Brand guidelines template

Create consistent, memorable, and professional brand guidelines

Inconsistent brand guidelines can lead to mixed messaging, diluted brand value, and missed opportunities to connect with your audience. From mismatched logos to off-brand colors or conflicting tones in content, the lack of alignment can confuse your customers and undermine your brand's credibility.

Brand guidelines help you maintain consistent branding across your business. A clear and well-documented brand identity ensures that every touchpoint—a social media post, a website design, or internal communication—feels cohesive and authentic. Without consistency, your brand risks coming across as disorganized or unprofessional.

A central hub for brand guidelines is crucial for successful project collaboration, especially for marketing teams. Creating brand guidelines gives your teams a valuable resource that grows with your business. By creating a centralized, easily accessible brand guideline document in Confluence, your team can stay aligned and deliver consistent, meaningful branding at every level.

Create brand guidelines in Confluence for free

Why are brand style guidelines important?

Brand guidelines shape how people perceive your company before interacting with your products or services. Customers who see consistent branding across your marketing materials, packaging, and communications develop confidence in your professionalism and attention to detail.

Guidelines prevent customer confusion. Without them, your marketing materials might look random and out of place. Customers won’t recognize your brand across different platforms, and they’ll struggle to build the familiarity that leads to trust and loyalty.

Types of brand guidelines

Different businesses need distinct approaches to brand documentation. Some common types include:

Visual brand guidelines focus on design elements and visual identity standards. These are essential for teams that must maintain consistency in their marketing tools and creative assets.
Messaging guidelines establish voice, tone, and communication standards. They maintain a consistent, collaborative culture among teams that interact with customers, such as marketers and customer service representatives.
Comprehensive brand guidelines combine visual and messaging elements into a complete brand system. Brands should have an extensive template to share with everyone, from executives to marketers, customer service reps, and designers.

What should brand guidelines include?

Your guidelines should cover all essential aspects of your brand identity. Through strategic planning, determine which elements are most crucial for your company:

Logo usage and specifications: Define clear rules for logo placement, minimum sizes, precise space requirements, and approved variations, including monochrome and reversed versions.
Color palette with precise color codes: Document your primary and secondary color palettes with exact RGB, CMYK, HEX, and Pantone values for consistent reproduction across all mediums.
Typography and font hierarchies: Specify your brand's typefaces for digital and print applications, including font weights, sizes, and spacing guidelines for different heading levels and body text.
Tone of voice and messaging principles: Establish your brand's personality through language, including specific vocabulary choices, writing style guidelines, and examples of appropriate communication across different channels. Consider customer journey mapping insights to ensure your messaging resonates at every touchpoint.
Visual asset guidelines: Set standards for photography style, illustration guidelines, iconography usage, and any other visual elements that represent your brand identity.
Social media standards: Detail how your brand should be represented across social platforms, including profile imagery, post formatting, hashtag usage, and engagement guidelines.

Tips for writing brand style guidelines

Creating brand guidelines requires a balance of clarity, usability, and comprehensiveness. Here are key tips to ensure your guidelines serve their purpose:

Structure for quick reference: Create a clear organizational structure with descriptive headings and a logical flow from basic to complex elements. This enables team members to quickly locate the necessary information without feeling overwhelmed.
Visual examples matter: Include comprehensive visual demonstrations alongside written instructions. Show comparisons of correct and incorrect brand applications to reinforce proper usage and explain why certain choices work better than others.
Design for scannability: Break dense information into digestible sections with consistent formatting and ample white space. Quick-reference sections for frequently needed information help teams find answers fast.
Plan for evolution: Build your guidelines in a format that's easy to update and maintain. Include version control information and establish a transparent implementation plan to keep guidelines current.
Balance depth with clarity: Focus on the most important rules and principles first, then layer in more detailed specifications. Your guidelines should be thorough without becoming overwhelming.
Customize for different users: Create targeted sections tailored to various team needs, from quick-start guides for new employees to detailed specifications for designers. This ensures everyone can access information relevant to their role.
Provide practical applications: Include real-world examples across various scenarios and mediums. Offer templates or starter files to help teams create on-brand materials efficiently. Hold brainstorming sessions with your team to generate creative applications and use cases.

Brand guideline examples

Well-structured brand guidelines can provide valuable insights into organizing and presenting your brand standards. Here are two examples that demonstrate different approaches to creating comprehensive yet practical guidelines:

Global technology hardware manufacturer

A global technology hardware manufacturer structures their guidelines around user empowerment and innovation.

Their guide might open with their mission of "creating accessible technology for all" before detailing precise specifications for their minimalist product photography style, monochromatic color palette, and geometric iconography system. Their tone of voice section would emphasize clear, jargon-free language that makes complex technology concepts understandable for everyday users.

Sustainable food delivery service

A sustainable food delivery service might center its guidelines on its commitment to environmental responsibility.

Their guide might feature a vibrant earth-tone color palette, food photography guidelines emphasizing fresh ingredients, and detailed specifications for their compostable packaging designs. Their brand voice guidelines would focus on balancing education about sustainability with an approachable, conversational tone that makes eco-conscious choices feel accessible rather than intimidating.

Dos and don’ts of writing brand guidelines

Creating practical brand guidelines requires balancing thoroughness with usability. Following proven best practices while avoiding common pitfalls ensures your brand guidelines serve the intended purpose.

DO be specific with logo measurements: Include exact dimensions, color codes, and spacing requirements to eliminate any guesswork. For example, if you specify that your logo needs 20 pixels of clear space on all sides, designers can implement this precisely every time.
DO include visual examples alongside written rules: Show correct and incorrect applications of your branding guideline elements. People learn faster when they see what you mean rather than just reading about it.
DO organize information logically: Structure your brand style guidelines so users can quickly find what they need. Begin with the most commonly used elements, such as logos and colors, before moving on to more specialized sections.
DO plan for updates and revisions: Build your guidelines in a format that's easy to modify as your brand evolves. Include version numbers and update dates so everyone knows they're working with current information.
DON’T overwhelm users with too much detail upfront: Focus on essential rules first, then provide deeper specifications for those who need them. Cluttered branding guidelines confuse more than they help.
DON’T forget to explain the "why" behind your rules: When people understand the reasoning behind brand style guidelines, they're more likely to follow them correctly. Explain how proper logo usage reinforces brand recognition.
DON’T create guidelines in isolation: Involve team members who will use the document in its creation. Their input helps identify practical needs and potential stumbling blocks.
DON’T assume everyone has design experience: Write instructions that non-designers can understand and follow.

Benefits of using a brand guidelines template

Maintains consistency

Brand guidelines ensure a cohesive brand across all channels, from your website and social media to printed materials and presentations. This consistency builds trust with customers, who come to recognize your professional and intentional approach to every interaction.

When your brand looks coordinated and purposeful across all touchpoints, people assume you bring the same level of care and attention to your products or services.

Improves brand recognition

Consistent branding makes your brand easier to identify in crowded marketplaces where customers encounter hundreds of messages daily. When people see your distinctive colors, fonts, and visual style repeatedly, they develop strong visual associations with your company.

This recognition is directly tied to customer loyalty and recall, as familiar brands feel safer and more reliable when customers are ready to purchase.

Saves time

Brand guidelines speed up design and content decision-making by eliminating guesswork and reducing back-and-forth. Teams can work more efficiently because they know what's acceptable without requesting approval on basic elements. This leads to fewer revisions and more transparent communication between departments, meaning projects move faster and cost less.

Aligns teams

Guidelines keep internal and external teams aligned, whether working on marketing campaigns, product launches, or customer communications. Everyone has access to the same standards and expectations, which creates smoother collaboration across cross-functional teams and with outside vendors.

When your sales team, marketing department, and external agencies adhere to the same brand guidelines, your company presents a unified front that reinforces its professional credibility.

Protects your brand

Brand guidelines prevent the misuse of brand assets by establishing clear boundaries around what is acceptable and what could damage your brand's reputation. They emphasize the importance of brand integrity by demonstrating to team members how minor inconsistencies can erode the trust and recognition you've worked to establish.

How to create brand guidelines

Step 1. Define brand identity

Clarify your mission, vision, values, and target audience as the foundation for your guidelines. Set goals for what you want your brand guidelines to achieve. This foundational work will inform every subsequent branding decision, ensuring your visual identity aligns with your company’s core purpose. Research your target audience's preferences and behaviors to create guidelines that resonate with them.

Step 2. Choose visual elements

Select and standardize your logo, color palette, and typography. Document specific use cases for each element, including minimum sizes, spacing requirements, and color variations for different backgrounds and applications.

Create a new Confluence page for a flexible way to take notes, plan projects, and embed knowledge from third-party apps. Invite the whole team to edit, offer suggestions, and provide feedback.

Step 3. Outline brand voice and tone

Establish how your brand communicates through language, including tone and style. Create detailed examples of appropriate voice across different channels and scenarios, from formal communications to social media posts. Include specific vocabulary lists with preferred and avoided terms to maintain consistency.

Step 4. Set guidelines for imagery

Define the style, types, and rules for photos, illustrations, and other visuals. Provide specific guidance on image composition, lighting, and subject matter to maintain a consistent visual narrative. Document technical requirements such as file formats, resolution standards, and cropping guidelines.

Step 5. Document content guidelines

Include rules for writing headlines, messaging, and calls to action. Provide examples of successful content across different platforms, formats, and templates for common content types. Create a clear hierarchy for messaging to ensure critical brand communications maintain their impact.

Step 6. Include examples

Provide clear "do" and "don't" examples of branding. Create side-by-side comparisons that illustrate common mistakes and their corrections. Include real-world applications across various mediums to demonstrate how guidelines are applied in practice.

Step 7. Make it user-friendly

Organize the guidelines in an accessible, easy-to-follow format. Include a clear table of contents, searchable sections, and quick-reference guides for commonly needed information. Consider creating interactive elements or checklists that help users quickly find and implement the necessary guidelines.

Collaborate with your team to create the template using Confluence, where you can share in-line comments, reactions, and engaging visual elements like GIFs.

Create brand guidelines with Confluence

Building brand guidelines in Confluence empowers teams to create a dynamic, accessible resource that evolves with your brand. With Confluence, you can develop a living document that's easy to update, share, and reference across your company. Collaborative features allow your team to contribute insights and updates while maintaining version control, ensuring your guidelines stay current and relevant.

Confluence lets you structure your brand guidelines intuitively with flexible pages and whiteboards that combine documentation, real-time collaboration, and embedded knowledge. Teams can seamlessly edit content, add visual examples, and provide feedback in comments. With features like @mentions, notifications, and catch-up summaries, everyone stays aligned on the latest brand standards and can quickly find necessary information.