What should brand
guidelines include?

The checklist

Logo

Primary version and approved variants. Clear space, minimum size in print and on screen. What must never be done to it — stretching, recolouring, effects, rebuilding it by eye. File formats and when to use each.

Colour

Every colour in HEX, RGB and CMYK, and Pantone if you print. Proportions matter more than most documents admit — which colour dominates, which is an accent. Include contrast notes: a colour that fails accessibility on a light background needs a stated alternative for text.

Typography

Which typefaces, which weights, and at what sizes. Line height and letter spacing for headlines versus body. What to use when the brand font is unavailable — in an email, a slide deck, or someone else’s system.

Imagery

What photography should look like: subject, lighting, treatment, crop. This is the section most often missing, and the one that causes the most drift.

Tone of voice

How the brand writes, with real examples. A do-not list is more useful than adjectives — "never write ‘we are excited to announce’" tells someone more than "friendly and professional".

Applications

Worked examples: business card, letterhead, social post, packaging, presentation. People copy examples far more reliably than they follow rules.

A rule nobody can follow is a rule that will be broken.

What most guidelines get wrong

1. Written for designers only. The people who break brand rules are usually not designers. Write for the intern making a WhatsApp graphic.
2. Too long. A 90-page document does not get read. Twelve to twenty pages, well organised, gets used.
3. No misuse section. Showing what is wrong is faster than describing what is right.
4. Missing file locations. If nobody knows where the logo files live, they will use a screenshot from the website.
5. No owner. Someone has to answer "is this on brand?" Name them in the document.

Sector-specific sections worth adding

If you work in a regulated sector, the guidelines should carry the constraint. Banking and finance cannot imply assured returns. Healthcare cannot claim a product cures anything. Legal advertising is heavily restricted under Bar Council rules. Putting those limits in the brand document rather than leaving them with the compliance team is how they actually get respected.

How to know yours is working

Hand it to someone outside the business with a small task — make a social post, format a letter. If what comes back looks like your brand, the document works. If they had to ask three questions first, those three answers are the sections you are missing.