Every branding project we deliver at Hatch comes with a brand guidelines document. Not as an afterthought, not as a box to tick, but as one of the most important things we hand over.
Done well, a brand guidelines document is what makes a brand last. It's the thing that keeps everything consistent after the project is finished, when the design team has moved on and the rest of the business has to carry it forward on their own.
Here's what we think it should include, and just as importantly, what it shouldn't.
Logo usage
This is the obvious starting point, but it's worth getting right.
Good logo guidance covers more than just the primary version. It shows the full suite of logo variations, how the logo sits on light and dark backgrounds, what clear space it needs around it, and the minimum sizes it can be used at before it stops working. It also covers what not to do, stretched versions, unapproved colours, busy backgrounds, the mistakes that are easy to make and hard to undo.
Colour palette
A brand colour palette should be defined precisely, not approximately.
That means exact values across every format a designer or printer might need, HEX for digital, RGB for screen, CMYK for print, and Pantone references where relevant. It should also be clear which colours are primary, which are secondary, and how they're intended to be used together. Ratios matter. A colour that's meant to be an accent can overwhelm a brand if someone uses it as a background across an entire campaign.
Typography
Font choices are only useful if people know how to apply them.
Good typographic guidance covers which typefaces are in use and where to get them, how they're applied across different contexts, what the hierarchy looks like from headline through to body copy, and what line spacing and sizing conventions apply. If there are web-safe alternatives for digital contexts where the primary typeface isn't available, those should be included too.
Tone of voice
This is the section most brand guidelines documents either skip entirely or handle too vaguely to be useful.
Tone of voice shapes how a brand sounds across every piece of written communication, from a website headline to an out-of-office reply. It doesn't need to be a lengthy style guide, but it should give enough direction that two different people writing on behalf of the brand end up in the same territory. A few concrete examples of on-brand and off-brand language go further than a list of adjectives.
Imagery and visual style
That means being specific about the types of images that work, the mood, the subject matter, the colour treatment, and equally clear about what doesn't fit. For brands that use illustration, the style, line weight and colour application should all be documented so the visual language stays consistent whether it's produced in-house or by an external supplier.
What it shouldn't be
A brand guidelines document doesn't need to be a 60-page bible.
In our experience, the most useful documents are the ones people actually refer to. If it's too long, too complex or too prescriptive, it gets ignored. We aim for something concise and practical, covering the decisions that matter most and giving enough clarity that the brand can be applied confidently without needing to come back to us every time.
The goal is independence. A good guidelines document should make it easier for a business to manage its own brand, not harder.
The document that keeps working
A brand is only as strong as its consistency, and consistency depends on people having clear guidance to follow. A well-structured guidelines document is what bridges the gap between the design work and the day-to-day reality of running a business.
It's one of the reasons we include it as standard in every branding project we deliver. Not because it's expected, but because without it, even the strongest brand identity can start to drift.
If you're working from an outdated set of guidelines, or none at all, that's something we can help with. Get in touch and let's talk about what your brand actually needs.
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