Who said style guides have to be entirely black and white? If your brand has a distinct colour, don’t be afraid to flaunt it around your manual just as has been done with Heineken’s style guide. Heineken has a detailed and well-arranged set of guidelines, all bound within a gradient of the Heineken green, keeping that brand identity strong.
On the topic of colour, check out the flamboyant layout for iO’s brand guidelines. Since the iO style guide breaks down the construction of these sharp gradients, it makes sense that they’d exemplify how to use them throughout the style guide itself. These gradients have been used predominantly on the divider pages, making the manual as a whole much easier (and more attractive) to navigate. Have a read over here.
Does a large part of your brand deal with photographic elements? Well, a style guide is your chance to lay down the law and explain exactly how you want the photography to be treated. This manual for the Jamie Oliver homeware and food brand runs through the basics of branding, the do’s and don’ts of logos, but it also delves deep into the use of imagery, right from the specific images to use, down to the correct way to colour and use them in communication. Check out the meticulous rules set in this guideline via Issuu.
Does your brand require a set uniform for its workers? If so, a style guide is your place to explain the ins and outs of each item. If you need some inspiration for this, be sure to have a look through Luvata’s manual, which runs down everything from uniforms, and even through to equipment and vehicle branding. This style guide takes care to specify the colour, branding, and style of each piece of uniform for each individual sector of Luvata. Talk about attention to detail. Have a browse through the project via Behance.
If you’re a newbie to style guides, you might be asking why is it so important to show the construction of the logo? Especially when many brands note to never try to replicate the logo. Think of it similarly to the way packaged foods have ingredients listed on them – not so that you can recreate these foods yourself, but to allow consumers to be aware of the contents. In a similar way, a detailed deconstruction of the logo just as Macride has done here allows designers to spot any irregularities in logos, so if a designer suspects a logo is the wrong colour value, compiled wrong, has the wrong typeface etc. they can refer to the construction to double check. So, a detailed rundown of the colours, gradients and typesetting of your logos can save you from inconsistencies in branding in the long run. For a good example of logo deconstruction, check out Macride’s style guide.
A majority of people learn and understand concepts better when given direct visual examples, so why not capitalise on that opportunity within your style guide just as has been done in the Medium style guide. Medium includes specific explanations and diverse examples to really bring home the brand guidelines. Have a read through their typographical explanations where they exemplify how to set headings, body copy and pull quotes with easy to navigate examples. Just keep in mind: there’s no such thing as a concept explained too thoroughly. Check out Medium’s brand manual here.
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There’s a brand for just about everything in today’s world, and just as was mentioned before, wherever there’s a brand, there should be a brand manual. The City of Melbourne has a distinct and flexible branding, where the ‘M’ brand mark is given new patterns and colours to suit various applications. But, this flexibility doesn’t mean that The City of Melbourne is able to skimp on their do’s and don’ts list, in fact this means they need to be more precise in their rules to avoid this flexibility turning into liability. The City of Melbourne brand manual specifies colours that are safe and not safe to use, effects that are okay and not okay etc. In fact, this style guide is so meticulous that it specifies how to name digital files. When in doubt, add some detail. Have a read of this manual via Issuu, or read how Landor Associates went through the process.
This manual is another fictional example created as a personal project by designer Diego Guevara for the Miami Football Club. Again, this example is as well-created and detailed as any ‘official’ manual design. Guevara has gone into extreme detail for every facet, from the logo construction, meaning and inspiration, through to the uniform branding and applications. All topped off in a beautifully designed style guide, this is an impressive example (especially when you read that Guevara completed it in one week). Have a read through over here.
If you’ve ever had a doubt about how meticulous Nike’s branding team are, have a look at this brand manual for just one division of the Nike group. Nike Pro Services is an elite invitation-only service offered by Nike that offers runners access to expert opinions and services usually reserved for professional athletes. Designed by Manual Creative, this manual is one that manages to walk that fine line between beautifully designed and densely packed with information. Check it out here.
This style guide for Offroad Films puts the content in the forefront with big graphics and minimal type. Check out the huge block of colour to signify Offroad Films’ signature colour, and the large graphics that are left to speak for themselves. This brand manual keeps things simple and minimal with scale playing a large factor in communicating each item’s importance. Browse through this manual via Ink Inc.
Something to keep in mind when putting together your style guide is keeping a balance between visual content and informative content. A good example that does this successfully is Ollo’s style guide. Each page that is packed with information is complemented with another page of visual examples. Not only does this keep the manual from being overwhelming, it helps integrate the examples in a more easily digestible way. Check out the Ollo brand manual at Bibliothèque Designs.
Download Free Background TemplatesHave you had a custom typeface created for your brand? Or are you using a typeface in a specific way? If you are, it’s a good idea to provide some guidelines as to how somebody should ideally use it. Phone company Optus rebranded themselves in the previous few years, moving from a corporate aesthetic to one that is “brutally non-corporate”, and with that came a two custom typeface. Since these typefaces are more organic and handcrafted, each letter has 3 alternatives to avoid repeating letterforms and make written communications appear hand written. This typeface is given specific instructions and examples for use throughout the manual to ensure proper and consistent use. If there are any specific settings or techniques to any of your brand elements, be sure to specify them in as much detail as necessary. Have a read of the Optus manual via Behance.
Sometimes bigger is better when it comes to style guide information. Be sure to check out this style guide for the Irish Red Cross, where each element is given a large scale, and yet the overall layout remains minimal and simple with plenty of room to breathe – both these factors drawing attention to the focus of each page. The Red Cross covers all branding bases in this simply designed style guide, that is definitely one to look at for inspiration on both style guide compilation as well as style guide design. Get inspired with this manual via Creative Inc.
This style guide is a simple two page set of guidelines completed as a ‘rethink’ of the Royal Mail guidelines. While it’s not an official guide, the two pages manage to communicate the tone, aesthetic, and overall brand of this version of Royal Mail. For those of you keen on producing a brand manual, but aren’t keen on delving deep into detail, this is a great starting point, with all the basic elements of a brand – logotype, brand mark, signatures, colour, typography and vehicle livery – captured in just two pages. Have a closer look at the Royal Mail ‘rethik’ via Identity Designed.
We’ve discussed how your manual’s layout and design should somewhat reflect your brand, but what about the text? Chances are your style guide has quite a bit of type within it for instructions and explanations, so a good way to strengthen your brand’s tone of voice is through these instructions. Skype’s brand manual does just this, interjecting a little humour, and a colloquial and friendly tone into the explanations through instructions that are worded like “Never abuse our logo, it doesn’t have arms so it can’t fight back (our lawyers however, are another story).” Figure out your brand’s tone and consider introducing this to the manual in a unique way that doesn’t compromise the information but enhances it. Have a readthrough and a laugh with the Skype brand guidelines via Issuu.
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For another example of just how meticulous certain brands are, here’s an entire style guide dedicated to Sony’s tagline “like.no.other”. This manual runs down clearance space, positioning, sizing, background and type colour combinations, dimensions, it goes into unbelievable detail about each facet of the tagline, putting great importance on its construction and display. Check out this manual if you want to see just how in-depth the big brands like Sony get with their branding. You can find it over on Issuu.
Sometimes it’s best to just say it large and loud. This style guide by Stihl puts the main instructions for each page in simple terms and huge type, making each direction impossible to ignore. By using simple colloquial language like “Use this colour with this colour”, nothing is lost in translation and any reader would get the general idea of how to maintain the brand by just flipping through the pages. By using real and easy to follow visual examples, this guide is one that makes brand consistency easy. Check it out via Behance.
This is another set of brand guidelines that keep things ultra simple and extremely minimal while still communicating the foundations of the brand. If you’re looking for another example of a brand starter kit, you can’t go wrong with this one. With the logo, colours, type and iconography/patterning specified, the main brand is established. While such a simple set of guidelines may not work for every company (as many require detail), in this case, the minimal elements leave a little flexibility in the branding and applications. To check out these application examples and the project in more detail head over to Behance.
The Swedish Armed Forces has a detailed brand guidelines that includes a section explaining the concept and thought behind the main logo and the sub-brand logos. This manual also delves deeply into imagery–both the way it should be shot, and the colours, but also the subject matter that should be depicted as a part of the brand values–for example on the “don’t” list is “images that romanticize war”. Have a read through and a look at the detailed instructions over at Issuu.
This is another brand manual that puts content in the forefront, with simple and comprehensive visuals and complementary explanations and descriptions, this is another simply designed but cohesive and detailed brand manual. Be sure to check out the pages on vehicle livery that ensure every angle of the vehicle is represented and exemplified with attention to detail. Check the whole thing out at Visual Bits.
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