These terms: Brand Guidelines, Brand Style Guide, and Brand Guidance Kit sound alike and are sometimes used interchangeably. They refer to the same concept: a set of rules and standards that ensure consistency in representing a brand across many media and platforms. However, they are not the same.
BRAND SLAN DEFINED
BRAND GUIDELINES
Brand Guidelines encompass the brand identity and the visual and verbal elements that represent it. They outline the brand philosophy and mission, as well as guidelines on how a brand should appear, behave, and communicate. Therefore, they are a broader term that includes not only the brand’s appearance but also its mission, vision, values, stories, and the demographics of the end users.
BRAND STYLE GUIDES
Brand Style Guides, on the other hand, outline the styles that designers and copywriters should use to consistently present different brand elements. The guides can include:
- Logo files and usage (versions, colors, placement, spacing)
- Color palettes (primary, secondary, shades, and tints)
- Typography (fonts for titles, headlines, and copy; sizes, weights, and spacing)
- Illustration style (photography guidelines and presets, icons, mockups, etc.)
- Graphic elements (patterns, textures)
- Layouts (style sheets and templates for frequently used documents, business cards, labels, emails, etc.)
- Sound and tone of voice (how the brand should sound in written or spoken communications)
In addition to these two, some companies also use the expression Brand Guidance Kit.
BRAND GUIDANCE KIT
Brand Guidance Kits are typically practical tools that help teams implement the brand guidelines and style guide in real-world scenarios. While they might not be as comprehensive as a full brand guidelines document, Brand Guidance Kits provide resources and templates to be used in upcoming brand projects. They speed up the design process and ensure brand consistency. Examples may include:
- Downloadable files such as logo versions, color codes, and font files
- Pre-made elements like icons, backgrounds, and stock images
- Templates for social media posts, presentations, or marketing materials
- Step-by-step guides for applying the brand’s visual elements in specific contexts (e.g., how to format email signatures, print document layouts, business cards, etc.)
The guidance kit files are usually the hands-on files, to be used by external collaborators; therefore, they should be kept in folders that can be easily shared.
To summarize:
- Brand Guidelines are the rules and strategies behind the brand’s identity
- The Brand Style Guide is a set of instructions on how to implement the rules
- Brand Guidance Kits are tools and templates that help people put those rules into action efficiently.
CREATIVE ASSETS
All those pre-designed brand elements, verbal and visual, are called Creative Assets.
They are called “assets” for a good reason. They can be your brand’s most valuable ambassadors. The stories, taglines, and statements will talk about your business on many platforms. The visuals—like business cards, social media graphics, and photography—will appeal to your audience through shapes and colors. By consistently applying their unified style across various media, your brand will create a strong and lasting impression, fostering recognition, trust, and loyalty.
Uniformity in your company’s visuals and presence is priceless.
It’s the only way to be RECOGNIZED and REMEMBERED. Don’t blow it by applying different trends and styles every time you show up!
Besides, you will soon discover how time-consuming it is to create the assets. Therefore, they deserve to be preserved and stored in a well-designed “warehouse”: a Brand Assets Library.
At the end of this series, after you learn about all the brand elements, you will create your own. To help with this, I assembled, toward the end, a Creative Assets Library Sample listing many folders you may consider. For now, as you go through the chapters, just remember to save all your ideas and projects.