Would you like to create your own in-house ‘branded’ documents or communications and keep them looking professional?
If your answer is ‘yes’, ask your graphic designer to provide you with a Brand Style Sheet. A Brand Style Sheet is a compact ‘brand style guide’ providing you basic information on how to use your logo, together with details of colour formulas, pantones, fonts and other tit-bits aimed at helping you keep and maintain brand integrity throughout all your visual collateral.
What are the ‘Key Elements’ for your Brand Style Sheet?
We’ve listed what we consider are the essentials for a good Brand Style Sheet:
Examples of different logo variants ie, shapes or colour combinations
Proximity guides ie, how close other elements or content can come to your logo
Colour breakdowns and swatches - Pantone, CMYK, RGB and HEX
List of your logo’s fonts or customised fonts used
List complimentary fonts ie, fonts to use for headings and general text
The above is a basic list which will assist other designers or content creators keep your brand consistent when creating new documents and communications. Your style sheet can also include layout guidelines for business cards, stationery, signage, adverts etc. However this then becomes a more comprehensive and expensive exercise, as your style sheet is now becoming a multi-page style guide.
Who needs it and where can your Brand Style Sheet be used?
Your Brand Style Sheet is a very useful tool for other professionals such as printers, sign writers, marketers, web designers, web developers, virtual assistants and even your own in-house staff.
Some examples of where it can be useful are:- Advertising (press or screen), Signage, Promotional Products, Creating ‘Branded’ Word Docs or PowerPoint Presentations, Screen Printing, Corporate Uniforms, Mail Chimp Templates, Software applications such as Adobe, WordPress, Wix, Microsoft Publisher, Canva etc.