Are brand guidelines are important?

You can spent a lot of time crafting the perfect message, logo, website, and marketing materials for your brand with your designer... But, none of this will stay consistent over time if you don’t have brand guidelines. 
So the answer is YES... We believe brand guidelines are essential for any business.

"What are brand guidelines?" I hear you say... 

Brand guidelines are a set of tools and rules on how to use your branding elements. These guidelines are used by yourself, designers, writers, staff and anyone else using your brand’s elements like your logo to create marketing materials or social media content. Here at Seeka Creative our brand guidelines are usually created on a one-page document (depending on scale of business). The guidelines covers how your brand works and how the different elements of your brand work together to form your brand identity.

As no two brands are exactly the same, the elements included in your brand guidelines may not look the same as another companies brand’s guidelines. However, there are three common elements included in every brand identity guideline document: 

1. The different versions (if applicable) of your logo.
2. The colour palette that your brand uses.
3. The different typography/fonts associated with your brand including the various typefaces and families.

While those three elements are included in almost every set of brand guidelines, there are other elements that can also be included:

• Graphic elements that can be used separately from a logo (e.g. illustrations or patterns). 
• Symbols may be included, if your brand contains any.
• Wordmarks are included when appropriate.
• Brand tone is also included, if your brand has an established tone of voice for messages and content.

Brand guidelines should really be used as a tool to keep your brand consistent. Whether your business is large or small, brand guidelines are critical to helping your brand to work effectively. Without these guidelines, your brand’s message can change at any point just because a logo was used improperly or because someone didn’t know to use blue instead of hot pink (uh oh!).

Brand guidelines are created after establishing a colour palette, logo, brand voice, and all of your other brand elements. If you are starting to build your business and brand, then it’s a perfect time to have your branding by Seeka Creative done and your guidelines created.

Email us for more information on how we can help your business!