What is a brand style guide, and does a small business need one?
A brand style guide is a short set of rules for how your business looks and sounds: the logo files and where each goes, your colors, your fonts, how the name is written and the tone you use. A small business rarely needs more than one page. That page usually saves time with every printer, sign shop and designer, and keeps the van, the website and the invoices looking like one business.
What goes on one page
- Logo: the main version, a one-color version and a small square version, with where each one goes.
- Colors: two or three, each written as the exact color code your designer gives you, and which one is for text.
- Fonts: one or two, and which is for headings.
- The name: exactly how it is written, including capitals and whether "LLC" appears.
- Tone in three words, such as "plain, friendly, direct", with one sample sentence. This is often called brand voice, how the business sounds in writing and on the phone, and the note can double as a brief for an AI writing tool.
- Photos: real photos of your team and your work, and what to avoid, such as stock images of people who do not work for you.
Colors people can read
The W3C's explanation of WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 sets a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for text and 3:1 for large-scale text. It says text that is part of a logo or brand name has no contrast requirement, but that other text with too little contrast because of brand guidelines "is not exempted from the requirements of this criterion".
As general advice, that means a style guide should name at least one dark color for text and check every color pair text will sit on. The related answer on making your website easy for older customers covers contrast and readability in more detail.
The name, and the TM and SM symbols
The USPTO's page "What is a trademark?" says a trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design or combination of these that identifies your goods or services, and that a service mark is the term used for services. It says you become a trademark owner as soon as you start using it, with rights limited to the area where you provide your goods or services, and that registering gives broader, nationwide rights.
It also says you can use "TM" for goods or "SM" for services even if you have not filed an application, and the registration symbol only once the mark is registered with the USPTO. A style guide is a good place to note which symbol, if any, goes with the name. This is a plain summary, not legal advice.
Who keeps the files
Keep the master logo files, the font names and the guide itself in a folder the business owns, not only in a designer's account, and get the logo assigned to the business in writing; the related answer on who owns a website a designer built explains why. Then send the page to every new printer, sign shop or designer before they start.
Sources
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, "Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum)"
- United States Patent and Trademark Office, "What is a trademark?" (last updated Nov 30, 2023)
Related answers
- Do you need a logo before you build a website?
- How do you make a website easy for older customers to read and use?
- Who owns the website a designer built for you?
- What is a favicon, and does a small business website need one?
Websites, upgraded or built
Most businesses do not need a new website. They need the one they have to load fast, say clearly what they do and ask the visitor to take one step.