Brand Book

What is a Brand Book?

A brand book is a set of guidelines that define and control a brand's identity. Also known as style guides, they provide information on everything from the company's visual identity and logo design to its mission statement, core values, and even the tone of voice that should be used in corporate communications or collateral.

The main purpose of a brand book is to showcase and explain your brand’s identity, mission, visual style, and core values. Your brand book will help customers and staff clearly understand what you want to portray to your audience.

Why Does Having a Brand Book Matter?

1. Maintain Consistency

A brand book should be shared throughout the company and with partners in order to maintain consistent delivery of the brand. By referencing the book, creatives can eliminate questions from other departments, such as which logo to use on a light or dark background.  

Consistency in branding cultivates familiarity, making it easier for customers to recognize and recall your brand amidst a sea of competitors. According to a study by Lucidpress, consistent brand presentation across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%. 

2. Establish Credibility

Once a brand book is in place and brand consistency is maintained, you’ll begin to establish credibility with your customers or users. And credibility leads to loyalty.

3. Increase Efficiency
A brand book will primarily be a point of reference for those in the creative and communication departments. Creating or revamping a brand book will require time, research, and work. At first this can appear inconvenient and costly, but upon completion it will improve work performance and increase the output of projects.

Getting Started Building a Brand Book

Creating a Brand Book in the Brick River content management system involves utilizing various fields and relationships to organize and present your brand's attributes cohesively. 

The Brand Book view is located under Org>Brands. Here's how to navigate and use the provided view:

Brand Attributes Section

  • Preview Pane: This section provides a live preview of how your Brand Book appears on your site.
  • Cover Image: Upload an image that will go next to your introductory paragraph. It could be an illustration, image, or graphic that you feel represents your brand. 
  • Cover Logo: Upload your brand logo. This particular logo will appear in the upper left hand side at the top of the Brand Book. 
  • Brand Book Title: This title will show externally above the Introduction section. Example: Brick River Brand Book.
  • Brand Book Introduction: Write an introductory paragraph to your brand. Example, write a welcome and explain the purpose and contents of your Brand Book.
  • Mission Statement: Articulate your brand's core mission and vision in this field.
  • What We Do (Purposes/Priorities): Use the relationship to link to specific content detailing your brand's activities and initiatives. Create a new "What we do" and add in your Title, Image, and Description. Example: Title: Fun and Creativity. Description: We’re serious about delivering excellent service while enjoying what we do by constantly striving for honesty, effectiveness, and accurate, measurable results.
  • Values: Define and relate to specific brand values that guide your organization. Example: Title: Integrity. Description: Integrity means acting honestly, ethically, and responsibly in all aspects of our business.
  • Brand Personality Traits: Establish and link to traits that describe your brand's character. Example: Trait/Adjective: Educational. Description: We strive to inform and educate the public about the importance of biodiversity, why habitats need to be restored, and how pollution impacts our environment.
  • Client Personas: Identify and describe your target audience segments. Personas are fictional characters, which you create based upon your research in order to represent the different user types that might use your service, product, site, or brand in a similar way. Creating personas helps you to understand users' needs, experiences, behaviors and goals.
  • Brand Positioning Statement: A positioning statement is a description of your product and target audience and explains how it fills a market need. Learn more about creating a positioning statement. 
  • Friendly: This is the unique naming you will give to your brand book that will be affixed at the end of the URL. For example: This brand book is available at https://ANYOFYOURWEBSITES/page/brandbook/(friendly)
  • Website Link: Add a link to your website if you want people to be able to navigate back to your website. It will appear in the top right of the brand book header. 

Visual Identity Section

  • About Brand Colors: A place to add your overall description about all your brand colors.
  • Brand Colors: Add or relate brand colors. Be sure to give each color a name, color category, and Hex code. Users will be able to easily copy this hex code. If you need help choosing your brand colors, read this blog post.
  • About Fonts: This is the intro and general overview of fonts in your brand.Logos, etc.: Describe the visual elements of your brand, including color palettes, typography, logos, and any other graphical components.
  • Fonts: Add each of your brand fonts here. Here is a helpful article if you need help choosing brand fonts. Each brand font includes the font name, description (usually what that font is used for), font weight, a URL to the font, and a place to upload the font.
  • TIP* If you want the fonts you define to appear using that font in the Typography section, you can define them in the Page Styles Section. 

Files and Media Section

  • This section is where you can add your brand Logos, Illustrations, Photography, Graphics, and Other Brand Files. Provide context and guidelines for using various types of media associated with your brand.
  • Each file section provides allows you to add or relate your brand files. Choose the Type, give it a Name, upload the Primary Image or File that will be displayed in the brand book. 
  • TIP* Add More File Formats in order to store all of the different versions of the file in one place. For example, upload your logo as a .jpg, .png, .svg so you'll never be asked to send the logo in a certain format again.

Voice and Tone Section

  • About Voice and Tone: Provide guidelines on how your brand communicates, including examples of writing styles and tones suitable for different contexts.

Page Styles Section

  • This is where you can control the look and feel of your Brand Book.
  • Add the FavIcon that will be used for the Brand Book.
  • Add in the Headings, Title, Body Font, etc.: Specify the fonts and colors used across your brand's web presence. This will be used in the Typography Section so the fonts will appear using the font you define. 

General Tips:

  • Consistency is key: Ensure that all elements are aligned with your brand's identity and message.
  • Keep it updated: Regularly review and update your Brand Book to reflect any changes in your brand strategy or visual identity.
  • Accessibility: Make sure your Brand Book is easy to navigate and understand by all members of your organization.
  • If you have a PDF of your Brand Book, you can make it available by uploading it to the Other Brand Files section.

When filling out these fields, consider how each element contributes to a unified brand identity and how they will guide your team's branding decisions and communications.