Writing from a graphic designer’s and their client’s perspective, I’m sure we all have heard or said this line at some point in our lives. It doesn’t matter from which industry a business or brand belongs; all of them must have a brand guideline if they have a vision for the future. Not having a brand guideline in such a case is not an option, but a slow devastation of your brand.
A logo without brand guidelines is like a gun without a manual. There’s no doubt that you can have a great logo(gun), but if you don’t have brand guidelines(manual), then you might kill someone(your potential customers) unintentionally. Having a logo may or may not help you hit your leads or customers, but a logo with brand guidelines will surely help you hit your potential customers.
A brand guideline helps you to align your brand with your core values, business ethics and right messaging. Through this manual, you can make your brand look consistent and appealing across all channels. Whether you’re doing a social media post or a big banner print, you can put out the right key messaging to the right customers. Over time, this helps your business become easy to remember and trustworthy. And, people buy from those whom they can trust and rely on.
Hence, having brand guidelines is one of the biggest key factors for a successful visual appearance of your brand.
Bonus note: A brand guideline is a document that consists of a set of rules on how to use your logo, colours, graphics, typography, imagery, etc., to represent your business in a way that it connects with your customers. It is a set of rules that is tested by a designer on your behalf to save your time, uncertainty and inconsistency in the future.
Who to not have a brand guideline:
- Cost cost-effective for tiny businesses not to have a brand guide.
Advantages of having a brand guideline
- Helps your business look consistent
- Helps in connecting with your customer by sharing the right messaging
- Avoids incorrect usage of brand assets(logo, fonts, colours, etc.)
- Save your time on trial and error
- Helps in further brand asset creation
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