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What-the-what is a Brand Standards Manual?

3 MINUTE READ

Getting the Goods

Don’t you sometimes wish you had a manual for living your best life? Like a handbook for when to look or act a certain way? A neat little packet of information you could give a new love to tell them your backstory, rather than teasing out little nuggets over time?

Well, Dc doesn’t have a manual for your life, but we do have a manual for the life of your logo, which as you know, is the face of your brand.

What’s In It?

At Dc we like to create a brand standards guide for every logo we design. It includes valuable information about your logo, how to use it, and what it represents. All of this combined, gives you a launching point for the rest of your brand expression.

Now, different companies like ours will offer varying details in their brand guide, which should be provided any time you invest in creating logo, but generally it tells you about the exact colour profiles to use in your logo, from RGB and CMYK to Pantone numbers for coated and uncoated stocks, the appropriate uses of it (Online? On paper? On an unlit sign?), what fonts used, and many other details that will make for the most effective use of this critical piece of your brand.

The Secret Sauce

At Dc, we also make sure your brand standards guide includes  brand story, this is a romantic description of why your business exists and what it represents.

Bonus blog: We wrote about brand expressions a few months back. Check it out.

What’s it good for?

When you create a logo you’ll use it on a lot of different items;basics like your business cards and letterhead, or maybe you want embroidered t-shirts or screen printed uniforms for staff.

This handy guide actually tells you what the colours are and which versions of your logo you should use in all those weird and wonderful places you can put it – big or small –because those darn colours can look different on every single thing you’ll print.

Using it everyday in every way!

But what do you do with a brand standards guide? If you’re tossing it on the shelf you’re not getting as much out of that logo investment as you could be! Your brand story for example, should be required reading for every new staff person, as it will tell them exactly what your brand is about.

You should also share it with your printing partners, who will use the details inside to make sure your logo looks great every time. In addition, when you decide to become a sponsor of a local event or partner on a cool project, you’ll want to make sure your brand standards are provided so they know they can’t stretch or alter your logo and that it has to be used at a particular size.

Let us be your guide

When you get a brand new logo it’s super exciting. It looks just like you’ve always imagined it and it’s making a big impact. Don’t let that love grow cold, keep your brand front and centre with your brand standards guide.If you have a vision, but need a brand get in touch.

Looking Forward,

Dc

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