A familiar situation: there's a logo, but the website uses one colour, the Instagram posts another style, and the business cards a third font. Every new designer or staff member does things "their own way", and the company looks different everywhere. The fix is a brand book (brand guidelines).
What is a brand book?
It's a document that collects the rules of a company's visual and written style in one place. The aim is simple: whoever makes the material — a designer, an SMM specialist, a print shop — the result should look like it belongs to the same company.
What goes into it?
- The logo and how to use it — versions, minimum size, the clear space around it, which backgrounds to use it on and how not to use it (examples of a stretched, recoloured or shadowed logo);
- The colour palette — primary and secondary colours, HEX/RGB codes for screen and CMYK for print;
- Typography — heading and body fonts and their size ratios;
- Graphic elements — icon style, patterns, rules for choosing photos;
- Examples — business card, letterhead, email signature, social media post, website header;
- Tone and voice — formal or informal "you", official or friendly, which expressions to avoid.
Who needs one?
- Companies working with several designers or agencies;
- Businesses with branches, franchises or dealers;
- Teams where different staff run the social media;
- Companies going through a rebrand and updating old materials.
A small business doesn't need a 30–50 page book. A 5–10 page "mini guide" with logo rules, colours, fonts and a few examples also removes most inconsistencies.
The benefits
- Recognition. As the same colours and style repeat, customers recognise you even without looking at the logo.
- Time and money saved. The "which colour, which font" debate for every new piece ends, and a new designer gets up to speed quickly.
- A professional look. A consistent style shows the company is serious and reliable.
Your website and the brand book
The website is the most visible part of a brand. It helps if the brand book has separate rules for digital: button colours, contrast between text and background, web fonts and whether they support Azerbaijani letters (ə, ğ, ı, ö, ü, ç, ş). On the logo itself: 6 signs of a good logo.
Where to start?
Gather all your existing materials in one place — website, business cards, posts, ads — and look at what repeats and what contradicts. Keeping what works and turning it into rules is often better than starting from scratch.
For a logo, corporate identity and brand book, see our branding services.
