Brand Guidelines

MichJ22

New Member
I'm a Graphic Designer for an education provider that has colleges around the UK.

I have been given a task to produce a Brand Guidelines document for all staff that works for the company. There are many different job roles in the company, for example, teachers/training instructors, office workers that wouldn't have any Graphic Design skills.

So, I've been trying to keep all these people in mind while designing the Brand Guidelines.... I'm not entirely sure if I'm being successful in this!

I would be grateful for any tips on how to explain to non-Graphic Designers how to use the brand

Thanks in advance! :)
 
Personally, I'd try and get hold of another companies brand guidelines and do something similar to that as there's no point in re-inventing the wheel and there can be a lot of work involved.
Sometimes they're available freely on the net in .pdf format.

Companies sometimes pay thousands to have them made and then they're just ignored by everyone anyway.
 
Thanks for the reply!

I've done quite a bit of research and the only ones I could find were made for graphic designers.

It seems pointless putting the colour codes etc. in a guideline for regular people (don't mean to offend), there would be no occasion for them to use them.

I'm hoping to maybe get some ideas/tips on how to word things and what to include. I have already included the new logo, how to use it correctly and when to use it (on letterheads etc).

To make it easier for everyone, I've designed a letterhead in InDesign and converted it to a word document that will be available to everyone in the company. And I will also be sending the logo to everyone in PDF format so they'll be able to use it on any company documents.

And I toooootally understand that some may ignore it.... we still have people in the company using a logo from 1999!! :/

I am loving your website and work by the way!
 
Ah, brand guidelines. Never has one PDF document been such a massive obstacle for creativity.

I try and keep keep it really simple and prevent the end user having to think about something. Ensure that any logos or assets they have access to include things like a safe zone included, and are created at specific sizes so they don't have to scale anything up or down and to maintain brand consistency. Maybe think about some kind of flow-chart/check list that could help them answer a question. For example, "Is the background dark? Yes -> use this white out version of our logo | No -> Use this standard version" along side an obvious example.

You've got the right idea with pre-making assets. I'd still include things like colour codes as you can't assume that everyone won't know what they are or that a fellow designer won't look at them one day. But think about when and what context the average reader will likely to need to add colour. Powerpoint presentations perhaps? Maybe these need to be pre-made too so it's one less thing to get wrong? Or maybe show an example of a colour picker in Word or somewhere to show them how to input a hex code or rgb/cmyk values, just in case?

You can't account for everyone, so a lot of guidelines include an email address for someone that can answer brand guideline queries.
 
No offence taken Mich.

I was thinking as a Designer that has had to use the things in the past.

I'd do as Paul says.

You can't teach everyone to be a designer so don't try.
Keep it super simple and try to think where the branding is being misused and target those areas.

I find that people aren't generally stupid on purpose, it's just that they don't have the time or the inclination to do otherwise.

Are they going to read a long and complicated brand guideline that's even longer because you've had to spell everything out to an idiot?

Keep it very brief and simple and maybe show examples of wrongs and rights. Crosses and ticks. In flight safety card if you like.
"Old logos = :D. New logo = :( )
"Raster for web. Vector for print"

I'd just try to say that it's important to use the branding properly and if in doubt ask, especially if it's going to be used outside the organisation.
Is this a job for a Designer? If so, give it to a Designer to do.

Brand guidelines generally are meant for designers and very few of them actually read them as they're usually over complicated things.
I've worked with some MASSIVE companies and even their marketing department don't follow them.

One of the biggest mistakes or problems is that they usually send you a low-res logo grabbed from the company web-site or as you say, an old, obsolete one from a folder somewhere last minute.
In the past I've even had to go to one of those "logos of the world" sites to get a logo as they couldn't find a decent vector one.
I'll not name and shame. ;)

Why not make a very simple folder with the essentials in it?
Even make it a bit tongue in cheek simple to avoid being patronising?
You could even treat it like an in flight safety card or flat pack guide.
"Your Branding Survival Guide"

Very, VERY simple and brief instructions.
Maybe two sets?
A very brief, five min one and a 'read further' one?

Here is the branding folder.
Keep it safe.
Keep it accessible and use it.
This is a vector...This is a raster.
If in doubt, ASK.

If you manage to do this successfully then you are a very clever person and you'll have managed to do something that no-one has ever manage to do before in the history of time.

You may like to return and thank us whilst you're not driving your solid gold motor car around the Côte d'Azur or share your secret. ;)
 
I've worked with some MASSIVE companies and even their marketing department don't follow them.

I've seen guidelines that contradict themselves. I generally treat them as guidelines, not rules. Some are overly strict and don't allow your branding to grow with new technology or web trends. I try to only include examples of what to definitely not do and leave the other stuff as open to interpretation as you feel comfortable with. You can't think up every scenario that your branding will be used in so keep it flexible. Branding should evolve with the times, and constantly telling people they can't do this or that will cause it to stagnate quickly.
 
Way back I used to work at a printers and we printed a a style guide for Paul Smith.

It was in the form of a book and was over a centimetre thick.
 
I wasn't expecting such a big response!

Thanks both, really appreciate the help. It is a really frustrating and annoying document :/ I totally understand that not everyone will keep to it but I'm up for the challenge!

I've already made a powerpoint template with all the right branding on there and that will also be distributed to all staff. The use of ticks and crosses are also in there ;)

It's a brilliant idea to put all of the resources in one folder. And flight safety card is definitely somthing I'll be looking into this morning!

I already have a "fully blown" Brand Architecture document so it's just a case of shortening it really. I've called the short version "The Marketing Tool Kit"!

One centimetre!? Woow! I don't envy the person that had to create that document!

Thank you both for your help! Really appreciate it!

I will definitely be coming back for more tips in the future! :)
 
I wasn't expecting such a big response!

At least you got a little sanity before it evolved into a "why does my dog like curry" thread. ;)

I wish you luck with it and hope you can pull it off as it's not a small undertaking.
It'll probably make or break you. :D
It'd be good if you could take a less formal and usual approach that'll get somebody to actually look at it.

I deffo think the K.I.S.S. approach is the way to go though.

Be sure you drop by to let us know how you went on.
 
Last place I worked at still had pantone colours in their style guide. And one of the annexes recommended testing layouts on IE5.

It hadn't been updated for a while.
 
I once saw one that still had the salty tear stains form the previous Designer on it.

...At lest I think they were tears...PEH! :sick:
 
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