Brand guidelines creation services

Documenting a brand that already exists

When there are no guidelines, the first job is to find out what the brand actually is. A provider collects examples from the website, documents, signage, social media and supplier-made items, then lists every variation: three versions of the logo, four slightly different blues, two heading fonts. You then decide which versions become official.

Often the right answer is the version customers see most, tidied up. The aim is consistency, not change for its own sake.

Typical decisions to settle

How the service runs

1. 01

   Collect

   Examples gathered from every channel and supplier.

   Output: Brand inventory

2. 02

   Decide

   Variations reviewed with you and official versions chosen.

   Output: Agreed standards

3. 03

   Rebuild

   Master files recreated in every format needed.

   Output: Clean asset set

4. 04

   Write and hand over

   Guidelines drafted, tested and delivered with editable source.

   Output: Guidelines and files

What you should receive

When guidelines are not enough

• Poor-quality logo

  If the mark cannot work at small sizes or in one colour, a redraw or refresh may be needed first.

• Inaccessible palette

  If no colour pairs meet contrast guidance for text, the palette may need extending.

• Brand no longer fits

  If the business has changed, a refresh may be wiser than documenting the old look.

Insist on editable guidelines

Guidelines will need updating. If you receive only a PDF, every change means going back to the original designer. Ask for the source file in a format you or another designer can edit, or for online guidelines you can update. Agreeing this at the start avoids being locked in to one supplier for minor changes.

Sharing with suppliers

Guidelines are most useful when everyone who produces branded material has them. Sending the guidelines and current files to printers, sign makers, web developers and agencies at the same time, with a note asking them to replace old files, closes the main route by which outdated versions keep reappearing.

Talking to the people who use the brand

The most useful guidelines answer questions people actually ask. A short conversation with the staff member who makes social posts, the person who prepares quotes and the printer you use most often reveals where confusion arises: which logo to put on a dark photo, which blue to give the printer, whether the tagline is still in use. Those questions shape the structure of the guidelines and decide which examples are worth including.

It also builds goodwill. People who were asked about their needs are more likely to use the result.

Fitting the work around the business

A guidelines project for an existing brand needs relatively little of the owner's time: gathering examples at the start, a session to agree official versions and a review of the draft. Most of the remaining work, rebuilding files, writing and illustrating rules, happens without needing input, so the project can run alongside normal trading.

Formats to discuss

• PDF

  Easy to share; include a version number and date on every page.

• Editable document

  Lets you update rules yourselves.

• Online page

  Rules and downloadable files in one place, kept current by an owner.