Brand guidelines: what to include, with a template

Why brand guidelines matter

Without written rules, every printer picks a slightly different red, every new staff member stretches the logo to fit a slide, and after a year the brand looks like five companies. Brand guidelines stop that drift. They also save money: a printer with the right CMYK values gets the colour right the first time.

Brand guideline template

Copy this outline into a document and fill in each section. A short guide needs only the first four.

1. Logo

• The primary logo, plus horizontal, stacked and icon-only versions
• Full colour, one colour and reversed (white on dark)
• Clear space: the empty area around the logo, usually measured by a part of the logo itself
• Minimum size for print (in mm) and screen (in pixels)
• Misuse examples: stretched, recoloured, on a busy photo, with effects added

2. Colour

• Primary and secondary colours with CMYK for print, RGB and HEX for screen, and Pantone if you use spot colour
• Which colour is for backgrounds, text and accents
• Accessible text and background pairs

3. Typography

• Headline and body typefaces, with weights and where to buy or download them
• A free fallback typeface for staff who do not have the licensed fonts, such as Google Fonts
• Sizes and line spacing for print and web

4. Tone of voice

• Three to five words that describe how the brand speaks
• Do and do not examples for headlines, social captions and customer replies

5. Imagery

• Photography style: lighting, subjects, colour treatment
• Illustration and icon style if you use them

6. Applications

• Name card, letterhead, email signature and invoice
• Social media templates
• Signboard, vehicle, uniform and packaging examples

7. Contacts and files

• Who to ask when something is not covered
• Where to download the latest logo files

Rules Malaysian brands need

• Bahasa Malaysia on signboards. Most local councils, including DBKL, require Bahasa Malaysia on business signboards, and it must be at least as prominent as any other language. Your guidelines should show an approved signboard layout.
• Multi-script lockups. If your name appears in Chinese or Jawi, show the approved arrangement with English or BM and the size relationship between them.
• Halal and certification marks. Show where the JAKIM halal logo or other marks sit on packaging relative to your own logo. See using the halal logo on packaging.
• Registered trademark. If the logo is registered with MyIPO, note the ® rule. If not, see how to register your logo as a trademark.

Short guide or full guidelines?

You are	What you need
One shop, owner does most marketing	A short guide of 1 to 4 pages
Several outlets or 10+ staff	Full guidelines of 20 to 40 pages
Several agencies or franchisees	Full guidelines plus a shared folder of templates

Brand guidelines come with every corporate identity project we do, and a one-page usage guide comes with every logo.