Most small businesses have a logo. Far fewer have written down how it should be used. The result shows up slowly. The website uses one shade of blue, the exhibition banner another, and the polo shirts a third. Nobody decided this. It happened because each person and supplier made their own best guess.

Brand guidelines stop the guessing. A brand style guide is a short document that sets out how your brand looks and sounds, so anyone producing something with your name on it can get it right first time. This post covers what to include in brand guidelines, how much detail a small business really needs, and how to keep the guide in use once it is written.

What are brand guidelines?

Brand guidelines, also called a brand style guide or brand book, are the rules for using your brand. They cover the visual parts, such as the logo, colours and fonts, and the written parts, such as tone of voice. A good guide also shows the brand in use, so people can see the rules applied rather than just read them.

The guide is not the brand itself. Your brand is what clients think of you. The guide is a practical tool that keeps every touchpoint pulling in the same direction: the website, proposals, signage, packaging, workwear and branded merchandise.

Why a small business needs a brand style guide

It is easy to think brand guidelines are only for large companies with marketing teams. In practice, smaller firms often need them more. They rely on outside suppliers for printing, web design, merchandise and signage, and each supplier starts from scratch unless they are given something to follow.

A guide saves time on every brief. Instead of explaining the colours again, or hunting for the right logo file, you send one document. It also protects the investment you made in your logo and website. A brand that looks the same everywhere feels established and reliable, which matters when B2B buyers are deciding who to trust with a contract.

Logo usage rules

The logo section is the heart of most brand guidelines. It should answer the questions suppliers ask most often.

Logo versions

Show every approved version: the main logo, any stacked or horizontal layout, a simple icon or mark for small spaces, and single-colour versions for use on dark or light backgrounds. Say when each one should be used.

Clear space and minimum size

Set how much empty space must sit around the logo, often measured against part of the logo itself so it scales. Give a minimum size for print and screen, below which the logo stops being legible. This is especially useful for small items such as pens, key rings and embroidered logos.

What not to do

A short set of examples of misuse is often the most useful page in the whole guide. Common ones are stretching the logo, changing its colours, adding shadows or outlines, rotating it, and placing it on busy photos where it disappears.

Brand colours: HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone

Colour is where brands drift most. The same colour has to be described in different ways for different uses, and a guide should list all of them for each brand colour.

• HEX codes for websites and digital design.
• RGB values for screens, presentations and video.
• CMYK values for printed material such as brochures and business cards.
• Pantone references for spot-colour printing and for matching colours on merchandise, packaging and textiles.

Split the palette into primary colours, which carry the brand, and secondary colours, which support it. Give a rough idea of balance, such as which colour should lead and which should only be used as an accent. Check that text and background combinations are easy to read, both for accessibility and because a website that is hard to read loses visitors.

Colours never match perfectly across every material. A colour printed on paper, embroidered on a shirt and shown on a phone will vary a little. Listing a Pantone reference gives suppliers a fixed point to match against, and asking for a proof or sample before a large order catches problems early.

Typography and brand fonts

List the fonts you use for headings and for body text, with the weights you allow. Say where to get them and whether they are licensed for your use. Include a fallback font for situations where the main one is not available, such as everyday documents in Word or emails, so staff are not left to pick something at random.

Add a few simple rules on sizes and spacing. You do not need a full type system. Showing a sample heading, subheading and paragraph is usually enough for a supplier to follow.

Tone of voice in brand guidelines

How you write is as much part of the brand as how you look. A tone of voice section helps anyone writing for the business, from a new member of staff to a copywriter working on the website.

Keep it practical. Describe the voice in three or four plain words, such as clear, friendly and expert, and say what each means in practice. Give examples of phrases you would use and ones you would avoid. Note simple house rules too: UK or US spelling, how you write the company name, and whether you use first names in emails.

Key messages

Include a short description of what the business does and who it serves, written the way you want it repeated. This gives a consistent line for proposals, event listings, social profiles and partner websites.

Imagery, icons and graphic style

Photos and graphics shape how a brand feels. Say what kind of photography fits: real staff and projects, or clean product shots, natural light or studio. If you use icons, patterns or graphic shapes, show them and explain how they are used. A handful of good and bad examples works better than a long description.

Show the brand in use: stationery, web and merchandise

Rules are easier to follow when people can see them applied. The final section of a brand style guide should show real examples across the places your brand appears.

• Business cards, letterheads, email signatures and proposal templates.
• Website pages and social media profiles.
• Signage, exhibition stands and banners.
• Workwear and uniforms, including where the logo is placed.
• Branded merchandise and packaging, such as mugs, notebooks, bags and product enclosures.

Merchandise deserves a little extra thought. Logos are printed, engraved, embroidered and moulded, and each method has limits on detail and colour. Note which logo version suits each method. A single-colour version often works best for engraving and embroidery, and a simplified mark may be better on very small items. If you are planning orders for the year, our guide to planning a branded merchandise budget covers the timing side.

Logo files and brand assets to supply

A guide is only half the job. Suppliers also need the right files. Keep a shared folder of brand assets alongside the guidelines, with clear file names.

• Vector logo files, such as SVG, EPS or PDF, for print, signage, merchandise and anything that needs to scale.
• PNG files with transparent backgrounds for documents, presentations and the web.
• Each logo version in full colour, black and white.
• Font files or links, and any templates for documents and social posts.

Vector files matter most. A low-resolution logo copied from a website will look blurred on a banner or an engraved product, and it is one of the most common reasons a print or merchandise job is held up.

How long should brand guidelines be?

For most small businesses, shorter is better. A clear guide of a few pages that people actually open is worth more than a long brand book that nobody reads. Start with the logo, colours, fonts and a page of examples. Add tone of voice and imagery as the business grows or starts producing more content.

Save the guide as a PDF so it opens anywhere, and keep it in one place that staff and suppliers can reach. Give one person responsibility for keeping it up to date and for answering questions about it.

Keeping your brand style guide up to date

Review the guide when something changes: a new logo, a website redesign, a new product range or a change in how you describe the business. Mark each version with a date so suppliers know they have the latest one. When you update it, send it to the suppliers you use regularly rather than waiting for them to ask.

If you are starting from a logo and not much else, putting together brand guidelines is a good point to check that the brand still works across your website, print and merchandise. Logical Branding is a UK agency that helps businesses with branding, web design and branded products, and can help pull a practical guide together where that is useful.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should be included in brand guidelines?

At minimum, brand guidelines should cover logo versions and usage rules, brand colours with HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone values, fonts, and examples of the brand in use. Many also include tone of voice, key messages and guidance on imagery.

Is a brand style guide the same as brand guidelines?

Yes. Brand guidelines, brand style guide and brand book are usually used to mean the same thing: a document that sets out how a brand should look and sound.

Do small businesses really need brand guidelines?

Yes, if more than one person or supplier produces anything with your branding on it. A short guide keeps your website, print, signage and merchandise consistent and saves time on every brief.

Which logo file formats should I give suppliers?

Give vector files, such as SVG, EPS or PDF, for print, signage and merchandise, and PNG files with transparent backgrounds for documents and screens. Include full-colour and single-colour versions.

How often should brand guidelines be updated?

Update them whenever the brand changes, such as a new logo, a website redesign or a new product range. Otherwise, a quick yearly check makes sure the guide still matches how the brand is actually used.