11 Easy Steps to Creating a Brand Style Guide as a Business Owner

As a small business owner, you know how important it is to create a strong brand identity that resonates with your target audience. But how do you ensure consistency across all your marketing materials and communications?

That’s where creating a brand style guide comes in. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through creating a brand style guide that captures your brand’s essence and helps you build a consistent and cohesive brand image. I also created a free brand-style template to accompany this post that you can get here!

Why Do You Need a Brand Style Guide?

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of creating a brand style guide, let’s talk about why it’s essential for your business. A brand style guide is a comprehensive document outlining your brand identity’s visual and written elements. It is a roadmap for your brand’s aesthetic, messaging, and overall tone.

Having and creating a brand style guide ensures that your brand’s messaging and visual identity remain consistent across all your marketing materials, including your website, social media profiles, advertising, and packaging. Consistency is vital to building a solid brand identity that connects with your audience and sets you apart from your competitors.

Step 1: Define your brand story: 

Your brand story sets your business apart from your competitors. It helps your audience connect with your brand on a personal level. Your brand story should convey the essence of your business, what motivates you, and what you stand for. 

Ask yourself questions like, “What inspired me to start this business?” and “What problem am I trying to solve?” Then, use your answers to craft a compelling brand story that resonates with your target audience. This story will inform the tone and messaging of your brand, so it’s essential to get it right. 

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when crafting your brand story:

1. Identify the critical elements of your brand’s story, including its history, values, and mission.
2. Craft a compelling narrative that reflects your brand’s personality and resonates with your target audience.
3. Use your brand story to inform all aspects of your business, including your marketing, messaging, and design.
4. Incorporate your brand story into your website, social media profiles, and other marketing materials.
5. Continually refine and update your brand story as your business grows and evolves.

You can repurpose this when creating a brand style guide and in social media, blog articles, speaking events, and even more! Repurpose and reuse effectively is the name of the game!

Step 2: Define Your Brand’s Personality and Voice

Before creating a brand style guide, you must define your brand’s personality and voice. This includes identifying your brand’s values, tone, and messaging. 

Your brand’s voice and tone are how you communicate with your audience. It encompasses your language and style to convey your brand’s message. First, determine the tone that best aligns with your brand personality and values. For example, are you fun and playful or serious and professional? Then, ask yourself even more questions like:

• What is your brand’s mission statement?
• What are your brand’s values and beliefs?
• How do you want your brand to be perceived?
• What tone and voice best represent your brand?

Your brand voice is how you communicate with your audience in written and spoken form. Define your brand voice by determining the tone and style of your messaging. Think of examples of how to write headlines, body copy, and social media posts in this voice. Also, define any specific language to avoid or use, such as jargon or industry-specific terms.

Once you understand your brand’s personality and voice, you can create the visual and written elements for your brand style guide. However, we will need to do a few more things before we can start creating a brand style guide!

Step 3: Define Your Brand’s Messaging

Your brand’s messaging is just as important as its visual identity. Therefore, your messaging should be consistent across all your marketing materials and reflect your brand’s personality and voice.

Start by creating a list of critical messages representing your brand’s values and beliefs. These messages should be communicated consistently across all your marketing materials, from your website copy to social media posts. Having brand messaging is vital when creating a brand style guide.

Consider the following when defining your brand voice and tone:

• Tone: What is the overall tone of your brand’s content? Should it be formal, conversational, witty, or authoritative?
• Vocabulary: What words and phrases best represent your brand’s personality and values?
• Grammar and punctuation: Should your brand’s content adhere to formal grammar rules, or is a more casual approach appropriate?
• Consistency: Ensure your brand’s voice and tone are consistent across all channels and platforms.

It’s also essential to define your brand’s tone and voice. Are you formal or casual? Professional or playful? Defining your brand’s style and voice will help ensure consistency across all your communications.

Step 4: Begin Developing a Visual Identity

Your brand’s visual identity is the combination of colors, fonts, and imagery that represent your brand. Creating a consistent visual identity that is instantly recognizable and reflects your brand’s personality is essential when creating a brand style guide.

Start by choosing a color palette that aligns with your brand’s values and messaging. Then, consider the psychology of color and how different colors can impact your audience’s perception of your brand. Finally, choose two or three primary and a few secondary colors that complement them.

Next, choose a font or set of fonts that will be used consistently across all your marketing materials. Your font choice should reflect your brand’s personality and be legible across different mediums.

Finally, choose imagery and graphics that align with your brand’s values and messaging. This could include photos, illustrations, or icons.

As you go through the following steps of creating a brand style guide, you’ll want to have something to take notes with!

Step 5: Actually Choose Your Colors 

Your color palette is another crucial aspect of your brand style guide. Consistent use of color can help reinforce brand recognition and make your marketing materials more visually appealing. 

Choose colors that align with your brand values and personality. Your color palette should include both primary and secondary colors that can be used across all marketing channels. 

Start by choosing a primary color for your brand. This color should represent your brand and resonate with your target audience. From there, you can select secondary colors that complement your primary color and add depth to your brand palette.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when choosing your brand colors:

• Consider your target audience: What colors will resonate with them and align with their values and preferences?
• Think about your industry: Are there any color trends or conventions you should consider when choosing your brand colors?
• Choose versatile colors: Your colors should work well in various contexts, from your website to your social media profiles and marketing materials.
• Consider color psychology: Different colors can evoke different emotions and feelings, so choose colors that align with the tone and personality of your brand.

Once you have selected your primary and secondary colors, create a swatch guide to showcase how they should be used. Include information when creating a brand style guide on the color codes, such as RGB, CMYK, and HEX, to ensure consistency across all your brand materials.

Step 6: Select Your Typography 

Typography is another essential element of your brand identity. Choose fonts that reflect your brand’s personality and values. Are you going for a modern and sleek look, or do you want something more traditional and classic? The font you choose should be legible and easy to read.

Remember that you’ll likely need different fonts for different purposes, such as headings, subheadings, and body text. Also, consider how your fonts look on other mediums, such as your website, social media, and printed materials.

Some popular font pairing options include sans-serif and serif or pairing fonts of varying weights. Feel free to experiment and try different options until you find the perfect fit for your brand.

When defining your font, consider the following:

1. Use your brand’s personality and values to guide your font selection process.
2. Consider the purpose of each font and how it will be used.
3. Experiment with different font pairings to find the right fit for your brand.
4. Test your chosen fonts on other mediums to ensure they look legible.

Start jotting down your typography guidelines that outlines the fonts, weights, and styles that should be used for headlines, body copy, and other text elements. In addition, include information on font size, spacing, and alignment to ensure consistency. You will need this information later when actually creating a brand style guide.

Step 7: Determine Your Imagery Style 

The imagery you use in your branding, such as photos and illustrations, should also align with your brand identity. Imagery plays a significant role in your brand identity. It includes everything from images and graphics to icons and illustrations. 

Determine the style of imagery that best reflects your brand’s personality and values. When defining your brand imagery, consider the following:

• Image style: What style of imagery best represents your brand? Should it be professional, candid, playful, or serious?
• Subject matter: What types of images should you use to convey your brand message? Should they feature people, products, or environments?
• Color palette: Your brand imagery should complement your palette, so choose images that align with your brand colors.
• Consistency: Ensure your brand imagery is consistent in style, subject matter, and color palette.

Start jotting down the types of imagery used and how they should be treated. For example, include information on image style, composition, and color treatment. Also, prepare any image size, file type, and resolution specifications when creating a brand style guide. 

For example, specify the images appropriate for your website or social media posts. Again you will need this later in the creating a brand style guide process! 

Step 8: Define Your Logo Usage 

Your logo is the most recognizable element of your brand identity. So you guessed it, start writing down the guidelines for its usage, such as its placement, size, and clear space.

Include examples of how the logo should not be used to avoid misuse. Also, provide different logo versions, such as full-color and monochrome versions, to ensure its versatility across various mediums.

Step 9: Create Guidelines for Using Your Brand Elements

Once you have defined your brand’s visual identity and messaging, creating guidelines for using these elements across all your marketing materials is essential. Usage guidelines are crucial to maintaining brand consistency. 

When creating a brand style guide it should include the following elements:

• Your brand’s personality and values
• Your brand’s logo and variations of your logo
• Your color palette and how it should be used
• Your typography and how it should be used
• Your photography style and guidelines for using photography in your marketing materials
• Examples of how your brand’s visual identity should be used across different marketing materials, such as business cards, brochures, and social media profiles

When creating a brand style guidelines include how your logo should be used, how your brand name should be written, and how your brand elements should be placed on marketing materials. Be sure to provide clear and concise guidelines that allow for clarity. This includes guidelines for using your logo, color palette, fonts, imagery, and messaging.

Please include examples of your brand elements in action to help illustrate how they should be used. For example, provide examples of how your logo should be used in various contexts, such as on your website or social media. In addition, include examples of how your color palette should be used in marketing materials and what types of imagery are appropriate for your brand.

Now you see why I said to start thinking about all this as you create the elements! When creating a brand style guide, you should also include guidelines for using imagery and graphics, including image resolution and file format requirements.

Step 10: Packaging Guidelines

While it may not seem like a big deal, packaging can significantly impact your brand image. Creating packaging guidelines for your business ensures that all packaging is consistent with your brand’s overall look and feel. Even if you don’t have an e-commerce business do this step! Learn why below.

Here are some key elements to consider when creating packaging guidelines:

1. Color Scheme: Choose a color scheme consistent with your brand’s palette.
2. Typography: Select a font or group of fonts that reflect your brand’s personality and tone.
3. Logo Placement: Determine where your logo should appear on your packaging and at what size.
4. Imagery: Decide on the types of images that should be used on your packaging and how they should be presented.
5. Material: Determine the type of packaging material that will best reflect your brand and ensure that it is of high quality.

For businesses that are not e-commerce, packaging guidelines may refer to the presentation of your services. This can include designing promotional materials, business cards, and other materials to convey your company’s brand and messaging. (Just a small side note: You can use VistaPrint to get some of these things made) Make sure to still do this step for your business while creating a brand style guide!

Step 11: Share Your Brand Style Guide with Your Team

Once you have finished creating a brand style guide, sharing it with your team is essential. Your brand style guide should be a living document updated as your brand evolves and used as a reference for all marketing materials.

Creating a brand style guide can seem overwhelming. Still, it is essential to build a solid and consistent brand identity. Use these ten elements to develop a comprehensive brand style guide that reflects your brand personality and values. Maintaining consistency in your branding efforts can build a strong brand that is easily recognizable to your audience.

The next steps would be to take action by downloading my brand style guide Canva template and getting working on this now!