What to put in brand guidelines: a checklist for startups

The checklist

• Logo: primary, secondary and compact versions; clear space; minimum sizes; what not to do
• Colour: codes for screen and print, proportions, accessible text and background pairs
• Typography: typefaces, weights, a type scale for headings and body, fallbacks
• Layout and spacing: grid, margins, how much white space, corner radius
• Imagery: photo style, illustration rules, icon style
• Voice: three or four traits with "say this, not that" examples
• Templates: social posts, a deck, a document and an email signature

What to leave out

• Long brand-history essays nobody reads
• Every possible edge case; cover the ten most common uses well
• Rules you won't enforce

Make the guidelines get used

1. 1Put them where people work: a shared link, not a PDF in someone's downloads folder
2. 2Lead with templates; most people want a starting file, not a rulebook
3. 3Show real examples from your own website, deck and social posts
4. 4Name an owner who updates it when something new is designed

Guidelines for AI tools too

More and more content is drafted with AI. Add a short section with your voice rules, banned phrases and example paragraphs that you can paste into an assistant's instructions. It's the cheapest way to keep AI-written content on brand. Our AI workflows service builds this into the tools themselves.

Every Theepa Studio brand identity ships with guidelines and templates like these.