Brand Book: What It Is and How To Make One

No matter where you encounter the brand — Instagram, its website, YouTube — you’ll find gorgeous nature imagery. The company also constantly highlights its commitment to sustainability with slogans like “Earth is now our only shareholder.”

This uniformity doesn’t happen by accident. Many businesses use brand books (AKA style guides) to define every aspect of their identities. They help brands present the same image across different platforms and team members. It’s also incredibly useful for scaling. Instead of debating which fonts or colors look best, those choices have already been strategically decided on. As a result, marketers can just go with whatever’s in the brand book.

Save yourself time, money, and headaches by creating a brand book. This guide breaks down the key components and shares practical tips for designing a strong resource for your brand. 

What Is a Brand Book?

Brandbook, branding booklet, brand guidelines — these are just a few names for this resource. Regardless of what you call it, this resource spells out exactly what your brand should look and feel like. 

Rahul Aswal, Brand Consultant at Simple Plan Media, explains, “A strong set of guidelines ensures that no matter where or how a brand appears — whether on social media, packaging, or advertising — it always feels the same, reinforcing recognition and reliability.” 

This involves more than picking the perfect typography. “Branding isn’t just a set of visual assets — it’s a holistic system,” Aswal continues. “Businesses that think beyond logos and colors to focus on the entire brand experience create stronger emotional connections with their audience.” 

Take the McDonald's Feel-Good Design Cheatsheets, for example. It describes how marketers use the signature golden arches and specific font to make customers feel welcome. These visuals help the company create “day-to-day moments” that are special and memorable. 

Benefits of a Branding Booklet 

Many professionals use branding booklets, including designers, marketers, and content creators. Here are a few reasons to develop a guide: 

• Build credibility: A clear brand identity is key to winning over customers. Aswal shares, “For a brand to establish trust, it needs visual and verbal consistency across all touchpoints. This isn’t possible without well-defined brand guidelines.”
• Maintain consistency: Team members come and go, especially at large companies. With brand guidelines, newcomers can start creating content without a hitch.
• Faster production: Choosing a different font and logo placement for every piece of content could take hours. Multiply that by all the content you create in a week, and it’s a miracle anything gets done. A brand book takes away a lot of the decision-making, so you can work more quickly and conserve your brainpower.
• Improved confidence: Brand guidelines might seem restrictive at first — “What do you mean I can only use three colors?” — but they actually empower creators. Instead of obsessing over margins or logos, they can focus on truly innovating. 

Even if you don’t produce much content now, creating a brand book will make it easier to grow in the future. 

Key Elements of a Great Brand Book

There’s no right or wrong way to write a branding booklet — it all comes down to your needs. Some businesses create dense guidelines that could rival an encyclopedia, while others prefer short checklists. 

Begin with these core components: 

• Brand Story
• Logo Usage Guidelines
• Typography
• Imagery Guidelines
• Voice & Tone
• Brand Collaterals 

Brand Story 

Sure, playing with different fonts and logos is fun. But they’re just the accessories for your brand story: the narrative at the center of every decision your business makes. “Weaving your brand's story into everything you do creates a deeper connection with your audience and differentiates you from competitors,” observes Josh Webber, CEO of Big Red Jelly. 

This section should include: 

• Origin story: An authentic yet brief description of how your business started. Ask yourself: What was the spark or challenge that inspired its founding?
• Vision and mission: Your aspirations for the company and how you’ll get there
• Core values: The central principles that drive your brand

Canva recently revamped its branding booklet, dedicating an entire page to its brand story. Its new values include empowering users to create digital art and celebrating “design in action.” As you’ll see in the following sections, this central narrative shapes every part of Canva’s updated brand.

Logo Usage Guidelines 

If the story is the heart of your brand, then the logo is the face. This graphic helps customers recognize all your content, from Facebook ads to websites. 

Don’t get too carried away designing an elaborate logo. “Simplicity, versatility, relevance, timelessness, and uniqueness are key,” Webber advises. In other words, your logo should stand out but not be too trendy — otherwise, you’ll just need to redo it in a couple of years. 

Once you’ve settled on the perfect logo, add these standards to your branding booklet: 

• Primary logo: The main icon you’ll use in most circumstances
• Secondary logos: A few variations that work for different platforms and contexts. The iconic Starbucks siren logo, for instance, comes in black, white, and green.
• Spacing: Define the ideal margins for your logo so it doesn’t get crammed into a corner
• Misuse: Clarify your logo “don’ts,” such as adding a drop shadow or rotating it

Canva’s booklet includes detailed guidelines for its flowing logo. Designers must follow precise spacing and positioning rules to make sure the logo stands out. 

Canva spells out clear spacing guidelines for its elegant logo. 

Color Palette 

Top brands often have distinct color palettes. Cereal lovers can spot a bright red Lucky Charms box on any shelf, and “John Deere Green” is so famous that Joe Diffie named a song after it. 

Define your color palette with these elements: 

• Hex codes: Give the precise HTML color codes so creators never mix up similar shades.
• Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (CMYK): Printers still use this old-school model for physical materials like brochures.
• Usage examples: Show your design team how to apply each color scheme.

Canva’s color palette includes three core shades that appear in its primary logo and across its website.

Typography

The fonts you choose are the visual equivalent of your brand voice. They can make your content sound cheerful, sophisticated, or even scary, if that's what you're after. 

Your booklet should spell out: 

• Font hierarchy: Explain how to use different fonts and sizes to organize information.
• Weights: Changing the thickness of the font can affect the tone.
• Usage: This spells out when and where to use each font.

Some brands invent unique fonts that truly capture their personalities. For example, Canva Sans reflects the platform’s playful spirit. 

Canva prioritized accessibility and fun when designing its font. 

Imagery Guidelines

It’s normal to use several different kinds of imagery, such as photos and animations. However, these visuals should still be relatively consistent. 

Add these elements to your guidelines: 

• Photography style: Acceptable filters, perspectives, lighting, and more.
• Iconography: The ideal style for icons like favicons and widgets.
• Illustrations: Approved colors and artwork styles for drawings.

Canva creates authentic and relatable images with diverse individuals.

Voice & Tone 

Your brand voice should be recognizably “you” across your website, social media profiles, and support services. 

Aswal explains, “The Tone of Voice section sets the foundation for all brand communication. It defines:

• How the brand speaks (e.g., bold & confident vs. warm & approachable)
• What language is appropriate and what is not
• Key messaging principles that should be used consistently.”

It’s easy to recognize Canva’s inspiring and upbeat brand voice. 

Brand Collaterals 

Your brand assets don’t have to look identical, but customers should be able to recognize them all as part of the same family. Design consistent templates for these collaterals and anything else you use to promote your brand: 

• Business cards
• Email content
• Email signatures
• Packaging
• Signage

Canva’s brand templates cover many types of content, but they all have similar fonts and ultra-modern designs. 

How To Create a Brand Book (Step-by-Step Guide) 

At this point, you might wonder: "What should my brand book look like, exactly?" Major businesses like Canva have spent years refining their guidelines, so don’t feel like you need to compete. Just follow these simple steps.  

Step 1: Audit Your Brand Assets

Inventory all your current assets, from brochures to web banners. Observe what’s working well and what you need to update or reformat for consistency. 

Step 2: Work Through the Key Elements

Use the categories discussed in the previous section to outline your brand’s key elements, starting with: 

• Brand strategy
• Mission
• Values
• Core messaging
• Positioning 

Webber recommends an organized approach: “Define your core values and translate them into visual and verbal elements, such as logo usage and color palette. Document everything clearly and make it accessible.” 

Be proactive, too. Erin Milnes, Account and Creative Director at Catchword Branding, shares, “Anticipate your teams’ questions and their temptations to stray off-brand (in copy, design, or any other touchpoint), and provide clear and consistent guidance.” 

Step 3: Choose a Format 

A web-based branding booklet is the easiest to update. However, your team may prefer a stylish PDF or a tangible physical booklet to leaf through. 

Step 4: Build the Book 

You may already have a talented graphic designer on staff. If not, you can design your booklet yourself with user-friendly layout tools, such as: 

• Adobe InDesign
• Canva
• Figma
• Frontify
• Lucidpress

Or maybe you’d rather not learn new software. In that case, many platforms offer customizable templates, including Canva, Behance, and Envato. 

Step 5: Review It Internally 

Share your brand book content with your team and ask for feedback. They can let you know if it’s accessible and useful, or if it’s time to go back to the (digital) drawing board. 

Step 6: Share & Update Regularly 

You’ve worked hard on your booklet, so don’t abandon it. “Keep the guidelines up to date and available to everyone involved in projecting your brand,” Milnes advises. Review it at least every six to 12 months and make adjustments as needed. 

Outsourcing Your Brand Book: What To Know Before You Hire 

Even short booklets take a lot of time to design – after all, you’re shaping your entire vision for your brand. That’s why many businesses turn to external branding agencies for assistance. 

Reasons To Outsource

Consider outsourcing this project if: 

• Your team doesn’t have a design or branding expert on staff
• You’re building a new brand from the ground up or rebranding
• You’ve started shaping your visual identity and messaging, but want an outside opinion
• Your stakeholders expect a polished booklet ASAP

Tips for Hiring the Perfect Branding Agency

Take the time to interview a few providers and look for an agency that meets these criteria: 

• A strong portfolio filled with beautiful brand books
• Proven experience working on visual and written brand elements
• An eagerness to collaborate and accept feedback
• Transparent pricing
• A clear timeline that fits your needs 

Average Costs

According to Clutch’s branding pricing guide, most projects cost around $10,000 to $49,999. Some agencies charge hourly rates for small projects, which range from $100 to $149 an hour. 

Strengthen Your Identity With a Brand Book 

As marketing campaigns grow more complex — sometimes spanning a dozen or more channels — brand booklets have become invaluable. “Brand guidelines ensure consistency, building trust and reinforcing your brand identity,” Webber concludes. “They prevent brand chaos and ensure everyone's on the same page.” That's non-negotiable in today's markets.

Start small with the key elements outlined above — even a few pages will do. As your business expands, you can update your guidelines to adapt to your changing goals and images. 

About the Author

Jeanette Godreau Senior Content Marketing Specialist at Clutch

Jeanette Godreau crafts in-depth content on web design, graphic design, and branding to help B2B buyers make confident decisions on Clutch.  

See full profile