A clear and consistent visual identity is essential to the success of any thriving business. Your visual identity communicates your brand personality, sets you apart from competitors, makes your product or service recognisable, and establishes professionalism and trust.
Brand guidelines, also known as style guides, are a set of instructions that define how various aspects of your brand identity should be applied. They outline the rules for visual factors like your logo, typography, colour palette, and collateral, and often also include key messaging, tagline, tone of voice, and other elements of your brand. There are many people who will use your brand – whether it’s employees, marketing agencies, partner organisations, or industry bodies. A clear set of guidelines will provide direction that will ultimately safeguard the quality and integrity of your brand identity.
Here’s our top 4 reasons why brand guidelines are worth investing in:
Consistency
Establishing consistency across all touchpoints of your brand is critical in driving trust. By providing specific rules for using your brand assets, you can ensure that every piece of content looks and sounds like it comes from your business. This consistency builds trust with your audience and makes your brand more recognisable.
Clarity
Clear guidelines help all stakeholders use your brand with confidence, especially if they don’t come from a design background. It also helps everyone make decisions on how to represent your brand in different contexts. Brand templates make a huge difference as well – read more on our templating blog.
Save time
Having all of your standards set out in one document makes it easy to reference. Brand guidelines simplify decision-making and streamline design and production processes, saving you time and resources. They also reduce the likelihood of errors, like using the wrong logo or colour, saving time on potential revisions down the track.
Add value
Having a cohesive brand identity will make you appear more professional and trustworthy. By investing in strong and consistent branding, businesses can strengthen their reputation, attract and retain customers, and ultimately increase their bottom line.
Brand guidelines are an essential tool for every business to help build a powerful brand. They foster consistency, clarity, save time and add value.
If your business is in need of a new or refreshed set of guidelines, we’d love to help. Contact us to Make It Happen!