Creating a Style Guide

How many times have you commissioned business cards to print and received yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been fired up to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then caught that the crucial tag line is nowhere to be found or your logo has been ruined.

There is only one way to stop this from happening and that is to use a style guide. Not only will a style guide help you steer the reproduction of your logo - it will also help you fortify your brand recognition, which many argue is one of the strongest selling tools.

We have placed the below steps together for you as a starting point.

Step 1 : Define the audience for your Style Guide. Is this for staff to use in-house or is this for suppliers and contractors to refer to?

Step 2 : Outline what your output uses are. This is important because you will require different logos and file formats for example, black and white publication adverts in comparison to vehicle graphics.

Step 3 : Define the tone for the copy and content required. For example you may wantcopy rules for printed content and then copy rules for website content.

Content rules cover all punctuation rules and how to refer to the business and team.

Step 4 : Ensure you layout all the design templates so it is clear how and where the logo and branding sits on all the different pieces of collateral that may be reproduced.

Step 5 : Insure to take into account any contributing logos or logos of business that are affiliated with you. It’s also important that you send a copy of the layout to these companies to insure they accept the layout of their logo as they too may have their own Style Guide and hierarchy layout rules.

Step 6 : Make certain that grammar, spelling and contact details are correct.

Step 7 : Make certain that when suppliers are using the Style Guide they understand that a proof needs to be dispatchedto you to be confirmed as correct.

Have your Style Guide finished and as established as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly advocate a training session, whereby your design studio arrives and trains your staff on how to work the Style Guide and most importantly your brand.

For graphic design Brisbane, contact Bydaughters today. We help your brand build business.

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