Your free guide to the best branding book template (tips for success!)
A branding book template, otherwise known as a “brand manual” can be a valuable resource for any business. After all, if you want to build brand recognition with your target audience, you need to present a consistent image and identity whenever you interact with customers.
Not only does brand consistency make it easier for customers to recognize your brand, but according to studies, it can actually improve revenue by up to 23%.
A branding book basically acts as your brand’s “user manual”. It outlines the key elements of your visual identity, such as your brand colors and logo variations. It also helps employees, and contractors understand your brand’s personality, messaging strategy, and vision statement.
So, how do you create a brand book?
Here, I’m going to walk you through the process of designing a branding book template, based on my experience designing brand guides for countless leading companies.
What is a brand book? Defining brand guidelines
A brand book, or brand style guide, is a comprehensive document that outlines all the information you need to showcase your brand consistently across all channels. It details everything from how to use your logo, to the language you should use in marketing strategies.
Brand books can vary in their depth and scope. Some focus heavily on a company’s visual identity, including sample photography and iconography, logo details, color palettes, and typography choices.
Here’s a great example of a book we created for our client, Hawkswell:
Other brand guidelines can go even deeper, sharing a brand’s mission statement, core values, history, and messaging strategy. There are even memorable brands who include editorial and social media guidelines within their “brand guides”.
No matter which approach you take with your brand book template, the core purpose of the document should be to offer guidance and information about your overall brand identity to stakeholders, employees, and any contractors or freelance designers you work with.
Creating a branding book template
What to include
There are a few ways to create a branding book template. The easiest option, if you don’t have a lot of experience, and need help defining your brand strategy, is to work with the experts.
Here at Fabrik, we create comprehensive brand guidelines for every client we work with, outlining everything from iconography to color schemes, and logo usage guidelines.
Here’s a particularly comprehensive example of a book we built for Network Homes:
If you’ve already created all of your brand assets, and have all the insights you need, you can also build your brand book from scratch. There are plenty of great free tools online that can help you to do this, and they even offer access to pre-built templates.
Some of my favorite options include:
- Venngage: Ideal for simple, one-page brand books and infographics.
- Canva: Great for multi-page brand guidelines.
- Smartsheet: Fantastic for interactive brand books.
Once you’ve chosen the tools (or specialist services) you’re going to use to build your brand book template, it’s time to start working on the content.
What to include in your brand book template
The information included in your brand book will vary depending on the purpose of the document. If you just want to help professional design teams out with a step-by-step guide to your color scheme, logo design, and typography, you could keep your guideline relatively simple.
Alternatively, if you want to ensure you have a comprehensive “user manual” that covers every aspect of your outstanding brand, you might need to go more in-depth.
Here are some of the key components I recommend including in the perfect brand book.
Your brand overview
This is one part of a brand book that’s often overlooked by most business leaders. Typically, branding books are used more for “design guidelines” than insights into your brand positioning. However, it can still be helpful to provide a brief overview of your brand mission or promise.
Even a brief mission statement can help to introduce designers, employees, and stakeholders to the spirit of your brand.
Here’s a great example from the brand book we designed for LA Green:
If you want to keep your template simple, and you’re using a digital template, you could always include links to brand positioning or mission guidelines for teams to use.
Logo design and usage guidelines
Easily one of the most important parts of any brand guide is your “logo” section. Typically, your logo should have an entire page in your brand guide dedicated to it. This page should showcase different versions of your logo, with examples, and an explanation of the core elements.
You should also include:
- Improper and proper usage guidelines for the company’s logo.
- Insights into how graphic designers, external publishers, and partners can use the logo.
- Best practice tips on scale, positioning, and white space.
Take a look at how we outlined logo usage guidelines in this brand book for ClinySys:
Color palettes (with codes)
Next, you’ll need to outline the core elements of your color scheme. A good brand identity guidelines template should allow you to include color swatches, with specific Hex and RGB color information.
Make sure you also give employees or designers you’re working with tips on how to use the colors too. Outline which primary color should appear in marketing materials. Explain how to use different company colors together, and how to ensure good contrast between shades.
Even if you only have a simple color palette, ensuring your team can use it correctly (and consistently) will help you boost your connection with your target audience.
Here’s a fantastic example of a color palette page created for our client, Crosshead Bikes:
Typography
Next, create a page dedicated to the fonts and typefaces you’re going to use across different channels. There’s a good chance your company will regularly use more than one type of font, particularly for subheadings, headings, and body text on websites and in branding documents.
Although, I would recommend avoiding using too many different typefaces at once, as this can add complexity and confusion to your brand image.
Ideally, you should start with a primary font, and a secondary font, then outline how those typefaces will look in different weights and use cases.
Take a look at how we showcased different text styles and font options in our brand book for Salad Money:
Iconography and images
The iconography and image section of your brand guideline template should show team members and designers how to use the core shapes, icons, and illustrations you use to enhance your brand’s aesthetic. This page is crucial if you need to create media kits for PR companies.
Some business owners focus exclusively on shapes and icons, while others also give readers a little bit of information about how take product or promotional photos that match your brand’s style.
If you don’t have a professional photographer, you could always consider including instructions on how to use stock photos, with a few free Adobe stock images as examples.
Here’s what your iconography and images page might look like, based on our brand book for Dobeo:
Voice and tone
Technically, you don’t have to include information about your brand’s tone of voice in your brand book, but I’d recommend including at least some basic information.
Even if you’ve chosen a very minimalistic layout design for your branding book template, you can use a few small sections to highlight your target audience, and personality guidelines. This information will come in handy if you’re sharing your brand guidelines with PR teams or marketers.
Briefly explain your tone of voice, and the message you want to send with your marketing materials, and consider including a link to a broader set of editorial guidelines.
Here’s a great example from HubSpot:
Additional branding information
Outside of the key elements above, most of the other components of a brand book will be “optional”. The amount of information you include will depend on how extensive you want your brand guidelines to be.
Here are a few extras that some of the best brands include in their branding books:
- Social media guidelines: Tips on how to use icons and images across social media, with simple design advice, sizing templates, and file size instructions for uploads.
- Layout guides: Insights into how to use your brand elements in various environments, with formatting standards, and insights into best practices for using white space.
- Examples: Examples of what to do, and what not to do with your brand guidelines, to help reduce mistakes in design work.
3 great brand book template examples
I’ve already shared a few examples throughout this brand book template guide to help you start designing your own brand guidelines. If you still need a little extra inspiration, here are some great brand books used by leading companies.
Spotify
Spotify’s digital brand book covers everything professional designers and employees need to know to give customers a consistent experience with the brand. Although the brand guidelines template used by Shopify is pretty simple and minimalistic, it’s packed with information.
Here, anyone can find simple design instructions whether they’re looking for tips on how to use the Spotify logo, or want more information about the company’s unique color palette. Spotify even gives PR teams free templates they can use in their marketing campaigns.
Cisco
Cisco’s brand book is one of the most comprehensive I’ve seen over the years. The company invests in creating a consistent brand image and identity, with a 44-page guide to everything from color palette guidelines, to marketing strategies.
Since the book is digital, it’s easy for Cisco to share with the bold designers, contractors, and media teams they work with on a regular basis. I also love how this branding book provides in-depth insights into Cisco’s personality, and tone of voice.
Coca-Cola
Like most modern brands, Coca-Cola has chosen an interactive and digital branding book template for their guidelines. The contemporary style of the document matches Coca-Cola’s fun and professional identity perfectly. Even the colors are aligned with Coca-Cola’s brand.
Unlike most brand books, Coca-Cola’s solution is a more comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about the company, from the products it sells, to its history and heritage. You don’t necessarily need to go this in-depth with your own template.
A simple design can be more than enough to give designers and experts the information they need to help promote your brand.
Creating your branding book template
Designing a branding book template doesn’t have to be as complex as it seems. There are plenty of free online design tools that already provide access to beautiful template options you can customize however you like.
Alternatively, you can simplify the entire process, by working with a professional.
The team here at Fabrik can help you design the ultimate brand book, outlining everything from logo use to typography, font size options and color palettes.
If you need help designing a brand book, or an incredible brand, contact Fabrik today to see how our branding experts can support you.
Fabrik: A branding agency for our times.