The world is flooded with brands and companies. There are umpteen number of companies catering to any and every need of a consumer. Therefore it is very important for a company to build and maintain its own unique identity for cutting through the clutter. In order to so a company needs to define certain branding rules & guidelines and follow them religiously. The document that defines all these guidelines is called the Identity Style Guide.

From corporate giants like Nike, Adidas, McDonald etc. to even tiniest of the startups; Everyone needs to have an Identity Style Guide. It’s commonly called the Brand Bible of a company. It may range anywhere between a couple of pages to several hundred pages. It voices out the personality of a company and drives every communication from the company to its consumers. The communication includes all forms – social media, personal, advertising, design etc. There are a few factors which lead the entire process of designing an Identity Style Guide. Let’s check them out:

1. Use of Logos

Needless to say, a logo is the most important factor considering the branding of a company. It’s the actual face of a company and plays a pivotal role while reflecting the essence of the company. There are majorly 3 sizes used to standardise the use of these tags.

Once the logo is decided, its integrity is maintained across all platforms including the placement and alterations. The logo of your company helps people to identify your brand and thus needs to be consistent across all collaterals, documents, and communications.

2. Color Scheme

A well-defined colour scheme is another important aspect of the Brand Bible. Colors play a very vital role in distinguishing a brand and are very appealing. The Big golden M sign along with red color signifies Mcdonald in the most striking way. We bet any other color scheme wouldn’t have been that effective.

The Brand Identity Style Guide must explain each color and its use. This includes colors used in a logo to colors that are used in text, backgrounds and other design elements. Each color must be defined by a particular name and color value. The document must define each color with values for print and digital projects separately.

3. Fonts And Typography

The Brand Identity Style Guide must properly define every bit of the type used across print and digital communication. It must contain the rules of use, acceptable typefaces, use of typefaces, styling, size, and color guidelines. There must ideally be two different set of rules. One for print and one for digital communications. But ensure both have some familiar link.

Firstly, select the primary typeface followed by a secondary typeface and substitute typeface. Having said that, a brand must not use more than five typefaces.

4. Images

Images are another very important element and the Brand Bible must define guidelines for use of images across brand communications. The Identity Style Guide must define what, when and how images are to be used. Should photography be used or illustrations or both? Is clip art acceptable? What are the guidelines to edit pictures? Should the tone of images be black & White or colored ? These questions must be answered in the identity style guide.

5. Text And Tone

The text that you use in your communications is of utmost importance and you must communicate to your customers in their language. Understand your customers and speak in their own words. The Brand Identity Style Guide must define the tone and content type of all the text that you use. It includes the text used across all mediums including headlines of ads, press releases, text on the website, blog posts etc.

The brand bible must answer to questions like Whether the text should be formal or friendly? Should the text be very wordy or compact? What should be the overall tone of your text?

These are only the basic (but still most important) factors which drive the Identity Style Guide. However, there are plenty of other aspects which are covered while preparing the Brand Bible. Get in touch with our expert brand advisers today and get your own Brand Identity Style Guide.

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