The way your company is perceived is vital to the success of your business and the strength of your customer relationships. Developing a style guide is one way to build an authentic and consistent brand. When a brand guide is carefully developed and regularly used, you can build trust and loyalty in the eyes of your consumers.
What are the key elements that can make or break a brand? We’ve outlined six essential brand guidelines, with examples from our internal style guide.
6 key elements that can make or break a company’s #brand. Share on X1) Logo Usage
The logo is an important aspect for any company, offering immediate brand recognition for their consumers. It’s not uncommon to have more than one logo, so setting clear guidelines for the color, size, and placement of logos is critical for brand consistency. A style guide will outline how the logo should look in all instances in print and digital.
2) Designated Typefaces
There are a variety of typefaces available in multiple weights and styles. Typefaces can affect the feel of marketing materials so it’s important to define a company’s primary and secondary fonts. A great style guide will give examples with different weights and styles shown for elements such as headers, titles, and body copy.
3) Color Palettes
Color plays a huge role in the identity of a company and brand. Most companies have primary and secondary colors, while some color formats are tertiary. In addition to keeping the colors consistent, the style guide lists the color formats in Pantone, along with CMYK, RGB, and hex codes (print, screens, and the web, respectively.)
4) Website Elements
4) Website ElementsA website can have dozens or hundreds of pages available for consumers to browse. The investment of defining certain elements of a web page — such as color, typeface, button style, and icons — can be very beneficial to a company in terms of consistency and dependability. A style guide outlines these elements so they can be applied uniformly across all pages.
5) Language Tips
Great copy can demonstrate proficiency and dedication to quality. A company’s style guide may highlight keywords and phrases that are important to the company along with the tone of voice that content should be delivered. This helps marketers maintain consistency across a variety of promotional channels.
A style guide helps marketers maintain consistency across a variety of promotional channels. Share on X6) Photography Guidelines
Maintaining consistency throughout marketing materials can also be achieved using photography. Style guides often define what photography should consist of in terms of lighting, composition, and dimensions.
A style guide is often overlooked, but can play an important role in making or breaking a company’s marketing materials. As more consumers adopt mobile devices, it is becoming increasingly important for brands to maintain a seamless image across platforms. A style guide helps everyone within a company communicate to consumers in a consistent, dependable manner, leading to the overall growth of trust and loyalty with current and potential consumers.
At Clarity Quest, we believe a company’s branding should visually reinforce their mission and vision. Contact our branding specialists to learn how we can help represent your brand.
