Brand guidelines: what they are and why small businesses need them
Brand guidelines are a short set of rules for using your logo, colours and fonts. They sound like something only big companies need, but they save small businesses money and confusion. Here's what goes in them.
When people hear “brand guidelines”, they imagine a thick book made for a multinational company. For a small business, guidelines are much simpler: a few pages, or even a single page, that explain how to use your logo, colours and fonts.
This post explains what goes into them and why they're worth having, even if you're a single shop. For the bigger picture, see what is brand identity?
The problem guidelines solve
Over the years, many different people make things for your business: the sign maker, the printer who does your visiting cards and boxes, a nephew who sets up Instagram, a web designer, the person who makes your Diwali banner. Each one guesses.
The result is familiar: the logo stretched on one banner, a different red on the boxes, a random font on the menu, a blurry logo on the website. None of it is a disaster, but together it makes a good business look less established than it is.
Guidelines replace the guessing with a few clear answers.
What goes into small-business brand guidelines
1. Your logo versions
Which version to use where: the main logo, a version for dark backgrounds, a one-colour version and a small, compact version for profile pictures and tiny spaces.
2. How not to use the logo
A few simple don'ts, usually with pictures: don't stretch it, don't change its colours, don't add shadows, don't put it on a busy photo where it can't be read.
3. Space around the logo
How much empty space to leave around it, so it doesn't get crowded by text or the edge of the page.
4. Your colours
Your exact colours, with codes for screens (HEX and RGB) and for print (CMYK), and simple rules for when to use each. We explain choosing them in how to choose brand colours.
5. Your fonts
The font for headings and the font for normal text, with sizes or weights if needed. Plus what to use when those fonts aren't available, such as in a quick WhatsApp graphic.
6. Your voice (optional)
A few lines on how your business speaks: warm and friendly, calm and professional, traditional and respectful. Useful for social profiles, signs and your website.
7. Examples
One or two examples of the brand in use: a visiting card, a social post, a box label. Examples are often easier to follow than rules.
Why they matter for a small business
They save money
Every time a printer or designer has to ask for your logo file or guess your colours, it costs time, and often a reprint when it comes out wrong.
They keep you recognisable
Customers recognise you by repetition: the same colours, the same logo, the same look. Guidelines make repetition easy. See one look everywhere.
They make handovers easy
When you hire a new sign maker or a family member takes over Instagram, you share one file instead of explaining everything from memory.
They protect your investment
If you've paid for a good logo and brand, guidelines make sure it's used properly for years, not just on the day it was delivered.
How to use them day to day
- Keep the guidelines and logo files in one shared folder, such as Google Drive.
- Send the link to anyone who makes something for your business: printer, sign maker, web designer.
- Ask to see a proof before anything is printed, and check it against the guidelines.
- Save a copy on your phone so you can share it in a WhatsApp chat in seconds.
What files should come with them
Guidelines are only useful if the files they describe exist. Make sure you have:
- Your logo as a vector file (usually SVG, PDF or AI), which can be enlarged for a sign without going blurry
- Your logo as PNG files with a transparent background, for websites and quick designs
- A square profile picture version for Instagram, WhatsApp and Google
- The font files or names, so designers can find them
If a designer only gave you a JPG, ask for the original files.
Signs you need guidelines
- You've had to send your logo as a photo from your phone
- Your boxes, cards and sign use slightly different colours
- Each new designer asks the same questions
- Your Instagram looks nothing like your shop
Getting help
Simple brand guidelines are part of our brand identity service. Along with your logo, colours and fonts, you get guidelines that show how to use it all, and files ready for print and online. If you already have a logo, we can put guidelines together around it, and our print design service follows them for everything you hand to customers.
In short
- Brand guidelines are a short set of rules for your logo, colours, fonts and voice.
- They stop every printer and designer from guessing, which saves money and keeps you recognisable.
- Keep them with your logo files in one shared folder and send them to anyone who makes something for you.
