Week 7 – Brand Guidelines

In Week 7, Daniels lecture included the topic of brand guidelines, Daniel taught use about what they were and how brands use them. I learned about how I will create my own guidelines for my own personal brand.

What are brand guidelines?

Brand guidelines are essentially an instruction manual and rule book on how to communicate your brand. They include information about your brands and its identity, including:

• Logos: full logos, secondary logos, and icons
• Color palette: primary and secondary colors
• Typography: font styles, sizes, and spacing
• Other imagery: photos, illustrations, and artwork
• Voice and tone: how the brand uses language and emotion

How are they presented?

They come in the form of a physical or digital booklet filled with examples of what to do and what not to do. I have added an example of the layout below

The above image is an example of the layout of brand guidelines and how the images, colour palettes and texts can be arranged. I like the above example as I feel that each page is linked well and it appears very cohesive and interesting to look at and read. There isn’t too much text and the colours work great with the included imagery.

What is the aim of brand guidelines?

The main aim of brand guidelines is to ensure that all parties use the brand elements consistently and correctly, brand guidelines provide information, tools and rules to set the standards for their brand and how it should and shouldn’t be used.

Examples of good brand guidelines-

I researched a few brand guidelines that I liked the look off so I have included them in my research.

Urban Outfitters

Link to guidelines here.

I liked the edgy designs and quirky style of the Urban Outfitters brand guidelines, I think it reflects the over all vibe of urban outfitters very well. The layout of the different elements to this brand are very hip and relevant, this is including their tone of voice which is a page filled with words and some are in a bolder font which adds a fun element. The down side to Urban’s approach is that it is slightly overwhelming and a little bit too busy, I found some sections of the guidelines hard to understand.

Shazzam

Link to guidelines here.

This was one of my favourite brand guidelines because as I found it very easy to follow, read and essentially understand.

I really liked the simplicity of Shazzam’s guidelines and how they have structured this document. it is clean and clear, and I liked how they showed the do’s and don’ts in their incorrect uses page and it was clear to see how their logo shouldn’t be used; I also liked how they presented their alternative logos too. Their typography sections, shown below, was one of my favourites I think they added just enough detail without being too complicated.

Skype

Link to guidelines here.

Skype’s brand guidelines were also interesting to research as their overall design was very light hearted and again easy to follow, I felt like their approach made it more fun and less boring to read. Below shows how they have put their information about their mission and their wordbank into speech bubbles, this did make it easier for me to follow and I think it is a fun element to the guidelines.

“We’re not a rules and regulations kind of company, nonetheless here are some examples of what we think is cool and what should be punishable by a red-hot poker to the buttocks.”

This is a quote from Skype which explains how they aren’t focused on rules and regulations and I feel like their brand guidelines demonstrate that well. I actually enjoyed going through Skype’s guidelines and they have presented themselves and their brand in a whimsical, clever and subtle way, these brand guidelines definitely show their light hearted essence.

Things to remember before creating my own:

• Add in Do’s and Dont’s.
• Include images.
• Use logo guidelines to create a recognisable brand signature, see Spotify’s image below.

• Specify the imagery and iconography that makes up your visual style.
• Brand story always comes first.
• Don’t be afraid to get specific.

What did I learn from this lecture and research?

I learned what brand guidelines are and how a brand uses them, I learned that they are a document explaining the decision making process and what the brand is about overall, and they contain rules of how the brand works. I learned that I need to now focus on looking at more brand guidelines from various brands to gain more influence and inspiration for my own.