Brand guidelines that keep your brand consistent, whoever is using it
A brand only works if it is used the same way every time. We set down the rules, design the templates and build the toolkits your team needs, so the brochure, the newsletter, the signage and the website all look and sound like the same organisation.
How we build a brand system
Start from a clear brand, then make it easy to use.
Brand systems we have built include IMPAKT, Loop for Table Tennis England, Sava, Sayfa Systems, Cambourne, HCML and Anderson Group.
Rules, templates, toolkits: Guidelines set the rules. Templates and toolkits make them easy to follow, for anyone using the brand.
Audit: We gather what your team already uses, from brochures to slides to signage, and see where the brand has drifted.
Set the rules: With the brand strategy in place, we write the guidelines, covering the look, the tone of voice and the key messages.
Design the templates: Templates and toolkits for the things your team makes most, ready for them to use.
Roll out and hand over: We roll the brand out across your material and hand over the system, so your team can keep it consistent.
Brand systems we’ve built
IMPAKTA new brand, launched with its sub brands, comprehensive guidelines and online and offline design.
Table Tennis EnglandLoop’s mission, vision, values and guidelines, then toolkits for its ambassadors.
CambourneA strong yet simple identity, rolled out across brochures, direct mail, newsletters and signage.What goes into a brand system
- 01
The rules for the look
How to use the logo, colours, typefaces and imagery, set down clearly enough for anyone to follow. We produced guidelines for HCML and Anderson Group.
- 02
The thinking behind it
Guidelines work harder when they explain why. For Loop, we set out the brand’s mission, vision and values alongside the guidelines.
- 03
How the brand sounds
Key messages and tone of voice, so the words match the look. Loop’s toolkits set out both.
- 04
Templates for everyday work
Ready-made templates for the regular pieces, from case studies to e-shots and newsletters.
- 05
Toolkits for the people carrying it
When others use your brand for you, they need the right material. We made material for Loop’s brand ambassadors.
- 06
Rolled out, not left on a shelf
Guidelines are only the start. For Conergy, a brand refresh came with a roll-out of new assets: a UK identity, photography and on and offline materials.
Guidelines so the look stays the same everywhere.
HCML’s name was well established, so the opportunity lay in sharpening the identity and bringing consistency across every touchpoint.
A facilitated brand sprint gave the team a shared language and a clear set of vision and values. From there we developed a range of logo routes, refined the chosen direction to final artwork and produced brand guidelines so the new look stayed consistent everywhere it appeared. Sales decks, info packs, infographics and an exhibition stand followed, in a purple and mint palette that works as hard in print as on screen.
Read the HCML case studyQuestions about brand guidelines
What should brand guidelines include?
The basics are how to use the logo, colours, typefaces and imagery. The most useful also explain the thinking behind the brand, and set out its key messages and tone of voice.
Do we need a new brand before we get guidelines?
Not always. Sometimes the identity only needs enhancing, as Sayfa Systems’ did, before it is set down in guidelines and templates.
Will our team be able to use the brand without you?
That is the aim. The guidelines say how the brand should look and sound, and the templates mean the next brochure or e-shot can be made in house, on brand.
How long does it take, and what does it cost?
It depends on how much there is to set down. Guidelines for one identity are a smaller job than guidelines, templates and toolkits for several teams. Some clients come to us for a defined project and others for ongoing support, and the first conversation is a free 60 minute intro.
“Simon, Hayley and the team are knowledgeable, responsive and committed to creating the best solutions possible, making them invaluable partners in our effort to promote brand awareness, drive traffic to our website, and generate new business.”
