Branding · 7 min read
What to include in brand guidelines: a 12 part checklist and template for startups
Brand guidelines are the rules that keep your brand looking and sounding the same everywhere. Here is a 12 part checklist of what to include, a simple template outline you can copy, and the mistakes that make most guidelines go unused.
Jakaria MahmudBrand strategist and brand identity designer ·
Brand guidelines are the rules that keep your brand looking and sounding the same in every place it shows up. They tell your team, freelancers, printers and partners how to use the logo, colours, fonts, imagery and voice, so the brand does not drift every time someone new touches it.
I am Jakaria Mahmud, a brand identity designer. Every identity I deliver ships with guidelines and a Figma library, because a brand without rules starts to fall apart within months. This guide covers what to include, a template outline you can copy, how long guidelines should be and the mistakes that make most of them go unused.
Short answer. Good brand guidelines include: a short brand overview (positioning, audience and personality), logo rules (versions, clear space, minimum size and misuse), the colour palette with codes for screen and print, typography and hierarchy, imagery and icon style, graphic elements, voice and tone with examples, real applications such as social posts and documents, accessibility rules, the file library and a named owner who keeps them up to date.
What are brand guidelines?
Brand guidelines, also called a brand style guide or brand book, are a document or online library that explains how your brand identity works and how to use it correctly. They turn design decisions into rules other people can follow without asking the designer every time.
They are different from the brand identity itself. The identity is the logo, colours, type and imagery. The guidelines are the instructions for using them. A strong identity with no guidelines usually ends up stretched logos, random colours and five different fonts within a year.
The brand guidelines checklist: 12 parts to include
Not every business needs every part on day one, but this is the full list I work from. Startups can begin with the first seven and add the rest as the team grows.
| Part | What it covers | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brand overview | Positioning, audience, mission and personality in plain words | Explains the thinking behind every visual choice |
| 2. Logo versions | Primary logo, compact mark, icon and wordmark | The right version for every size and space |
| 3. Logo rules | Clear space, minimum size, placement and misuse examples | Stops stretched, recoloured and crowded logos |
| 4. Colour palette | Primary and secondary colours with HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone where needed | The same colour on screen, in print and on signage |
| 5. Typography | Font families, weights, sizes and heading hierarchy | Consistent, readable layouts in every document |
| 6. Imagery | Photo style, illustration and 3D style, what to avoid | Images that feel like one brand, not stock |
| 7. Voice and tone | How the brand speaks, words to use and avoid, before and after examples | Website, sales and social sound like one company |
| 8. Graphic elements | Patterns, shapes, icons, grids and layout rules | Gives designs a recognisable system beyond the logo |
| 9. Applications | Social posts, pitch deck, documents, email signature, merchandise, signage | Shows the rules working on real things |
| 10. Digital and UI | Buttons, forms, app icon, favicon, web colours and states | Keeps the product and website on brand |
| 11. Accessibility | Contrast pairs that pass WCAG, minimum text sizes, alt text habits | A brand everyone can read and use |
| 12. Files and ownership | Where the files live, formats, who approves changes | Guidelines that stay current and get used |
Logo rules: the part people break first
Most brand problems start with the logo. Your guidelines should show every logo version and say exactly when to use each one:
- Primary logo for websites, documents and anywhere there is room.
- Compact mark or icon for app icons, social avatars and favicons.
- Single colour and reversed versions for dark backgrounds, embroidery and one colour print.
- Clear space, usually measured with a part of the logo itself, so the rule scales.
- Minimum size in pixels and millimetres, tested on screen and in print.
- Misuse examples: stretched, rotated, recoloured, outlined, on busy photos, with effects added.
Showing what not to do is often more useful than showing what to do. A single page of six wrong examples prevents most mistakes.
Colour and typography
List every colour with its role, not just its code. A palette works better when the guidelines say which colour is for backgrounds, which is for text, which is the accent and how much of each to use. Include HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK for print and Pantone if you print merchandise or packaging.
For typography, name the font families and weights, then show a simple hierarchy: page title, section heading, body, caption and button text. Add a free fallback font for people who do not have the licensed one, and say where each font can be downloaded or licensed.
Voice and tone
Visual rules alone are not enough. The way your brand writes is part of the identity. A useful voice section has three or four personality traits, a short list of words you use and words you avoid, and before and after examples of real copy such as a website headline, a sales email and a social post. Examples teach faster than adjectives.
A brand guidelines template you can copy
Here is the outline I use. It works as a PDF, a Notion page or a Figma file:
- Welcome: what this document is for and who owns it
- Brand overview: positioning, audience, personality
- Logo: versions, clear space, minimum size, placement, misuse
- Colour: palette, roles, proportions, accessible pairs
- Typography: fonts, hierarchy, fallbacks
- Imagery and illustration: style, dos and don'ts
- Graphic elements: icons, patterns, grids
- Voice and tone: traits, word list, examples
- Applications: social, deck, documents, signage, merchandise
- Digital: website and product basics
- Files: download links, formats, contact for questions
How long should brand guidelines be?
As short as possible while still answering the questions your team actually asks. For a startup, 15 to 30 pages or screens is usually enough. Large companies with many products and markets need more. A long document nobody opens is worse than a short one people use every week, so lead with the rules people need most: logo, colour, type and templates.
6 brand guidelines mistakes to avoid
- Rules without reasons. If people do not understand why a rule exists, they break it.
- No real examples. Show the brand on a social post, a deck slide and a document, not only on an empty page.
- Only a PDF. Give the team ready to use templates and a Figma library, not just rules to read.
- Missing file formats. Include SVG, PNG, PDF and EPS so nobody screenshots the logo.
- No owner. Someone has to approve changes and update the guidelines as the brand grows.
- Ignoring accessibility. A colour pair that fails contrast checks will fail on real screens too.
Brand guidelines for startups
Early stage companies do not need a 100 page brand book. They need the essentials done well: logo versions and rules, a clear palette, two fonts, a short voice guide and templates for the things they make every week, such as social posts, pitch decks and sales documents. That is enough to look consistent while the team is small, and the guidelines can grow with the company.
If you are still choosing the identity itself, start with what brand identity includes and the brand identity design process. To see what a full package costs, read what a brand identity design package should include.
The takeaway
Brand guidelines protect the money you spent on your brand. Include the twelve parts above, keep the document short, explain the reasons behind the rules and hand your team real templates and files. Then name an owner and update the guidelines as the brand grows.
I design brand guidelines and Figma brand libraries as part of every brand identity project, and you own every file. If you want a second opinion on your current guidelines, book a free 30 minute call.
Sources: W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, for colour contrast requirements. The checklist and template are based on the guidelines I deliver on client projects.
Frequently asked questions
Brand guidelines should include a brand overview, logo versions and usage rules, the colour palette with screen and print codes, typography and hierarchy, imagery style, voice and tone, graphic elements, real applications, digital and UI basics, accessibility rules, and where the files live and who owns them.
They usually mean the same thing. Brand guidelines, brand style guide and brand book all describe the document or library that explains how to use a brand's logo, colours, fonts, imagery and voice.
For most startups 15 to 30 pages or screens is enough. Larger companies with many products need more. Keep it as short as possible while answering the questions the team actually asks.
Yes. Even a short guide with logo rules, colours, fonts and a few templates keeps a small business looking consistent and saves time every time someone new creates content.
A PDF is the most common, but the most useful guidelines also include a Figma library and ready to use templates, so the team can apply the rules instead of only reading them.
A brand identity designer can create guidelines as part of an identity project or for an existing brand. Jakaria Mahmud designs brand guidelines and Figma brand libraries for startups and growing businesses worldwide at jakaria.design.
