Unveiling the power of brand style guides: building consistency across all touchpoints

It would be an understatement to say, “I understand how important brand style guides are.”

Given all the brands and sub-brands we work with and all the designers assigned to each of these brands, we essentially need a brand style guide for each of them.

This is how we can make sure the designs we create stay consistent for each brand.

No matter how many designers are working on a client’s brand, we always make sure that their brand identity remains consistent.

Otherwise, we might just end up with generic styles. You might as well be using just templates online for your designs!

Whether you’re a web developer needing graphic design help or a creative agency managing lots of brands, having a good brand guide is key to making sure everything about your brand stays consistent.

In this article, we’ll talk about why brand style guides are so important and how they help build trust, recognition, and loyalty among customers.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes brand-style guides so powerful.

Understanding the brand guide: Keeping everything consistent

A brand guide, also known as a brand kit or brand book, is like having a rulebook for how to style and present your brand.

It puts together all the important stuff about your brand, like logos, color palettes, fonts, and how you talk about your brand story.

➡️Check out our article about the anatomy of brand guidelines to learn more about each part of your brand guide.

This makes sure all your brand elements and your brand voice stay cohesive.

This helps everyone, from your own employees to the freelancers you work with, know how to represent your company to the public.

It’s like having a map that shows you how to maintain brand consistency.

The benefits of a unified visual identity: making a lasting impression

A brand style guide tells you how to use things like your logo, colors, and fonts so they look the same everywhere.

For example, think about Coca-Cola.

They always use the same red color, classic logo, and special font.

That’s why when you see merchandise, posts, and ads with those elements, you instantly know it’s Coca-Cola.

That’s a great example of a strong visual brand identity.

A consistent look makes your brand memorable and helps people understand what your brand is all about.

Having a consistent look for your brand is super important, especially in the online market. As people scroll through hundreds of posts and ads online daily, having a cohesive brand style can build familiarity.

You want people to make a lasting impression and remember your brand every time they come across your stuff online.

Creating a recognizable brand can make the difference between making you an expert in your field or a nobody online.

Crafting cohesive messaging: speaking with one voice

In addition to consistent visual brand elements, your brand guidelines should include your company’s brand voice and tone.

This means using the same kind of language and tone of voice in all your communications to represent your brand.

Let’s look at Airbnb—they always sound friendly, casual, and welcoming to both their hosts and travelers.

By keeping their messaging consistent, Airbnb builds trust and makes people feel like they’re part of a community.

Think of how you want your brand to come across to your audience.

Are you able to communicate your brand motivations and great brand story to your market properly?

Consistent messaging helps people understand what your brand stands for and keeps them coming back for more.

Clear brand guidelines: examples to inspire

We’re not exaggerating the importance of a brand guide to ensure consistent branding! Check out these examples of how some big brands use their brand style guides:

Starbucks is building not only brand recognition but also a community.

The way Starbucks brands itself goes beyond being a coffee shop—it’s about building a coffee-loving community.

Yes, they have a recognizable brand logo and colors, and they make sure to use this consistently across all their promotional materials.

However, the overall brand magic of Starbucks lies in the warm and welcoming atmosphere they have built.

Each Starbucks store is built and decorated to cater to both on-the-go coffee drinkers and people who want to sit down and chat with friends and family.

Going beyond their design elements, they have trained their staff to stay on brand with the company’s warm and casual tone of voice.

Even outside the store, whenever you see a Starbucks cup, whether it’s a massive reusable one or a disposable hot cup, you remember the experience of being in a Starbucks store and sipping a drink.

By sticking to their brand guidelines, Starbucks built a unique brand that resonates with customers all over the world.

Nike’s simple brand with a strong message

Nike maintains a strong brand identity despite keeping things simple and bold.

With their famous swoosh logo and “Just Do It” slogan, they’ve gone beyond shoes and sports apparel and have become a symbol of empowerment.

By sticking to their brand guidelines, Nike stays strong and consistent in everything they do.

They have such a consistent brand image that you can immediately recognize a Nike shoe or merchandise when you see one.

Even if you are not a marketer or don’t pay close attention to brands, you will recognize their logo and slogan.

Can you think of a shoe or clothing brand that has a similar impact?

How Apple has become the go-to brand name for phones and PCs

Apple has such consistent style guidelines that they have become the basis for studies on how to create a brand manual.

Apple is all about elegance and sophistication, and it shows in all of its products and merchandise. With their clean logo, sleek designs, and simple fonts, you can easily identify Apple products.

Through the years, they have built a reputation for excellence and creating high-quality products. They maintain this by having not only a consistent brand voice but also a consistent ideology in their product creation.

This branding has done them so well that a lot of phone and electronic companies have started to copy this style for their brands as well.

Embracing the power of brand style guides

Brand style guides are essential for keeping your brand strong and consistent.

By ensuring brand consistency in how your brand looks and sounds, you ensure your brand is worthy of trust and loyalty among your customers.

Even if you’re just using it for social media guidelines, you can build on that style in the future if you do want to branch out to other designs such as web design, product packaging, etc.

Having a good brand style guide is key to making sure your brand stands out. So, why wait? Embrace the power of brand style guides and watch your brand grow!

Key Takeaways

• A style guide ensures that your audience can recognize your brand, whether it’s online or in stores.
• In the online market, having a consistent brand identity is an especially important part of your brand, as you are competing with hundreds of posts and ads people scroll through.
• If you’re working with multiple people to maintain your brand, brand identity guidelines help make sure you maintain the values of the brand, from its visual identity to its tone of voice.
• Brands like Nike, Apple, and Starbucks are iconic and instantly recognizable as they have built a brand with clear style guides that they apply not only in designs but also in their product creation and service.