As a designer, working with an existing brand is fairly common. One might think such projects are fairly straight forward—create a new marketing piece using the established branding elements. However this is far more difficult that it may sound. Most small companies and organizations I’ve worked with are not brand conscious with design elements varying from flyer to flyer. (Just tracking down a logo in vectors can be a task in itself!)
In contrast, last week I was talking to Rev. Charles Latour, O.P., principal of Archbishop Hannan High School, who is in the middle of creating a branding style guide for the high school’s marketing and communications. The guide includes instructions for when the formal crest should be used, names and examples of official fonts, displaying the standard pantone colors, and more.
Granted, I’ve created similar branding style guides myself and have used established guides when working with universities and other large institutions, but I found the principal’s branding awareness to be refreshing. Indeed it’s essential to stay on brand, but that brand has to be clearly defined.
If you’re responsible for the marketing communications of a company or organization I highly recommend creating a brand style guide. Based on the group’s membership size and how responsibilities are delegated the depth of formality will differ, but the following should be considered at minimum:
The Logo Guide should include the group’s logos and when each is appropriate to use. Additionally colors (preferably Pantone colors), size, and positioning should be covered.
The Color Guide will give the primary and secondary colors in a manner that can be consistently reproduced. At best these should be Pantone colors, but at the least give the RGB and CMYK values.
The Font Guide will cover the accepted fonts and their usage.
I’ve also seen other authors suggest that a layout guide be part of the brand identity. While I fully agree that adhering to a uniform layout is equally important, the graphic designer for small business or organization template might do well by creating standard templates for letterheads, business cards, brochures, posters, and other regularly printed pieces instead.
The bottom line, creating and adhering to the branding style guide is just the beginning of consistent marketing communications. Literary concerns such as voice, tense, and writing/reading level all need to be considered too. None-the-less, like any good business plan, your branding guide needs to be written and disseminated if you’re going to have a successful brand.
