The bad news when it comes to building a brand? It can be difficult to maintain consistency, build credibility, and forge meaningful connections with your target audience—especially if you haven't invested in brand strategy. The good news about building a brand? There's is a powerful solution at your fingertips—the brand book. In this blog post, we're sharing the benefits of having a brand book for your business...and why if you don't have one, you should get one...like now!
A brand book, AKA a brand guidelines book or logo brand book, is a document that defines and shapes your brand's visual identity and messaging strategy. Typically a digital file shared among your team, It highlights important brand elements like your brand's purpose, personality, values, logo usage, color palette, tone of voice, and more. The bottom line? When you create a brand book, you establish a foundation for consistency and cohesiveness across all aspects of your brand.
The main thing you need to know? Brand books are a beacon of consistency for your business. A brand book documents guidelines for logo usage, color schemes, typography, and more. With it, you'll ensure your brand maintains a cohesive image—no matter who's touching it or where it appears. That consistency fosters brand recognition, enabling your customers to identify and differentiate your brand from competitors. It builds trust and credibility and customers perceive consistent brands as more reliable.
When you create a brand book, you establish a foundation for consistency and cohesiveness across all aspects of your brand.
A well-crafted brand book serves as a valuable resource for your design, marketing, and event sales teams. It will align various departments in your company—ensuring they speak the same language and showcase the same look and feel. With a brand book, your team and partners will have clear instructions on how to use brand elements correctly, eliminating ambiguity and guesswork. With precise guidelines on logo placement, typography choices, and color specifications, your teams can effectively create marketing collateral, website designs, social media assets, and more.
A brand book goes beyond visual identity guidelines and showcases your brand's values, mission, and voice. This fosters effective internal and external communication across your organization. By outlining the tone of voice, brand personality, and key messaging, your brand book ensures that everyone in your organization understands your brand's story and conveys it correctly.
As your business grows and expands (fingers crossed, right?), a brand book becomes an invaluable asset. It allows you to adapt and scale your brand's visual identity and messaging to new markets and product lines, without the stress of losing yourself in the process. A brand book gives your business flexibility within defined parameters, empowering you to evolve without losing your core essence.
The benefits of having a brand book are clear! From fostering consistency and recognition to streamlining design efforts and enhancing communication, a well-crafted brand book empowers your business to navigate an increasingly competitive landscape. When you invest in a brand book (and adhere to brand guidelines), you pave the way to growth for your business!
Strange Salt is a creative collective offering brand strategy, brand identity, and messaging services for small businesses and start-ups. Send us a message to get started.
Jamie is a brand strategist and designer based in Nashville, TN. She founded Strange Salt in 2021 as a way to bring the creative powerhouses in her life together to create amazing things.
When it comes to branding, trust the process. Here's the scope on Strange Salt's tried and true branding process.
Read More →Here's what a brand book is and why your business needs one—stat.
Read More →
