Brand Guidelines Design UK

What brand guidelines are for

Brand guidelines (sometimes called a brand book or style guide) are the instructions that let other people use your brand correctly without asking you every time. Their readers are your printer, sign maker, web developer, social media freelancer and the member of staff putting together a sales presentation at 5pm on a Friday.

Good guidelines are short enough to be read and specific enough to settle arguments. 'Use our blue' is not a guideline. 'Pantone 2935 C, CMYK 100 46 0 0, HEX #0057B8' is.

Every brand identity pack from dijitul media, from £395 + VAT, includes a concise guidelines PDF. If you already have a brand but no guidelines, we can write them for it: that is quoted as a fixed price, with design time at £45 an hour + VAT.

What a dijitul brand guidelines document covers

Logo

Each lockup and when to use it, clear space (measured from part of the logo so it scales), minimum size in millimetres for print and pixels for screen, which version to use on light, dark and photographic backgrounds, and examples of misuse: stretching, recolouring, outlining, adding effects.

Colour

Primary, secondary and neutral colours with Pantone, CMYK, RGB and HEX values, plus approved text and background pairings that are readable on screen.

Typography

Headline and body fonts, weights and sizes, and named fallbacks such as Arial or Calibri for Office documents and email signatures.

Imagery and graphics

Photo style, icon style and any patterns or shapes, where your brand uses them.

Applications

Examples on real items: stationery, social posts, signage, presentations.

Short guidelines vs a full brand manual

Most small businesses need the concise version. A fuller manual earns its cost when lots of people produce material without a designer checking it. If you want guidance on how your brand writes, not just how it looks, add a tone of voice section; see tone of voice.

Making guidelines people actually follow

• Put the files next to the rules. Guidelines link to the logo folders so nobody grabs a logo from Google Images.
• Show, don't just tell. One picture of a stretched logo with a red cross teaches more than a paragraph.
• Answer real questions. Include the questions suppliers actually ask, such as which logo goes on a dark van or what colour thread to use for embroidery.
• Give a one-page quick reference. Colour values, fonts and logo do's and don'ts on a single sheet suppliers can pin up.
• Provide templates. A branded Word letterhead and PowerPoint master stop people improvising. Templates are quoted or charged at £45 an hour + VAT.

Keeping guidelines up to date

Guidelines are a living document. Add a version number and date to the cover so suppliers know if they have the latest copy, and keep one master PDF in a shared folder rather than emailing copies around. Review them when something changes: a new product line, a new office, a new social media platform, or a font licence that needs replacing. Small updates, such as adding a new colour or a template example, are charged at £45 an hour + VAT. Keeping the logo files, the guidelines and the templates in one shared folder, with the guidelines at the top, is the single most useful habit for keeping a brand consistent.

Guidelines for an existing brand

If your logo was designed years ago and the original files are missing, we'll start by rebuilding them as vector artwork (see logo redesign), then agree the definitive colours and fonts with you before writing the rules. That way the guidelines describe a brand that is properly specified, not one that has drifted. Get in touch for a fixed quote.

What you get

• Brand guidelines PDF
• Logo rules: lockups, clear space, minimum sizes, backgrounds and misuse examples
• Colour specification in Pantone, CMYK, RGB and HEX
• Typography hierarchy with fallback fonts
• Imagery, icon and graphic style guidance where relevant
• One-page quick reference sheet for suppliers

How it works and what it costs

Logos from £150, brochures from £295, photography from £295 a half day and CAD at £45 an hour, all + VAT. You get a fixed price before we start.

1. Tell us the brief

   What it is for, who will see it, where it will be used and any examples you like. Rough is fine.

2. Fixed price

   We confirm the price and what you get, in writing, before any work starts.

3. First designs

   We design, shoot or model it and share the first version for your comments.

4. Refine

   We make the changes, check every detail, and prepare the files properly for print, web or manufacture.

5. Final files

   You get the finished files in the formats you need, ready for your printer, website, social channels or manufacturer.

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