Free brand guidelines template

Who the guide is for and where the files live. Fill it in last: by then you'll know which three things people most need to remember.

What you do, for whom and where; who your customers are; what makes you different; three words for your personality. Write it the way you'd explain the business to a new member of staff, not the way you'd write an advert.

Every version of the logo, and which goes where. Most small businesses need four: the main logo, a second layout for awkward spaces, an icon for profile pictures and browser tabs, and a one-colour version for embroidery and stamps.

A clear-space rule based on something in the logo itself, like the height of one letter, so it grows and shrinks with the logo. For the minimum size, print the logo smaller and smaller until you can't read it, then go one step up.

Seven common mistakes are already filled in. Add any you've actually seen, with a picture: a stretched logo on a real flyer teaches more than a sentence.

Each colour's codes: HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK for print, and Pantone if a printer asks for it. Get the codes from your designer rather than picking them off a screen. Check text colours too: the accessibility guidelines ask for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text¹.

Your brand fonts and, just as important, the everyday font for Word, email and invoices when the brand fonts aren't installed. Check each font's licence covers how you use it, especially on your website.

What your photos show, what you avoid, and who asks permission before a customer, their home or a member of staff appears in one. For most local businesses, real photos of real work beat stock photos.

"We are… but we're not…" pairs are the quickest way to describe a voice: friendly but not over-familiar, expert but not technical. Then real examples, like how you answer the phone.

A row for each thing you already have, from the van to the invoice template, with which logo, which colours and which supplier. Next time, nobody has to work it out again.

Where the files are kept, who your designer and printer are, and a line for every change. When anything changes, update the version number on the cover too.