10/05/2022 | BRANDING & DESIGN
Why your brand needs a style guide
Written by Lauren Rogers | Brand Designer/Founder
When you create your branding, you need to ensure it is consistent across every touchpoint.
When you go to a designer to create your brand or logo, you are essentially asking them to create the “face of your business”. A logo can be enough to simply put onto a business card and get going, but if you’re a business that needs to sell your services you’re most likely going to need a brand identity, this is where the style guide comes in and I will explain why you need a style guide and best practices for using it within your company.
As a graphic designer I have realised with many years in the industry that creating a logo is not enough. Your customers are giving you money for a few reasons, they love what you do, they trust you and they believe you can supply value to them in some way. Yes you can have ana mazing product or service that does just this, but if you are lacking in the brand department and your logo falls flat you will not only seem unprofessional, but un-trustworthy and your image may just down play the value you can provide.
But why do I need a style guide? Let me explain…
To share your brand vision and mission.
You need to convey your story to multiple people, in a consistent way without losing the main purpose of your brand. Sharing not only your vision and mission but in a branded guide will really cement who you are and create a strong impression on anyone dealing with you and your business.
To get everyone talking in the same voice.
Imagine this, you’re starting out and talking to web developers, designers, copywriters and trying to pitch your company. Imagine how easy life could be if you had one document you could send to all your touch points to give clarity around how the company’s tone of voice comes across. It explains the call-outs and words used in every day communication, and hooray you have a consistent brand talking to the right people.
To make sure your logo is always being used correctly and consistently.
Logo’s come in all shapes and sizes and if they are not used with consistent spacing and sizing it can look very unprofessional. One of the key ways your customers are going to trust you enough to spend their hard earned money with you is if your branding has a professional feel to it. A thorough style guide will help you always use your logo in a way that will make your brand feel trustworthy, consistent and it will also mean you’ll spend less time tweaking your logo, and just following the rules set out in your trusty style guide.
For easy reference to your brand colours, typography styles and brand assets.
So coming on from point 1, having all of your colours listed in an easy to copy and paste format is a life changer for consistency. You will be surprised how many people will try to guess your colours and you will end up with a mix matched brand which never looks professional.
For creating specific rules to keep your typography consistent.
Having style guide listing out all your fonts with the specifics on how to use them is so important. A well-thought-out style guide will outline spacing, leading, uppercase or lowercase and the weights used to keep the branding consistent. Without this you will be constantly looking for your font name and worse risk others using an entirely different font, which is really not something you want happening if you want to keep your branding looking professional.
So have we convinced you a style guide will do wonders for the progression and consistency of your brand?
We offer a full range of branding services, make sure you get in touch or book in a complimentary phone call and we can have a chat about how we can help guide and build your brand.