Brand guidelines maker
A brand guidelines maker for guides people actually open
With a brand guidelines maker you create brand guidelines in four steps: capture your brand foundation, build the visual system (logo, colour, typography and imagery), write rules with examples and share it with everyone who works on your brand. Brandbooks does this online, from a twelve-part blueprint, and gives you one link that is always up to date.
What to gather before you start
Brand guidelines (also called a brand book or brand style guide) record how your brand looks, sounds and behaves, so everyone who works with it makes the same choices. Not sure what belongs in one? Start with what a brand book is.
Creating brand guidelines goes fastest when the big decisions have already been made. You don’t need everything finished, but collect this first:
- Your logo in every version you have, ideally as SVG or EPS, plus the files for print.
- Your colours with codes. If you only have a HEX value, ask your designer or printer to set the CMYK and, if needed, Pantone equivalents.
- The names of your typefaces and their licences.
- Whatever is already written about your brand: mission, values, audience, a few pieces of copy that feel right.
- Examples of material that worked well or went wrong. That’s where your dos and don’ts come from.
How to create brand guidelines online in Brandbooks
The thinking stays yours. Brandbooks takes care of the layout, the structure and the sharing.
- 1
Pick a blueprint
Brand essentials covers all twelve parts compactly, for a new or small brand. Full brandbook works them out in depth, for a team or a client handover. The Campaign playbook builds on an existing brand book in seven chapters. You can also start from a blank brandbook.
Not sure? Start with Brand essentials. You can always add pages and blocks later.
- 2
Set up the brand identity once
Colours, fonts, corner radius and logo live in the brand’s identity settings. Every page of the guide uses them straight away, so you see your brand in its own colours and type from the first minute.
- 3
Fill in the parts
For each part you choose from 26 blocks: a colour palette with HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone plus a proportion bar, contrast pairs with calculated WCAG contrast, a type scale, logos with downloads, dos and don’ts, personality spectrums, personas, layout grids and a moodboard. Every block comes with good layouts, so you never push pixels.
Give every rule an example. “Use plenty of white space” says little; a right and a wrong example side by side says a lot.
- 4
Choose how it looks
The same content works in eleven presentation styles, from one calm column to a full-screen presentation. Switching takes one click and nothing needs rebuilding.
- 5
Publish and share one link
You work in a draft; readers see nothing until you publish. Share the guide with invited people or via a link, and give clients or partners access to their own brand only. Still need a PDF? Export A4 or A5, for the office printer or with bleed and crop marks for the print shop.
What goes into your brand guidelines: twelve parts
Every blueprint follows this structure. Click a part to see how it looks in the Onda example brand book. Want to know what to write for each part? Read what to include in brand guidelines.
- Part 1 of 12
Brand foundation
Why does the brand exist?
- Brand story
- Mission and vision
- Core values
- Part 2 of 12
Audience & positioning
Who is it for, and how is it different?
- Personas
- Need and promise
- Positioning statement
- Positioning map
- Part 3 of 12
Brand personality
How does the brand feel?
- Character traits
- Is / isn’t
- Personality spectrums
- Part 4 of 12
Logo
How do you use the logo well?
- Primary logo and variants
- Symbol
- Minimum size and clear space
- Backgrounds
- Misuse
- Part 5 of 12
Colour
Which colours, in which proportions?
- Primary and secondary colours
- HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone
- Proportions
- Combinations and contrast
- Part 6 of 12
Typography
Which typefaces, and how to use them?
- Typefaces and weights
- Headings and body
- Hierarchy and type scale
- Fallback fonts
- Part 7 of 12
Graphic language
Which shapes and elements belong to it?
- Shapes and patterns
- Icons
- Illustrations
- Frames and how to combine them
- Part 8 of 12
Photography & image style
What do the brand’s images look like?
- Subjects and mood
- Light, colour and composition
- What fits and what doesn’t
- Part 9 of 12
Tone of voice
How does the brand sound?
- Form of address
- Writing style and word choice
- Slogans
- Example copy
- Part 10 of 12
Layout & composition
How do you build a page or post?
- White space
- Grids per format
- Alignment
- Text-to-image ratio
- Part 11 of 12
Applications
What does it look like for real?
- Website and social
- Ads and presentations
- Business cards and print
- Packaging
- Part 12 of 12
Files & governance
Where is everything, and who owns it?
- Logos, fonts and templates
- Which file for what
- Contact person
- Version date
Try it: brand guidelines you can use
This is the real product. Copy a colour code, type your own words in the brand’s typeface and switch brands.
Common Ground · Colour
Colours that feel like us.
Click a colour to copy its HEX value.
Good typography is invisible. It guides the eye from line to line, so readers stay with the story instead of the letters. Spacing between lines matters as much as the letters themselves.
- Line height
- 1.5 · 150% · 24 px at 16 px
Brand book maker, PDF, Canva or slides?
Most brand guidelines are still made as a PDF, in InDesign, Canva or a slide tool. That works until the brand changes or more people start using it.
| PDF (InDesign, Word) | Canva or slides | Online brand guidelines | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Always the latest version | No, old copies keep circulating | Yes, if everyone uses the same link | Yes, one link, with version history |
| Copying colour codes | Retype from the PDF | Retype or paste yourself | One click, in HEX, RGB, CMYK or Pantone |
| Downloading logos | Separate folder or file transfer | Separate folder | Next to the rules, per format |
| Contrast and legibility | Work it out yourself | Work it out yourself | WCAG contrast calculated per colour pair |
| Managing access | Whoever has the PDF has it | Share per design | Per brand or brandbook, including guests |
| Search and mobile | Limited | Limited | Search the whole guide, built for every screen |
| Print-ready version | Yes | Canva yes, slides limited | PDF with bleed and crop marks |
Want a fuller comparison of the tools? We cover it in how to create brand guidelines.
One brand book, eleven presentation styles
Choose a calm column for everyday use and a cinematic style for the launch. Each tile opens the demo in that style.
Who it works for
In-house brand teams
One place colleagues, agencies and partners trust, which only changes when you publish. Brandbooks for brand teams.
Branding agencies
Deliver brand books clients keep using, and keep every client separate. Brandbooks for agencies.
Freelance designers
Turn your identity work into a polished, interactive brand book in an afternoon. Brandbooks for freelancers.
Organisations with several brands
Each brand gets its own identity, files and guides, with access per brand. Brandbooks for multi-brand teams.
Questions about making brand guidelines
How long does it take to create brand guidelines?
If your visual identity is already settled, a compact guide built from a blueprint takes a day or two. A full brand book with brand foundation, personas, tone of voice and applications takes a few weeks, mostly because of the back and forth. Writing and deciding take most of the time, not the layout.
Can I make brand guidelines without a designer?
The layout, yes: blueprints and blocks handle the design of the guide itself. The logo, colours and typefaces are design work, though. If you don’t have those yet, have a designer create them and document them yourself afterwards.
Is there a free brand guidelines template?
Yes. Our brand guidelines template guide has a free outline of all twelve parts you can copy. In Brandbooks the blueprints are the interactive version of it, and every plan is free during early access.
What’s the difference between a brand book and brand guidelines?
Mostly nothing: the terms are used interchangeably. Some people use “brand style guide” for the visual rules only (logo, colour, type) and “brand book” for the wider brand, including purpose, audience and voice. Good brand guidelines cover both.
Can I export my brand guidelines as a PDF?
Yes. Any guide can become a PDF in A4 or A5, portrait or landscape, for the office printer or for the print shop with 3 mm bleed and crop marks. Brandbooks checks that everything fits on the page and that images are sharp enough.
How much does Brandbooks cost?
Every plan is free during early access. After that there’s a free plan for one brand, and planned prices are €15, €39 or €89 per month excluding VAT, depending on the number of brands and editors; Enterprise on request. Readers are always free.
Keep reading
- Guide · Step by stepHow to create brand guidelines in 7 stepsHow to create brand guidelines in 7 steps: what to do in which order, how long it takes, which tool to use (Word, Canva, InDesign, online) and traps to avoid.
- Brand guidelines templateBrand guidelines template: the complete outline, freeA free brand guidelines template with all 12 parts and what to fill in for each. Copy or download the outline, or fill it in online as a live brand book.
- Brand guidelines examplesBrand guidelines examples you can actually click throughThree complete brand guidelines examples to click through, eleven presentation styles and real public guides — plus how to spot a good example.
Give your brand a home.
We’re opening Brandbooks in small groups. Join the waitlist and we’ll invite you personally — free during early access.