guidelines for large corporations can be hundreds of pages long. This is due to the fact that large brands are developing in several directions at once and it is necessary for each of them to create their own style, which is fully consistent with the main style of the company.
The guideline significantly facilitates the interaction of a brand with advertising agencies. It is enough to describe only the concept of the advertising campaign and provide the designers with a guideline. At the same time, you can be sure that all identity placed on physical (as well as electronic) media will comply with the requirements of the standards passport.
A brand is like a complex mechanism.
A brand is made up of many small parts that work together to become one. When assembling this machine, if you forget a part or screw it in incorrectly, you risk having a machine that doesn't work, or worse, one that crashes with you. One way to avoid breakdowns of your branding machine is to create a handbook from the very beginning.
This is just one way to make your design easier to use - create a simple brochure with your brand colors, fonts, logos, emblems, templates, slogans, etc. your brand. Having all of these parts registered and recorded allows you to maintain your brand and be confident that your car runs smoothly and in good condition.
If you're running a startup or small business, it's easy to get caught up in the grind and let your brand style guide fall by the wayside. To prove to you why this doesn't have to happen, we're going to show you 50 impressive and detailed style guide examples that are sure to encourage you to start creating your own unique style guide!
A good style guide should cover all the bases of your brand, from important things like logos, typography and colors, all the way to iconography, symbols and the way your branding is written and styled. Review the Foursquare brand guidelines for detailed rules and guidelines for each element, giving the brand complete control and consistency across all of its attributes. .
What better way to showcase a designer's personal brand than to show how detail-oriented she is, she chose to develop a detailed guide for herself. Designer Amanda Michiru has developed a detailed guide to her personal brand that covers both the foundation (logo creation) and the secondary elements (palettes and more). This guide is short but to the point, delivering just the essentials for a strong brand, a great example of creating a style guide for beginners. You can read it on Issuu.
A brand identity guide is truly a great opportunity for designers to explain their choices for a brand. Check out the Animal Planet channel guide, especially the pages on color palettes. It explains how each color was carefully selected from the animal kingdom, and then explains what emotions each color represents. When creating your own guide, keep in mind that such a detailed description of each rule and the reasons for choosing a color will make the process easier for those who read it and carry out their tasks, and it will be easier for you to control the process and accept the results of the work. .
04. Apple
We all know what Apple communication looks like, right? Where? The answer is very simple - a well-built brand, thanks to a careful selection of style guidelines. This guide for official Apple dealers is just one example of how meticulous the guys from Cupertino are. Brief but insightful explanations of how to use almost every Apple brand attribute. With such a guide, no retailer will have an excuse for failing to support a brand. .
It's a good idea to tailor your brand style guide to ensure that it provides enough detail for the really important elements. Take, for example, Argento brand wine. Since the Argento logo will be applied to numerous parts of the packaging, in order to avoid errors during production, the dimensions, ratios of sizes, signatures and colors of the logo are described in great detail in the manual. .
06. Barnes & Noble
This style guide is an unofficial set of guidelines for using the Barnes & Noble brand, but that doesn't mean it's not well-written or worth reading. This fictional style guide is as detailed as any real one; it clearly and informatively explains and analyzes the logo, signatures and sub-brands. Finished with a simple yet beautiful design, this style guide is an amazing example of a successful set of branding guidelines. .
07. Bing
When competing with the likes of Google, it is necessary to have a strong set of style guidelines in order to keep your brand competitive. Bing explains almost every brand decision it makes, down to the size of its search bar and why it's positioned the way it is. Bing discloses many of its solutions to make them easy to follow, and many of its rules to make them easy to follow. .
Style guides are an informational source, so they are judged more on the presentation of the material, but this does not mean that it should appear without emotion. Take a page from the Black Watch Global guide, where textual, informative rules are dressed up in assertive design. You won’t be able to fall asleep while reading this guide – the large size of the letters flows from page to page, stylish typography and unique color presentation. .
If you are not interested in taking such an adventurous approach as in the previous example, then a more formulaic approach to leadership may be just as good. This is Mike Collinge's work for Bosphorus, which is easy to understand and presents the information seamlessly on every page. As always, take a look at your brand and decide if this minimalist approach is right for you. .
Don't be afraid to look overly experimental with your style guide design. This BPR guide was designed as a poster. Why? Because this reflects the internal communications of BPR, so when performing a task in the office there is no point in flipping through the guide and looking for the rule you need, just look at the poster. Study your environment and principles of work in the office, designers may be too lazy to open guides and look at the information there, look around and decide what is right for you. Perhaps a poster is exactly what you need. You can take a closer look at Red Stone's work for BPR.
11. Calgary Chamber
If you're a detail-oriented person, you'll certainly find the Calgary Chamber style guide helpful. Each element of this brand identity guide demonstrates and explains in extreme detail how to make your brand guidelines clear and compelling. The guide shows everything that a designer might need in his future work: emotional (meaningful and energetic) color palettes, possible gradients, color combinations, font combinations, sizes and styles (weights). Take a look at this guide from Iancu Barbărasă.
When it comes to an important event like the Olympics, you want your country to stand out, and it's best to do this with a carefully designed and supportive brand. The Canadian Olympic Team has a specific signature style, which is captured and detailed in its style guide. An interesting feature is the development of each attribute with the ability to write a description in two languages at once, English and any other (for example, in the language of the receiving party). Since the dominant languages in Canada are French and English, both languages have been represented in this guide. A clever way to tailor this guide to the audience. You can check it yourself.
Sometimes less is actually more. You can easily check this with the example of the style guide for Cemento distributors. A minimal palette that matches the brand’s signature colors; Large and catchy headings that make browsing the manual quick and easy. In this guide, close attention was paid to the brand pattern and its construction, since this pattern is a significant part of the brand identity. Once again, be sure to tailor your brand identity guide based on what elements are most important to your brand. .
Do you have a simple brand? Okay, but as we see with Channel 4's guidelines, even the simplest brand needs a comprehensive style guide. While the overall intent of Channel 4's identity is quite simple, that doesn't mean the guidelines and brand guidelines are either. The guide is quite specific on placement, font sizes, logo application, and more. This simple brand pays as much attention to detail as any complex one. This guide can be accessed through Issuu.
If you thought that only corporate or retail brands use brand style guides, then you are wrong. This manual was created for the video game Child of Light and is carefully crafted and designed as a corporate brand. This guide explains every decision and details how to draw a logo in an easy-to-understand manner, shedding light on the process for anyone involved in the creative development of a game. Remember: wherever there is a brand, there should be a corporate style guide, a guide to applying the brand in the environment. .
16. Cisco
The last thing you want for your manual is for it to just be skimmed over or worse, not even opened while you're explaining it. This Cisco manual tries to avoid this situation by placing discussions and explanations in large, colorful fonts that invite the reader to read. It is complemented by densely placed but pleasantly presented information that is easily absorbed and digested thanks to a simple but thoughtful layout. You can look through the guide on Issuu. 
While most brands are concerned with what can be done with the brand, it is also important to describe what cannot be done. This guide is for the charity group Don't Use Me and outlines the dos and don'ts when it comes to using your brand. With visual diagrams and examples, everything is quite easy to understand at a glance. Don't be afraid to add as many visual examples as you can, after all, they will help avoid any misunderstandings. .
Don't be afraid to experiment with using your own rules in your own style guide, you can benefit from a simpler design when bringing important information to the forefront. Look at the Double Knot manual, which uses its signature color scheme and layout rules throughout the entire manual, thereby making its own manual an example of how to use what it says. .
When it comes to creating a guide that covers a big brand, you have to be adept at including all aspects of it and not forgetting all the sub-brands. A good example that covers all the bases is the guide for easyGroup. easyGroup covers a small number of groups such as easyJet, easyMoney, easyAirtours etc and each has been explained in this simple yet detailed manner in the parent group's brand guide. Of course, the larger the brand, the thicker the guide, so don't leave out important elements for the sake of brevity. .
If you're looking for guidance for a sophisticated brand that combines form and function, look no further than the Firebrand logo. Clean, clear and sophisticated design that covers all branding bases. The Firebrand style guide has a format that complements the brand's stylish design, and is easy and pleasant to scroll through. For more inspiration to experiment with mixing stylish design and informative content, look through the Firebrand style guide.
As we see in this sophisticated style guide from Fitt Lab, the idea of breaking down design elements and explaining them to readers always works! This gives readers a general idea of what the logo should look like, how to identify variances and how to adjust the logo kerning (letter spacing), etc. Remember: the more thoroughly you work through the foundation, the stronger your final guide will be, and the less accidents and mistakes there will be in using the brand in the future.
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22. Fogg
Your brand will likely be used on more than one medium, so think ahead about what possible or guaranteed media your brand and/or brand attributes will appear on and include them in the guidelines. Fogg's guide does just that, from letterheads to smartphone app icons with specific application examples. Your brand can't grow if your design can't anticipate that growth! Get inspired by Fogg's brand style guide. 
Have you ever heard of the term “pixel perfect” (this is a layout technique in which the layout of the HTML template is exactly (pixel-for-pixel) identical to the original PSD layout)? You know, the Google guys use this term to describe not only their icons, but everything they do. Google is a huge brand, so their guide to visualizing each element is detailed and thorough, covering every detail down to the location of a specific pixel when creating icons. Don't be afraid to set high standards for your brand (as long as you have a good reason for doing so). . 
24. Hanes
Don't be afraid to use inspirational imagery in your leadership when it complements and reinforces your brand and message. A good example is the Hanes color palette page from their brand guide. Including an image next to swatches of the primary color palette adds meaning and a beautiful visualization. Take a look at Hanes' use of additional images in their guide. 
Who said style guides have to be completely black and white? If your brand has a signature color, don't be afraid to use it in your branding, like Heineken did. Heineken has good and detailed guidelines for the use of corporate identity, all of which are connected by a common background - a gradient of Heineken's signature green, which keeps the brand image strong. . 
On the topic of color, there is also an interesting example in the style guide for the iO brand. It denies the construction of sharp gradients and illustrates this in the design of the guide itself. These gradients are primarily used on separator pages, making the guide much easier to navigate (and more attractive). . 
Does a significant part of your brand consist of photographic elements? Then a style guide is your chance to lay down the law and explain exactly how you want your photos to be viewed. This homewares and food brand guide from Jamie Oliver runs through the basics of branding, the do's and don'ts of a logo, while it delves into the use of imagery, from the correct use of a particular image to the right way to colors and their correct use in communication. Check out Jamie Oliver's meticulous set of rules on Issuu. 
Does your brand require branded uniforms for its employees? If so, this style guide is just what you need to explain the pros and cons of each element. If you need some inspiration for that, then be sure to take a look at Luvata's guide, which goes over the uniform aspects and even shows the branding of vehicles and equipment. This style guide carefully identifies the colours, branding zones and style of each uniform piece for each individual sector of Luvata. Luvata's leadership is all about attention to detail. . 
If you're new to style guides, you might be asking why is it so important to show the structure of a logo? Especially when many brands have never tried to repeat the logo. Think of it as finished products that have the ingredients listed on the package—not so you can recreate the products yourself, but so consumers know what the products are made of. Likewise, the detailed logo breakdown in the Macride style guide allows designers to identify any irregularities. If a designer suspects that a logo is composed of the wrong colors, assembled incorrectly, or has the wrong font, then he can refer to the logo construction guide to double-check. Ultimately, being clear about colors, gradients, and logo design rules can save you from branding inconsistencies. . 
Most people learn and understand concepts better when they are shown clear examples. So why don't you use this fact for your guide, just like the Medium brand style guide did. It includes specific explanations and a variety of examples to clearly demonstrate the key rules of brand design. Read their typographic explanations where they illustrate with examples how to set headings, body text, and place citations. Just keep in mind: there is no such thing as a concept explained too thoroughly. . 
In the modern world, almost everything has a brand, and as we wrote above, where there is a brand, there should be a guide to managing the brand style. The City of Melbourne has distinct and adaptive branding where the 'M' logo is given new patterns and colors to suit different destinations. But this adaptability does not mean that the City of Melbourne is able to skimp on lists of “dos” and “don’ts” with a brand; in fact, it turns into a greater responsibility, because... they need to be even more precise in their rules. The City of Melbourne's brand guidelines define the colors that are acceptable and unacceptable to use; effects that are appropriate and inappropriate, etc. In fact, this style guide is so thorough that it defines what to name digital files. When in doubt, add some more details. . 
This guide is another fictional example created as a personal project by designer Diego Guevara for the Miami Football Club. Again, this example is created and detailed just like any other "official" style guide. Guevara has worked in extreme detail on every aspect, from the construction of the emblem, the illumination of meaning and inspiration, to the unified branding and practical application. It's all beautifully presented in the style guide, and it's an impressive example (especially when you learn that Guevara completed it within one week). . 
If you've ever had any doubts that Nike's branding team is meticulous, take a look at this brand manual from just one division of the Nike group. Nike Pro Services is an elite invitation-only service from Nike themselves that offers runners access to expert insights and services typically reserved for professional athletes. Designed by Manual Creative, this guide manages to walk the fine line between beautiful design and densely packed information. . 
This style guide for Offroad movies puts content with lots of graphics and minimal lettering at the forefront. Check out the huge color block that features Offroad Films' signature color and large graphics that speak for themselves. This brand guide keeps things simple and minimal, but the scale used plays a big role in the communication of each element. . 
35. Ollo
Once your style guide is put together, remember to maintain a balance between visual and informational content. A successful example of such a guide is the style guide of the Ollo brand, each page of which is filled with textual information and supplemented with a visual example on another page. Not only does this prevent management from appearing overwhelmed, this approach helps consolidate examples for easier digestion. . 
36. Optus
Have you chosen a regular font for your brand? Or do you use the font in a special way? If it's the latter, then there's a good reason to provide you with some guidance on what it should ideally look like. Telephone company Optus has undergone a rebrand over the past few years that seamlessly transitions from a corporate aesthetic to a “brutal, uncorporate” style, during which time they have used two unusual fonts. Because these fonts are more organic and handcrafted, each letter has 3 spelling alternatives to avoid repetition and make written messages appear handwritten. To ensure proper and consistent use of these fonts, specific usage instructions and examples are provided throughout this manual. If there are any special settings or techniques in any element of your brand identity, then be sure to describe them in detail. . 
Sometimes “more is better,” especially when it comes to information in a brand style guide. Be sure to check out the Irish Red Cross style guide, where every element is shown to a large scale while keeping the layout minimal and simple with plenty of white space, both of which draw attention to each page. The Red Cross covers all the branding basics in this succinctly executed style guide, which is certainly a reference point for inspiration, both in guide structure and design. Get inspired by this work at Creative Inc. 
This style guide is a simple two-page set of recommendations for Royal Mail's final "reimagining" of the manual. Although this is an unofficial guide, these two pages manage to capture the tone, aesthetic and overall essence of the Royal Mail brand. For those of you who want to create a brand identity guide but aren't ready to go deep into the details, this is a great example with all the essential brand elements: logo, trademark, font, color, typography and car livery all captured on two pages. For a more in-depth look at Royal Mail's 'reimagined' guidance, go to Identity Designed. 
39. Skype
We've seen how guide design can communicate your brand, now let's talk about guide copy. Chances are, your style guide has little written description, everything is clear within the framework of conveying recommendations and explanations. So, increasing the letter descriptions is a good way to let your brand's voice be heard in your leadership. Skype's brand guide does just that by injecting a bit of humor, a conversational and friendly tone into explanations that are phrased as "Never abuse our logo, it has no hands so it can't fight back (but our lawyers, that's another story )". Find out the tone of your brand, and consider incorporating it in some unique way into the guide, but rather than compromising the message, try to enhance it. Have fun reading Issuu's Skype branding guide. 
40. Sony
Another example of meticulous attention to brand definition is illustrated by the style guide dedicated to the slogan “like.no.other” from Sony. This guide goes over airspace, layout, sizes, backgrounds, and color combinations and font sizes; he goes into an incredibly detailed description of every facet of the slogan, paying great attention to its construction and presentation. If you want to see the depths of branding that big brands like Sony go to, . 
41. Stihl
Sometimes it's better to just say it big and loud. Stihl's style guide places its core recommendation on every page in simple words and huge fonts, making every message impossible to ignore. By using simple, colloquial language—"Use this color with this color"—nothing is lost in translation, and any reader will get a general idea of how to support a brand just by turning the pages. This guide is a testament to the brand's "easy simplicity" through the use of real and simple visual examples. . 
This is another set of brand style guidelines that keep things extremely simple and extremely minimal while still communicating the brand's fundamentals. If you're looking for more examples of a brand starter kit, then you can't miss this Sushi & Co brand guide. The logo, colors, font and iconography/pattern are the core of the brand. Of course, such a simple set of guidelines won't suit every company (as many require detail), but in this case, keeping the elements minimal leaves a little flexibility in branding and application methods. To view these application examples and . 
The Swedish Armed Forces have detailed brand guidelines which include a section explaining the concept and thinking behind the main logo and sub-logos. This guide also dives deep into imagery - what the frame should be, the color of the frame, what the focus is, what the subject is in focus that should portray part of the brand's value - for example, the list of "what NOT to have" includes "images that romanticize war " . 
Taxiphone is another brand that puts the content of the manual at the forefront, using simple and comprehensive images, and complementary explanations and descriptions. This is another guide that is simple in design, yet cohesive and detailed. Be sure to check out the livery pages on the car, every corner of the car shows off the branding illustration with attention to detail. . 
45. Truth
Are you designing a more corporate-oriented brand? If so, then I propose to consider what some of the visual components of such a guide should look like. If you'll be communicating it to consumers or business partners, a shift from graphs and charts to charts and tables is necessary, but don't forget to keep the presentation focused, professional, and on-brand. Check out Truth's brand guide for a brand that aligns exactly with this approach. Using signature pink and glamor graphics throughout the guide illustrates how each element of the visual should look and perform, guaranteed to make the process much easier for the brand in the long run. . 
46. Twitter
There are many arguments to be made that printed brand style guides are a dying art. However, the argument goes both ways, with some brands opting for both digital and print public versions. One such example is Twitter, which has made its style guide available to everyone. Smart move from Twitter, their brand is used almost everywhere on the Internet, and at the same time, it is not always used correctly, so by opening up their brand guidelines, they increase their chances of others using it more correctly.
