How to create an effective Brand Style Guide
When creating an online presence for your small business or rebranding, you need to ensure all the elements, such as colour scheme, fonts, layout, images, and logo, are consistent with your brand style. However, this can be hard to achieve if several people are involved in different aspects of your web presence.
A style guide outlines the rules regarding how you want your brand portrayed. Ensure you align all the elements of your brand, such as the design process, content, social media pages, and the overall aesthetic. Incorporating a brand style guide is crucial to maintain your brand’s image and effectively communicate your brand’s story.
Use these steps to create a cohesive brand style guide and effectively build your brand identity;
Brand Story
Your brand story outlines the mission, vision, and goals of your business. As a business owner, you need to tell a strong brand story for your customers to care about your business, increase brand awareness and build trust and loyalty among web users. You can use your brand story to guide the visual elements of your online presence and set the tone for the rest of your web content.
Visual Guide
A brand’s visual guide includes the colour palette, logo, imagery, typography, and site layout. Good visuals across the web increase your brand credibility and evoke a powerful reaction, leading to more user engagement. Plus, setting rules on the type of imagery to use will make your brand look more professional. Come up with specifications for the colors, fonts, icons, and layouts to maintain consistency.
Brand Tone
Your brand voice and tone defines how users interact with your web content. Adopt a consistent tone in all your written content, such as blogs, social media posts, or email newsletters, to put forward a coherent brand. A mismatch in the tone of your content creates confusion and lowers your credibility.
Brand Positioning
To stand out from competitors online, you need to set yourself apart. Therefore, you need to understand what your consumers want and your position relevant to your competitors. Brand positioning will help you incorporate positioning statements that you can use to reflect your brand personality, such as packaging design on your website, visual elements, and online communication.
Evolve with your Brand
As your brand grows or you rebrand, you also need to update your style guide to keep up with the changes. In the case of a rebrand, you might want to modify the visual elements or tone to reflect the new brand identity. When updating your brand style guide, focus on your brand’s purpose, values, and vision to craft guidelines that will help you achieve your branding goals.
Implementing a thorough brand style guide will ensure you have a distinct style, which will improve the overall user experience. Plus, maintaining a consistent brand image will help you build a stronger brand identity.
