a designer designing brand guidelines, examples of brand guidelines

10 Examples Of Brand Guidelines – Brand style guide for inspiration

Tis the season for a brand makeover. How to stand out from the rest? Well, having a strong brand identity can be considered the first item on the checklist for being a successful brand. Consistent brand use of elements across every platform and every marketing effort can contribute to building a successful brand identity. What can help you ensure everyone regularly follows and refers to the brand style guide? But wait, do you really have a proper brand style guide to offer for your brand?

In this article, we will look into📝:

  • Understanding Brand Style Guidelines: If you’re starting out as a new brand, this guide can be your holy bible for as long as your brand exists, so let me help you understand everything related to that.
  • Elements of a Brand Style Guide: There are a few things you must include in your brand style guide. Yes, it can make your brand more recognizable than you think.
  • Examples of Brand Guidelines: Here, I’ve included the top 10 brand guide examples to help you understand how top brands consistently make an effort to create a brand image for their consumers. So be sure to check that out!

It’s hard to forget a brand that has a unique style and a visual identity that’s easy to get. To grab people’s attention, you should level up your brand image with the right inspiring style guide and a perfect message. In this article, I’ve mentioned the top examples of brand guidelines, you can use the brand guidelines as a go-to manual for making sure you create the next best style guide and build brand recognition.

What are Brand Guidelines Examples

implement the usage of brand guidelines

So, let’s get into the basics. These particular brand guidelines keep your brand consistent and help build trust among your clients and target audience. Essentially, they are rules that you must follow while expressing your brand in every possible way but consistently. This is going to be the holy grail of your brand, guiding you to maintain cohesive visual elements and a strong message to make a big impact.

Brand guidelines, also known as a brand style guide, are an important document that governs the composition, the overall design, and the general look and feel of a company’s branding. It includes a collection of elements that define how you want your brand to be projected and perceived. It reflects the values and messages you want your brand or business to be associated with.

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This is also the document you provide to your designers and marketing associates to ensure they curate a distinctive look and feel for your brand when displayed to the public.

The online and overall digital experience of a brand should revolve around this set of guidelines. How do you recognize them? Well, look at the following reasons:

✅You always see written and visual consistency across the brand messaging.

✅There’s a cohesive representation of brand colors across every asset.

✅The language is almost familiar.

✅The overall setting is organized and balanced and complements every asset.

Now, let’s look at what you should include to set up something iconic.

What to Include in Your Brand Guidelines

elements of a brand style guide

I think when everyone hears what represents a brand, they immediately think of logos. Well, Logos are part of this strategy, but there’s a whole lot more, including your brand guidelines and mission statement. This statement ensures all your content is working towards the same goal and connecting with your audience. It can also guide your blog and paid content, ad copy, visual media, and slogan. So, you know, there are many layers to creating the perfect style guidelines.

If you asked me what makes or breaks a style guide, there’s no right answer, but there are a few elements you can’t compromise on. So, I’ve mentioned elements of your brand below that can help you to bring a brand to life.

Here’s what you need to include when creating your brand style guide:

  • Logo: Logos are the icon that represents your brand in one form. It is a powerful tool that determines how your brand is perceived by an outsider. You can create logos by getting inspired by different logo styles or use an online logo maker to design one.
  • Color palette: Brand colors are one of the most important parts of the style guide. The colors representing your brand will be part of every design, product packaging, digital makeup, and will visually impact the user experience. So, make sure you use colors that are easily captured by the human eye.
  • Typography: The font you use to represent your business name is another major aspect of a style guide. So, choose one that’s modern, legible, and easily recognized. Designers and marketers use it for marketing, websites, and text-based designs. It should make your brand feel authentic and comfortable.
  • Imagery: When using different images throughout your brand guide, you should ensure they represent your brand accurately. They should provide the best user experience, and your audience should connect with them, making it unique and one-of-a-kind for the brand.
  • Brand voice: You should have a cohesive tone of voice, along with a mission statement and values that explain why your company exists in the first place. The tone of your brand ensures it connects with your audience, which means the level of formality you use when communicating with them.

Importance of a Brand Style Guide Examples

step by step guide how to create brand guidelines

Now, let’s look at easy ways to understand why a brand style guide is important. In simple terms, the branding style guide or brand guidelines serve as a comprehensive guide for using brand elements to improve brand consistently across the globe. But let’s not just simplify it like that—it has a more important purpose, and these standards are crucial for:

✅Upholding the brand’s authenticity and building its value

✅Maximizing the reach of our operations in all markets

Ensuring cohesive, high-quality branding

✅Boosting overall productivity within the system

Now, let’s easily look at some examples of good brand style guides for your inspiration.

Examples of Brand Guidelines For Brand Strategy

Here are some solid brand guides that I think you can look at to learn a thing or two. These effective brand style guides make their brands popular and memorable among their audiences. Check out these examples to understand how amazing brands maintain consistent brand identity and get inspired to build your own brand guidelines.

1. TikTok

tiktok

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. It also has a brand guide that includes every detail of its logo, fonts, and colors, how they should look, and the overall feel of the app. The three major colors they use for their branding, along with their brand personality, are cohesive and distinct.

tiktok brand guidelines

tiktok brand guideline

The guide includes rules that designers or marketers should keep in mind in order to protect their brand identity, so it’s easy to follow these steps and create a memorable brand identity for the audience.I like how their style is catered to a new generation’s vibe and aesthetics. The use of colors and messaging is great for creating a new vibe for Gen Z users.

2. Uber

uber brand guidelines

Uber’s brand guidelines cover dive deep into how we should use their logo and fonts. Uber has minimalistic branding, but one will never forget Uber’s overall logo. For the brand, they believe that having ample space is key to maintaining its modern and edgy look and overall brand recognition. They have a basic black-and-white color palette and very sharp imagery.

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They created this brand guidelines document to assist partners and sponsors in maintaining the brand’s integrity across various platforms.

uber brand guidelines

uber brand guidelines

I really like the fact that they describe Uber’s primary and secondary brand colors, including a specific shade of blue designated for safety concerns. This is a great way to convey the brand’s value for safety. The guidelines also include specifications for spacing, typography, and examples of text hierarchy and call to action. The overall document has a standardized visual representation and minimalistic message to showcase the brand guidelines.

3. Netflix

netflix logos brand guideline

Tudum… well, I know you heard the distinctive “tudum” sound in your mind when I wrote this. Netflix’s marketing has always been brilliant. The combination of red, white, and black is one of the best color palettes for engaging audiences. Even their iconic logo makes up a large part of their brand identity. You know how the Netflix logo is used for a variety of reasons, from marketing on billboards to creating customized merchandise such as tote bags or accessories and for social media videos. This makes sense when they have specific guidelines for logos to tell everyone involved, “This is how you use Netflix, and you should not make any mistakes.”

I really like how they always give importance to the Netflix red color in their palette and the treatment of their logo. They also have a very simple set of rules governing the size, spacing, and placement of their famous capitalized typeface, so it’s easy to understand for others. Yes, Netflix, through its branding with the “Tudum” sound and the simple style guide, has a look and feel that creates an iconic brand image.

4. Hulu

hulu brand guidelines

The video streaming platform Hulu also has a very significant, friendly, and fun brand style guide. The document starts with global design principles and goes on to give details about their logo specifications, including attributes, safe zones, and a colorway matrix. Hulu also has a green-based color palette, particularly focusing on Hulu green and black. This guideline also extensively focuses on typography, typefaces, and what to avoid.

hulu brand guidelines

I really like Hulu’s brand has a minimalistic approach to every aspect of their brand image while also maintaining its bold, empathetic, and witty personality. The iconography and illustration rules also specify different styles, types, and even nuances like stroke weight. This detailed approach always helps people who plan to collaborate with Hulu. I mean, I also got inspired by their cover layout styles and call-to-action buttons, including motion theory principles for video content. This always ensures the brand has a consistent look and feel across every single platform.

5. Spotify

spotify brand gudielines and spotify logos

Spotify is charting this list of top visual brand style guides. Spotify has become music lovers’ favorite streaming platform because it provides a vibrant, engaging experience that mirrors the evolving musical tastes of its users. The bold shift they made towards duotone colors and contemporary design elements resonated particularly well with millennials. Their brand colors, black and green, make it widely recognizable, along with its unique logo that leaves an impact on the minds of every music lover.

spotify brand guidelines

What I like about them is how they make the streaming experience personal with their yearly Spotify Wrapped and how they brand-code it with messaging that connects with people. The whole user experience on the app, with details about listening history and interests, makes it a very personal experience for listeners on the platform.

6. Duolingo

duolingo brand guidelines

Who wouldn’t want to miss the manic, obsessive owl of Duolingo? This iconic imagery of the brand and its whole dedicated website is a clear example of how they give importance to brand identity guidelines. You can learn a lot from their brand guide and take it as an example to create your own. They have very detailed visual examples yet easy-to-understand information in their document. The guide covers an incredibly detailed section on creating illustrations, which is incredibly valuable for a brand that uses a design element such as an owl to communicate their message and values.

duolingo

I really like how they have given importance to the illustrated character, ensuring their logo is used correctly and doesn’t appear creepy. That’s why they have made clear instructions for illustrating the character.

7. Starbucks

starbucks brand guidelines

What’s a coffee brand that exudes luxury and showcases a lifestyle that screams elegance? Well, the answer is Starbucks. The Starbucks creative expression guideline focuses on a comprehensive overview of the brand in full form. They use green and all shades of green as part of their color palette, featuring the famous siren as the brand muse and face. They have carefully curated each and every element of the guide, from the popular sans-serif typeface to the caption or phrase “We Proudly Serve” with the wordmark. You’ll recognize the branding on their coffee mugs, making you feel like you’re having a premium coffee break.

starbucks brand guidelines

starbucks logo brand guidelines

I like how they try to incorporate different festive seasons into their branding and make adjustments to match the overall vibe. But, they also strictly stick to the authentic Starbucks branding in every marketing channel, both online and offline, which maintains the brand’s value and image through their customers. Plus, the brand kit features a visual spectrum of how their creative assets can be utilized across different mediums and channels.

8. Walmart

walmart

The popular Walmart store has a brand guideline that kicks off with voice and tone. This means they give more importance to what the brand stands for, also providing general instructions on the dos and don’ts for effective communication. The Walmart color palette has specific color codes, and the design section delves into creative principles, logo usage, typography, and brand architecture. The document also highlights a section called “Illustration and Photography,” detailing the style, role, and layout usage of visual assets.

walmart brand guidelines

walmart brand guidelines

I really like that they also provide video guidelines that include bumper examples, as well as a UX/UI design overview. This way, designers can ensure a cohesive brand experience across all customer touchpoints.

9. Apple

apple brand guidelines

In the tech category, Apple is considered the god of brand consistency and marketing. They’ve already built an empire that makes customers feel like they own a premium product of technology in their hands. The sleek design, the overall minimalistic approach, and the use of colors all suggest luxury and quality, nothing else. Their brand book is also a great example of how to use the gold standard Apple logo and when to use it. They also give details about their brand assets to ensure brand consistency through typography and other visuals in branding, signage, stationery, etc. Yes, I remember the time when we unboxed an Apple product and were happy to get the Apple stickers (well, it stopped after the introduction of the highly anticipated iPhone 16 in the market).

apple brand guideline

What I really like about Apple’s style guide is that it gives examples of common mistakes affiliated parties should avoid when promoting Apple products or naming the affiliated channels. I love how their branding is always about creative exclusivity, which is best depicted in their brand voice or the message of the “Think Different” marketing campaign.

10. YouTube

youtube brand guideline

YouTube is the biggest social media giant on planet Earth. But if I asked you to visualize YouTube, there’s a chance that you picture negative space around the brand’s logo. This is not by accident, as they have a way of utilizing space to create impact. The iconic logomark, with YouTube written in red, white, and black, creates a strong visual impact.

youtube brand guidelines
Like other top tech giants, they put a lot of importance into ensuring their logo is represented clearly, with ample space and no clutter around it. It also offers concise guidelines on typography, font space, and what not to do with its logo.

Great Brand Guide Examples to Inspire

what are brand guideline

After looking at these examples of brand guidelines, I’ve taken down a few points they all seem to follow. It’s like a universal rule on what to do and what not to do. So, here are some points you should keep in mind before creating your own brand style guide.

✅Be More Specific with Details

The more, the merrier. So, make sure you address everything in your brand strategy and include specific scenarios where you see others making mistakes and ask them not to repeat them. Be very clear about fonts, sizes, spacing, colors, and imagery. Be specific about typographic usage, and ensure you mention which fonts should be used for which channels, platforms, and mediums.

Always Name your Primary Color

To solidify your brand, you must have a primary color set for your brand name. For example, as I mentioned, Netflix’s use of its red is named “Netflix Red,” which is very specific and is only associated with Netflix. Similarly, “Spotify Green” is another key aspect of Spotify’s brand guidelines. This creates an air of importance around the brand while also claiming your brand color as your own private territory.

✅Best Brand Guideline Examples

This is one of the best tips you should take into consideration. While creating a document that states the importance of ensuring everything stays consistent with your brand identity, make sure the document itself is a great example of how your brand wants to be perceived and conveyed. So, make sure your style guide document follows the same exact rules. Yes, it is also part of your marketing material, so use your color palettes, fonts, and logo consistently in this document. It’s cool, isn’t it?

✅Get Help

If you’re at a stage where you need actual help designing your brand guidelines, you can connect with graphic design subscription services. They offer different affordable packages and allow you to make other graphic requests as well. You can also have unlimited requests, work with in-house designers, and get your brand style guide in the best possible way. You can connect with Graphically, and they will provide you with the best unlimited graphic design services.

Conclusion

As you already know, if you don’t have a proper set of guidelines for your brand style, it can look inconsistent in the eyes of your clients and target audience. So, if you’re about to start your own business, you have to invest in building a good brand style guide that ensures the look and feel of your brand is always on top.

I hope this article as a guide also helped you understand the importance of creating brand guidelines. If you need help creating one, you can connect with our designers at Graphically. You know that there are a lot of graphic elements required in the overall brand style guide, so you may require professional help.

FAQs

1. What are brand guidelines and examples?

Brand guidelines are essentially a set of rules and standards that help an organization stay consistent in how it presents itself across various channels. They create a clear framework for everything from visuals to the tone of voice in communication, ensuring that the brand’s identity stays cohesive. By having these guidelines in place, a brand can grow stronger and maintain a clear, recognizable presence, no matter where or how it’s being represented.

2. What are the brand guidelines for a company?

Brand guidelines, often referred to as a brand style guide, are the rules that shape the look, feel, and overall design of a company’s branding. They influence everything from logos and websites to blogs, ads, and other marketing materials. Think of any well-known brand—what makes them stand out? It’s likely their consistent use of these guidelines that makes them instantly recognizable across all platforms.

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