The 4 Basic Things Every Style Guide Needs PLUS 3 Ways To Make Your Own In A Flash

Did you know that creating a style guide for your brand does not have to be super complicated, nor does it need to be perfect? It’s something that helps to create consistency in your brand’s visuals, and it absolutely can and should change and evolve as your brand does. It’s also not a rigid set of rules, but it is a helpful resource for you and anyone else that wants to represent your brand well.

We’re going to talk about the 4 main things I include in every style guide I create, plus 3 tools you can use to make your own in a flash.

>>>Click here to make a Style Guide with me, and stick around for my best tips to create your own.

What Is A Style Guide?

A style guide is usually a document that you (and your team, if you have one) can use to reference important things that make up your visual brand. It essentially helps you learn how to properly and consistently represent and create things for your brand (more on that here). The 4 main things I always include in my style guides are:

1. Primary/Main Logo
2. Secondary Logo
3. Color Palette
4. Typography
5. BONUS: Supporting Elements

I’m going to go through all of these below, so if you’re the type to take notes, grab your favorite note-taking accessories or device, along with your cup of coffee, and let’s get started.

No. 01: Primary/Main Logo

Your primary or main logo is the image of your logo that you most often use for your business. For my brand, Design With Clarissa, my main logo is what you see at the top of my website. Often, you’ll see a style guide with a main logo as an introduction at the top of the page. It is usually full-color, and displayed in one orientation (either horizontal or vertical), and is to be used most of the time.

If you’ve done any research about logos or style guides, you might be wondering what it’s called when the same logo is displayed in different colors. This is because, based on the application or need, the main logo just doesn’t work in a certain instance, so another color is used. It’s still considered the main logo, it’s just a different color, or color variation. This is something you need to be prepared for, so plan to have a few backup color options for your own logo as well. Here’s an example of a main logo set with color variations:

One thing to point out, that might make this make more sense, is that all we’re doing here is changing the color. We’re not changing the orientation or the layout, or anything else about the logo. That’s why it’s called the main logo, with color variations. As we move on to the secondary logo, it’s the same concept: the logo itself does not change, just the color options. If we were to change the orientation or the layout in any way, it would be an entirely new logo option – such as an icon. Keep reading for more examples!

No. 02: Secondary Logo

The purpose of your secondary logo is to have another version or option that can be used in different instances where your main logo does not work. It’s usually a different orientation from your main logo, and includes several color variations as well.

For instance, you probably want your main logo displayed at the top of your invoices, but on social media, you might opt for your secondary logo because it fits better due to the size of your profile image. Here are some nice examples of secondary logo sets with varying color options:

And just as a bonus for variety, here’s an example of an icon logo set with varying color options:

For Design With Clarissa, I have a main logo (what you see on my website) and then I use an icon for my secondary logo (the “dwc” you see here and there). When it comes to your Style Guide, if you already have secondary versions of your logo created, go ahead and include them. But if you don’t, just include your main logo, and worry about the secondary version later.

“A brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Jasmine Star

No. 3: Color Pallette

Your color palette is the group of colors you’ve chosen to use for your brand. I recommend to include at least 2, but no more than 6 colors total. We’ll talk in more detail about this later, but just remember that too much of a good thing, ends up not being such a good thing! Including your color palette, along with the color codes for each color, in your style guide will direct you and your team to consistently use the correct colors for your brand.

Just for a visual, I’ll ask you this: Have you ever seen Tiffany & Co. use anything but the sacred “Tiffany Blue”? I haven’t. That’s because they have a style guide with their brand colors laid out, so everyone that uses or creates for their brand in any way knows what color to use.

And their brand started small and grew to be purely iconic.

The point is, stick with your brand identity by using a style guide, and maintain consistency across all the things you put out there, from social to digital to print. Who knows, your brand may just become iconic, too.

To get the creative juices flowing, below are some pretty color palette examples on my Pinterest board, Shades + Colors:

No. 4: Typography

Your typography or typeface includes the font style(s) that you’ve chosen to use for your brand. Generally you’d need at least 2 different styles of typography, but no more than 3. Your typography will be used in different ways for different applications, to keep things visually interesting (more on that soon).

Backing up a bit though, to explain something that might be confusing: The term “typography” or “typeface” refers to a collection or “family” of fonts, such as the font Nunito. The term “font” refers to the individual style, weight and width of a typeface, such as the different styles in the Nunito family: Nunito Normal, Nunito Bold, and Nunito Italic. Every option in a typeface is a font. Here’s an example of an extensive font family called Rubik, a free Google Font.

For your style guide, you’ll want to include your typefaces and all the fonts within their families that you’d like to use to represent your brand. This can either be all variations (like light, medium, bold italic, and extra bold) or just some (such as only light and bold). It’s up to you and what your designer recommends.

BONUS No. 5: Supporting Elements

Usually, items #1-4 above will suffice for a style guide, because style guides are meant to be a brief and useful tool for keeping up with your brand standards at-a-glance. However, sometimes you might feel it’s important to include supporting elements for your brand in your brief style guide. This can include things like specific icons, patterns, social media or website graphics, or even photography, copy and style rules. In the section for supporting elements, you could also include any quick tips that might be helpful to you, your team, and outside vendors that handle your brand. But don’t add too much – it’s meant to be short and sweet, usually 1-2 pages at most.

The Bigger Picture

If you’re like me, you might want to zoom out a bit and get a snapshot of what we’re really working towards here, just to have it in the back of your mind:

The whole point of creating a Style Guide is to create brand consistency. Your Style Guide is also a starting point for your Brand Guide. I talk more on the difference between the two in this previous post, but, Style guides usually come from or evolve into a “brand guide” or “brand book”.

There are so many options you can include in your style guide, you can’t possibly fit it all into a one-page document. You’ll eventually stretch the pages out to make it more lengthy, i.e., a brand guide.

My best advice to start is here: Logo, secondary logo, typography and color. These are the very basic things I always include in my style guides for clients, and everything you need to get started on yours. Remember, your guide can change and evolve with you as you learn more and grow with your brand.

How To Create Your Style Guide

Ideally, you’d have a professional graphic designer include it with your logo package. Even if you already have a logo, you could hire a pro to help you pull together all of your elements (fonts, colors, etc.) and put them in one spot for you. If you need any additional things created, such as icons or supporting patterns, they could also create those for you, and then add them into your guide. However, if you’re just starting out or you just need to put something together to get started, there are a few quick and easy ways to DIY your own brand guide.

My Top 3 Ways to DIY Your Own Brand Style Guide

Creating your guide does not have to be complicated – at all. If you’re not ready to invest in a designer’s help, you can and should create something on your own – even if you feel unqualified, even if the end result is not the prettiest thing ever, and even if it’s not exactly what you had in mind. You’re just trying to put something together so you have it to move forward. For now, put a pin in investing in one of those gorgeous pinterest-worthy brand guides I know you’ve been eyeing, and take a look at the list below. Here are some of the easiest, cheapest ways to get your first style guide up and running:

1. Create it in Google Docs. (docs are free!) Gather all of the elements mentioned above (that you have currently), and put them together in a folder. Then, drag and drop or insert them into a document, and hit save. That’s it. It’s not the prettiest, but it gets the job done for now.
2. Use Canva. I know, it pains me to say, because I’m an Adobe Illustrator girl all the way, but it really does come in handy for those that aren’t designers or need templates to create something quickly. Plus, it’s also free! There are a ton of videos on YouTube that show you how to create a style guide in Canva, like this one. Search away, get some ideas, and get creating.
3. Try Adobe Creative Cloud Express. There are free and paid versions, so it’s a great choice if you want to level up your style guide game. Again, there are many tutorials on how to use this platform. Click here for a beginner’s guide.

It doesn’t matter what you choose, just commit and get started

If you’re already familiar with one of the above, great! Go ahead and get started, don’t try to learn something new at this point. If you’re feeling confident and have the time, try out Canva or Adobe Creative Cloud Express. It really doesn’t matter what you choose to use, just pick one and get started. It does not need to be perfect to be finished!

Get Your Guide On. Here’s how:

1. Include your logo, secondary logo, color palette, and typography.
2. Learn how to Create A Style Guide With Me
3. Start by using one of the 3 ways to create your own brand guide in a flash, above.
4. Get fresh inspiration from my Style Guide Inspiration Pinterest Board.

I plan to post more on alllll of the different elements and possibilities you could include in your brand guide, as well as my tips for choosing things like color and type, so stick around if you’re interested!

Want to learn more?

If you’re wondering what a style guide is, here’s a previous post with more about them PLUS it explains what a style guide vs. brand guide is.