Short answer: brand guidelines should include the strategy, the visual system and the rules for using it. Strategy: brand story, audience, positioning, values and personality, key messages and voice. Visual system: logo, colour, typography, imagery and design elements. Use: real applications, plus where the files live and who approves brand use. That is 13 sections. Small brands can cover them in 15 to 30 pages; full identity systems often run to 60 or more.
Key takeaways
- Put the strategy first. Rules people understand get followed; rules they don’t get worked around.
- Every visual rule needs a reason and an example: show the right use and the wrong use side by side.
- Give exact values: HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone for colour, sizes and weights for type, millimetres and pixels for the logo.
- Show the brand on the client’s real touchpoints, not generic mockups.
- Hand over the files with the document, and name who owns the guidelines.
The brand guidelines checklist at a glance
| Part | Section | Must include |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | 1. Introduction and brand story | Why the brand exists, in a few paragraphs |
| Strategy | 2. Audience | One to three audience profiles |
| Strategy | 3. Positioning | The positioning statement and what it rules out |
| Strategy | 4. Values and personality | Three to five values; personality traits with is / is not |
| Strategy | 5. Key messages | Core message, supporting messages, boilerplate |
| Strategy | 6. Voice and language | Tone rules, words to use and avoid, before-and-after examples |
| Visual | 7. Logo | Versions, clear space, minimum size, backgrounds, misuse |
| Visual | 8. Colour | Codes in every format, proportions, accessible pairings |
| Visual | 9. Typography | Typefaces, hierarchy, fallbacks, licensing |
| Visual | 10. Imagery | Photography or illustration style, do and don’t |
| Visual | 11. Design elements | Patterns, icons, graphic devices and how to use them |
| Use | 12. Applications | The brand on real touchpoints |
| Use | 13. Files and ownership | Where assets live, who approves, how to ask |
Part 1: Strategy
The strategy pages are what make guidelines useful after you leave. They let the client’s team make decisions the document never covered. Carry them over from the strategy the client signed in discovery; don’t rewrite them.
1. Introduction and brand story
Why the brand exists, who it’s for and what it promises, in a few short paragraphs. Write it so a new hire could repeat it after one read.
2. Audience
One to three profiles: who they are, what they want, what they fear and where they look. Photography helps people picture them.
3. Positioning
The positioning statement, plus one line on what it rules out. If you need a format, see our brand positioning statement guide.
4. Values and personality
Three to five values, each with what it means in practice. Personality as pairs: “confident, not loud; warm, not casual”.
5. Key messages
The core message, three supporting messages with proof, and a short and long boilerplate the client can paste anywhere.
6. Voice and language
How the brand writes: tone rules, words to use and avoid, and before-and-after sentences. One rewritten paragraph teaches more than a page of adjectives.
Part 2: Visual system
7. Logo
- Versions: primary, secondary (stacked or horizontal), icon or monogram, and single-colour versions.
- Clear space: a rule based on part of the logo itself (for example, the height of one letter), so it scales.
- Minimum size: in millimetres for print and pixels for screen.
- Backgrounds: which version to use on light, dark and photographic backgrounds.
- Misuse: show the common mistakes: stretching, recolouring, adding effects, rotating, crowding and placing on busy images.
8. Colour
- Codes in every format: HEX and RGB for screen, CMYK for print, and Pantone where printing needs it.
- Proportions: how much of each colour to use. A palette without proportions gets used evenly, and the brand loses its character.
- Accessible pairings: which text and background combinations meet the WCAG AA contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for body text, and which to avoid.
9. Typography
- Typefaces for headings and body, with weights.
- A hierarchy: sizes and spacing for headings, body text, captions and buttons.
- Fallbacks: system fonts to use in email, Office documents and anywhere the brand fonts aren’t installed.
- Licensing: where the fonts come from and whether the client needs a licence. Free fonts under the SIL Open Font License avoid the question.
10. Imagery
The style of photography or illustration, with a small set of examples that fit and a few that don’t: lighting, colour treatment, subjects, composition.
11. Design elements
Patterns, icons, graphic devices and textures, with rules for when and how to use them so they support the logo rather than compete with it.
Part 3: Use
12. Applications
Show the identity on the touchpoints this client actually has: website, social posts, stationery, signage, packaging, email signature, presentation slides. For a hotel or tour operator that might be booking pages, brochures and guest materials; for a consultancy, proposals and slide decks. This is the section people use most, because they can copy what they see.
13. Files and ownership
- Where the logo, font and template files live, and which file to use for what.
- Who owns the guidelines and approves exceptions.
- How to ask for something the document doesn’t cover.
- The date and version, so people know they have the current one.
How long should brand guidelines be?
| Project | Typical length | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Logo and colour refresh | 8 to 15 pages | Logo, colour, type, a few applications |
| Small business identity | 15 to 30 pages | All 13 sections, kept short |
| Full identity system | 40 to 70 pages | All 13 sections in depth, many applications |
Length is not the goal. A document is long enough when it answers the questions people actually ask, and short enough that they read it.
What to hand over with the guidelines
- The guidelines as a PDF for sharing, plus the editable source file if the client will maintain it.
- Logo files in every version and format: SVG and PNG for screen, PDF or EPS for print, in colour, black and white.
- Colour and type files: swatch files and links to the fonts.
- Templates the client will use most, such as social posts, presentation slides or a letterhead.
- A short walkthrough. Present the guidelines in a session instead of only emailing them. Ten minutes on why the rules exist does more than any page of do’s and don’ts.
Common mistakes
- Visuals only. A logo sheet without strategy is a style sheet, not guidelines, and it stops working when the first new situation comes up.
- Rules without reasons. “Never use the logo on red” gets ignored; “the logo disappears on red, use the white version” gets followed.
- Missing colour formats. A HEX code is no help to a printer.
- Generic mockups. Show the client’s real touchpoints.
- No owner. Guidelines without someone responsible go out of date within a year.
- Files sent separately, or not at all. Rules without the assets create workarounds.
Where guidelines fit in a brand project
Guidelines are the last of three phases in the brand identity process: discovery produces the strategy, the concept presentation chooses the direction, and the guidelines document both. If the strategy is weak, the guidelines will be too, so start there. Our free brand strategy template is a good place to begin. For inspiration, see 10 brand guidelines examples from NASA to Mailchimp.
A template for client-ready guidelines
For client work, our Brand Guidelines Template for designers ($49) is the guidelines system we use on our own projects: 66 pages, strategy pages first, then the full visual system and applications, in InDesign, Illustrator and PDF, at 16:9, A4 and US Letter with 3 mm bleed. Linked logos, colour swatches and paragraph styles mean you edit once and the whole book follows. For your own small brand, the free brand guidelines template (17 slides for PowerPoint and Google Slides) is enough.
Frequently asked questions
What should be included in brand guidelines?
Brand guidelines should include the strategy (brand story, audience, positioning, values and personality, key messages, voice), the visual system (logo, colour, typography, imagery, design elements) and the rules for using it (applications, plus where the files live and who approves brand use).
What is a brand guidelines checklist?
A list of the sections a brand guidelines document needs, used to check nothing is missing before handover. A complete checklist covers 13 sections across strategy, visual system and use.
How many pages should brand guidelines be?
It depends on the project: about 8 to 15 pages for a logo and colour refresh, 15 to 30 for a small business identity, and 40 to 70 for a full identity system. A document is long enough when it answers the questions people actually ask.
Which colour codes should brand guidelines include?
HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK for print, and Pantone where the client prints with spot colours. Include how much of each colour to use and which text and background pairings meet the WCAG AA contrast ratio of 4.5:1.
What logo files should I give a client?
Every version of the logo (primary, secondary, icon, single colour) as SVG and PNG for screens and PDF or EPS for print, in full colour, black and white. Organise them in clearly named folders that match the guidelines.
What is the difference between brand guidelines and a style guide?
Brand guidelines usually cover strategy and visuals together. A style guide often covers only visual or editorial rules. For client work, include the strategy: it is what lets people make good decisions in situations the document doesn’t cover.
Written by Martina Boshra, founder of iBrand Identity and creator of The Transmutation Method™. Brand strategist for founders and service businesses across the US, Europe and the Gulf. Part of the brand identity process guide. Last updated November 2026.
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