How To Apply Your Style Guide To Anything + Video Walk-Thrus
I used to be 1000% in favor of a professional designer creating any and every graphic and template for you… but that was back before the age of creative apps.
Now, there are all of these cool applications that literally anyone could use to create things for their brand, and it’s much more efficient and cost-effective. I actually think they are amazing both for the user and the designer, as long as everything is set up correctly.
One of the ways to do that is by utilizing your style guide and applying it to everything that you create.
A big mistake I see business owners make is to create their own brand assets – but do so without referencing their style guide.
Maybe they were never given one…
Or maybe they don’t understand how to use it. (Which is totally okay and something to be learned!)
^^^ And THAT is why I decided to start creating content surrounding this topic of brand consistency.
It’s not that it’s hard to learn or that there’s some gatekeeper standing there and saying that you can’t do this yourself.
I think it just has to do with a bit of willingness and education, which is something I’m definitely passionate about. I love teaching business owners how to use their brand to their advantage – those who feel like they aren’t creative at all, and the ones that do but want some guideance.
If you…
- Do have a style guide but don’t know how to use it, or you want to learn more about it, this post is for you.
- Don’t have a style guide, stick around, because I’ve unlocked the gates and let them swing open by providing a super easy, super simple way to create your own style guide, linked at the bottom.
If you have your style guide in hand, let me introduce you to the following examples! I’ll walk you through using one of my Semi-Custom Brands called, “Hill”, and help you learn how to apply your style guide to ANYTHING you create.
>>> Need a hand with brand consistency? Grab my checklist, which goes over all. the. things. you need to know to get and keep your brand cohesive and consistent across the board. Get it here!
Your Style Guide Tour
First things first, you’ll want to take notice of at least three things on your style guide:
- Logo
- Fonts
- Colors
These elements are your ride-or-die. You gotta learn ‘em, know ‘em, and implement ‘em.
When you go to create anything, such as a document, Canva template, email campaign, website landing page – you name it – you’re going to open your style guide and reference it to create said things.
As part of your brand suite, you should have your logo files, any extra brand elements like pattern files, your fonts (links to download them, or already have them on your computer), and your color codes.
A style guide usually looks something like this:
HOW-TO: Implementation
ONE
The number one thing you can do to start utilizing your brand identity with strategy, purpose, and ease is to keep your style guide handy!
Save it to your brand assets folder, save it to your desktop, keep it as an image on your phone, print it out – the point is, make it super easy on yourself to access.
Out of sight is actually out of mind.
TWO
Next, you’ll want to do some recon. Before you go all-in on a platform to DIY brand assets such as social media templates or your letterhead, you’ll want to make sure it offers the versatility and options you need:
- Does it allow you to upload your own fonts? Or, are your brand fonts available in the app already?
- Does it allow for custom colors using your hex or other color codes?
- Are you able to drag and drop elements such as your logo, and any other graphics that go with your brand (think patterns, supporting elements, etc.)
If you can answer those questions with a “yes”, then I think you have a winner. For example, Canva allows for all of those options, which makes sense, because it gives the people what they want and it’s probably the most well-known and popular app of its kind right now. Another one that’s similar os Adobe Creative Cloud Express.
Search around and find one that works for you, and don’t worry – this is trial and error, and you can always change your mind later.
THREE
Once you’ve chosen an application or software to use, and I’ll just use Canva as an example, you’ll want to start making things for your brand, such as social media templates or a document template.
I’ve made this implementation step really easy by showing you some of my favorite examples. Keep scrolling for video walk-thrus and instructions!
HOW-TO: Good ‘Ol Fashioned Document
Let’s say you have your style guide and you’re ready to start implementing all of your elements into a blank document. Here’s how to do it:
- Open up your style guide.
- Open up your blank document (I used Google docs, which is free – yay!), and set it side-by-side with your style guide so it’s easy to reference.
- Add your logo to the document. Just drag and drop!
- Add your brand fonts. The great thing about using Google docs is that you can import any Google fonts that you want. A lot of times, I will choose to use Google fonts, especially for my semi-custom brands, because they are royalty-free and super easy to use and implement across different applications like wordpress, canva, etc. Referencing your style guide, click “more fonts” under the typography drop-down, and then search for your fonts (if they’re Google, they should show up).
- Add your brand colors. Select the color drop-down, then select the plus + sign to add. Head to your style guide to copy and paste each of your hex # color codes into your blank doc, one by one.
The really great thing is that it’s really versatile – and just look at how well it matches! All you did was add in your brand fonts, your brand colors and add your logo. Now you can create whatever you need in this document, and it will be consistent with your brand.
HOW-TO: Everyone’s Favorite Pal, Canva
To update a Canva template, here’s where to start:
- Open your style guide.
- Sign into Canva (free or paid version – here I have the free version)
- Select what you want to make, I selected an Insta post.
- Select one of the templates, or start from scratch to use your own, whichever you prefer. Even if you’re using the free version, updating a template according to your brand is totally doable!
- Select the text on the template, then search for your brand fonts to update the text according to your style guide! In this example, I’m looking for Antonio, a Google font. Canva happened to have it – which is one of the great things about using Google fonts: it’s royalty-free, and Google fonts really integrate well with a lot of things now, like WordPress and Canva, and sometimes the fonts are just automatically available.
- Update the colors. Select the color box in Canva, then select the plus + sign. With your style guide open, copy and page each of your hex # color codes into Canva, and update each element’s color as you go – this includes fonts, any graphics, and backgrounds.
PRO TIP: If your font is not available in the free version of Canva, that’s okay! You can upgrade to a paid account, and then add your fonts to your Brand Kit in Canva. I totally recommend you do this so that everything you make for your brand stays cohesive and consistent across the board.
This is how you would quickly and simply update a template within Canva for your brand. I hope it was helpful!
HOW-TO: The ‘Gram Stories
If you’re in Instagram and you want to update a story according to your brand colors, here’s how to do it:
- Send a jpeg image or screenshot of your style guide to your phone.
- “Copy” the image from your camera roll.
- Open Instagram, and select the plus + sign to add a story.
- Add some text to your story.
- Select the text box again, but this time instead of typing, wait for the “paste” button to pop up, then select “paste”. This will add that image of your style guide to your story! Don’t worry, we’ll trash it later, but you now have your brand colors all right there.
- Select your written text again, then select the eyedropper tool. Drag that eyedropper over whatever colors you’d like to use from your style guide and boom! You now have the text in your story in your brand colors. Use these same steps to update other elements.
- Whenever you’re done with your style guide, drag that image to the “trash” icon in your stories, and you’re good to go!
That is a quick, simple way to update your text according to your brand. Now moving forward, keep that image of your style guide on your phone at all times, so that you can paste it right into your stories to help you with branding them consistently.
Keepin’ It Up
You really can apply your style guide to anything! Of course there might be certain limitations if you’re using free versions of something, or if the fonts just aren’t available, but for the most part you can apply your style guide to whatever you’re making so that your brand stays consistent. I know I’ve harped on that a lot in this post, so if you’re wanting to learn more…
Grab my checklist, and then head to one of these:
- 3 Mindset Shifts To Conquer Brand Consistency FOR GOOD!
- Visual Brand Consistency Explained + 5 Steps To Achieve It
- How To Define Your Brand Style + My Tips For Your Mood Board
PIN IT FOR LATER:
