Brand Guidelines: What to Include in a Brand Book (With a Ready Outline)
What brand guidelines are, why growing businesses need them, and a ready outline: story, logo, colour, type, imagery, voice and templates.
Quick answer
Brand guidelines, also called a brand book or style guide, document how your brand looks and sounds so anyone can apply it consistently. A useful brand book covers the brand story and personality, logo usage and misuse, colour palette with exact codes, typography hierarchy, imagery and graphic elements, tone of voice with examples, and real application examples and templates. Keep it practical, visual and easy to update.
The moment a second person starts creating content for your business, your brand begins to drift. A slightly different logo here, a new colour there, a caption that sounds like someone else. Brand guidelines stop the drift. They turn your identity into a shared language that designers, printers, agencies and your own team can use with confidence.
What are brand guidelines?
Brand guidelines are a practical reference that explains how your brand looks, sounds and behaves, with rules and examples anyone can follow. They are also called a brand book, style guide or brand standards.
Why does a growing business need them?
- Consistency: every touchpoint looks and sounds like the same company
- Speed: designers and suppliers make fewer mistakes and fewer revisions
- Recognition: repeated, consistent use builds memory
- Scale: new team members, franchises and partners stay on brand
What should a brand book include?
Use this outline as a starting point.
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1. Brand story | Purpose, mission, audience, positioning, personality |
| 2. Logo | Versions, clear space, minimum sizes, backgrounds, misuse examples |
| 3. Colour | Primary and secondary palettes with exact codes for screen and print |
| 4. Typography | Fonts, weights, hierarchy, sizes and fallbacks |
| 5. Imagery | Photography direction, illustration or 3D style, do's and don'ts |
| 6. Graphic elements | Patterns, icons, shapes, textures and how to use them |
| 7. Tone of voice | Personality in words, vocabulary, examples by channel |
| 8. Applications | Stationery, signage, packaging, social media, website, uniforms |
| 9. Templates | Ready files for posts, presentations and documents |
| 10. Contacts | Who to ask and where to find master files |
How detailed should logo rules be?
Detailed enough to prevent the most common mistakes. Show clear space, minimum size, approved colour versions and examples of misuse: stretching, recolouring, adding effects or placing the logo on busy backgrounds.
How do you document colour properly?
Give exact values for every format: HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK for print and, where relevant, Pantone references. Show proportions too. A palette is not just a list of colours but how much of each to use.
How do you describe tone of voice?
With examples, not adjectives alone. "Friendly and expert" means little until you show it:
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| "We offer comprehensive solutions" | "We design it, build it and keep it running" |
| "Contact us for more information" | "Message us. A senior person replies within a day." |
What makes a brand book people actually use?
- Visual first: show, then explain
- Practical: focus on real situations people face
- Accessible: shared as a PDF or online page, with master files linked
- Living: updated as the brand evolves
A detailed example from our work is the 22-page brand book created for Soule Healers, which keeps a personal, soulful identity consistent across every channel.
When should you create brand guidelines?
As soon as your identity is final, and before you brief anyone else. If you are still choosing a logo, start with the logo design process and our guide to brand identity vs logo.
Need a brand book?
We design brand identities and the guidelines that keep them consistent, from compact essentials to full brand books with template libraries. Explore our logo and brand identity service and graphic design, or get in touch.
Work with us
Logo & Brand Identity Design from The Coral Flow
Get a free identity review. Send your current logo and a few brand materials. We review consistency and recognisability and suggest next steps.
Frequently asked questions
What is a brand book?
A brand book is a document that explains your brand's identity and how to use it: logos, colours, fonts, imagery, tone of voice and examples. It keeps everyone who creates materials consistent.
Who needs brand guidelines?
Any business where more than one person, agency or supplier creates materials. That includes most growing companies, franchises, and brands working with printers, designers or social media teams.
How long should brand guidelines be?
Long enough to answer common questions, short enough that people use it. Many effective brand books run between 15 and 40 pages. A smaller business can start with a few essential pages.
Should brand guidelines include tone of voice?
Yes. How you write is as recognisable as how you look. Include a short description of your voice, words to use and avoid, and before-and-after examples.
Written by
Parves, Founder and Creative Director
Leads strategy and creative direction at The Coral Flow in Chennai, across web, search and content for brands in India and abroad.
