On The Importance of Branding Guides
By Nicholas Svizzero
One guide to rule them all, One guide to find them; One guide to bring them all and in their marketing bind them. Maintaining text dialogue consistency and visual coherency of all print, web and multimedia outlets is pivotal in protecting the integrity of any brand. What a branding guide extrudes is a visual guidework representation of what a brand stands for and what they represent. It is all too common that businesses don’t take the proper time required to create such a document. Without this unifying voice, in it’s absence rests incorrect or inconsistent content that over time results in mixed marketing message among the brand’s consumer base. Any marketing campaigns set forth without this unifying document will result in being less successful, as the company’s vision could be distorted and twisted without one.
Although an indepth guide is required to be fully effective, below are key aspects that provide a basic groundwork to branding guides:
A. Mission Statement & Vision
A short statement of the organization’s purpose, it’s scope of operations, the products or services it provides, it’s primary customers or market as well as it’s geographic location.
B. Logo
A visual representation of a company’s brand an ideals. Included in branding guides is different formats and colors to be used in specific scenarios.
C. Color Pallette
It’s common to provide HEX and RGB color values for each color within a company’s palette. Many brands have primary and secondary combinations to be implemented based on the scope of the project.
D. Typography
Font families, sizes, kerning, etc. and when to use them is just as vital to a brand’s identity as the logo or color palette. Fonts significantly matter, and using the improper font can result in detrimental effects.
F. Imagery
Photography is one of, if not the most prominent forms of communication in today’s day in age with the advent of cell phone cameras. The use of mediocre or off-vision stock art can result in one of the greatest harmful impacts a brand could face. It is vital to be on the same page throughout a company when picking photos to represent a brand.
Contact Bosse Studios today at 781.337.8500 to consult with our specialists on crafting a branding guide for your company.