Brand strategy
Mission, values, positioning and target audiences. It explains why the brand looks and speaks the way it does.
Brand guidelines: what they are, what to include and how to create them
Brand guidelines are the rules a brand is managed by: what it stands for, how it speaks and how it looks — from strategy and tone of voice to the logo, colors, typography and examples of use. They tell people and AI tools how the brand should come across, so it stays consistent everywhere.
Brand guidelines, brand book, logo guidelines
The terms get mixed up. What sets them apart is how much of the brand they cover — from the logo alone to managing the whole brand.
- Brand guidelines
- The rules for the whole brand: strategy (mission, values, positioning), tone of voice and visual identity. A tool for managing the brand, not just for designers.
- Brand book, brand manual
- Other names for brand guidelines. A brand book sometimes means only the opening part about the brand's story and values.
- Visual identity guidelines
- Only the visual side: logo, colors, typography, graphic elements, print and web. Also called a design manual or style guide.
- Logo guidelines
- A narrower document about the logo only: versions, clear space, minimum size, logo colors and misuse. Usually the first part of brand guidelines.
- Online brand guidelines
- Brand guidelines as a website instead of a PDF. One address, downloadable files next to every element, and changes without sending out new versions.
What to include in brand guidelines
Strategy and tone say what the brand stands for. The visual part — logo, colors, typography and downloadable files — shows how it should look. The examples come from the Visualbook sample manual.
Tone of voice
How the brand speaks, how its name is written in text and which words it uses — or avoids.
Graphic elements
Icons, patterns, shapes and the grid that brand materials are built from when the logo isn't there.
Photography and illustration
The image style the brand uses, how to handle light and cropping, and which pictures don't belong.
Business card, letterhead, envelope, stamp or product packaging — with dimensions and print-ready files.
Digital
Website, social media, email signature and presentation template. This is where the brand shows up most often.
Brand guidelines as a PDF or online
The content is the same. What differs is how you work with it after hand-off.
Comparison
PDF
Online
After hand-off
Changing a ruleA designer edits the document, a new version is made and sent outYou change it yourself and everyone sees it right away
Current versionSeveral versions circulate in emails and foldersOne address, always valid
AccessEmail attachment or shared folderA link; sensitive parts behind a password
Day to day
Logo and filesStored separately; the document only has a pictureDownloadable right next to the rule
ColorsValues are copied by hand from the pageCopy them with a click or download the palette
SearchScrolling or searching within one fileSearch across the whole manual
On a phoneZooming into A4 pagesPages adapt to the screen
AI toolsRead rules from images and layouts unreliablyReadable text; Visualbook adds an AI connector
How to create brand guidelines
Five steps from strategy to guidelines people actually use. They apply to PDF and online alike.
Be clear about what the brand stands for
Mission, values, positioning and tone of voice. Without them, the visual rules are just copied instead of growing out of something.
Gather the source material
The logo as vector files (SVG, PDF, EPS), exact color values, typefaces with their licenses and the materials that already exist. Whatever is missing, the brand designer fills in.
Set the rules
Clear space and minimum size of the logo, colors for print and screen, typographic hierarchy. Describe each rule in one sentence so it's easy to follow.
Show how it's used and add the files
Do and don't examples on real materials — a business card, a social post, an email signature — together with the logo pack, typefaces and templates. Logopack Studio exports all logo files from one source for free.
Publish and maintain
The guidelines should have one address and one owner who keeps them current. In Visualbook, an AI agent helps too — it creates pages, fills in text and translates it.
How much brand guidelines cost
The cost is made up of designing the rules, where the guidelines live, and keeping them up to date. Each part is paid separately.
Designing the rules
Work by a designer or studio: strategy, tone, logo, colors, typography and examples of use. The price depends on scope — from a few thousand euros for a smaller brand to tens of thousands for extensive guidelines.
Depending on scopeThousands to tens of thousands of €
Online guidelines in Visualbook
A one-time price for the setup, no monthly fees for running it. A company with its own brand buys the Company edition; a designer working for clients buys Designer.
Excl. VATFrom €412 one-time
Pricing and comparison with subscriptionsMaintenance
With a PDF, every change is a new job for the designer. Online guidelines you edit yourself or with an AI agent, and running Visualbook is free.
Running Visualbook€0 per month
Brand guidelines examples
Real brand manuals running on Visualbook.
Brand guidelines FAQ
What is the difference between logo guidelines and brand guidelines?
Logo guidelines cover only the logo: its versions, clear space, minimum size, colors and misuse. Visual identity guidelines add typography, the full color palette, graphic elements and examples of use. Brand guidelines go furthest — besides the visual identity, they also describe the brand strategy and tone of voice.
How many pages should brand guidelines have?
As many as the brand actually uses. For a smaller company, a few sentences about what the brand stands for plus the logo, colors, typography and downloadable files are enough. Large brands have dozens of pages, including packaging, signage or rules for sub-brands. Short guidelines people read beat long ones nobody opens.
Who creates brand guidelines?
The rules are designed by the designer or studio that created the brand — they know the reasons behind each decision. Marketing often takes over the upkeep afterwards. That is why online guidelines need to be editable without a designer.
How often should brand guidelines be updated?
Whenever something people use changes: a new logo version, a new print item, a presentation template or a contact. With a PDF, changes get postponed because of cost and distribution, so the guidelines go out of date. Online guidelines change as you go.
Do online brand guidelines have to be public?
No. In Visualbook you can lock the whole manual with a password, or only individual pages and files, such as print files for suppliers. The public part can appear in search engines, the locked part can't.
Can existing PDF guidelines be turned into an online version?
Yes. The PDF content is split into pages and the rules get their downloadable files. In the Company edition, importing your existing manual (logos, typefaces and colors) is included in the price. And if you want to keep the manual outside Visualbook as well, you can download a static export.
Can AI work with brand guidelines?
Yes. Every Visualbook has an AI connector (MCP) through which your AI agent helps you manage the manual even faster: it creates pages, writes and translates text, or checks what is missing. It also reads the brand rules from the manual when creating new materials.
Create your online brand guidelines
Start a one-hour demo right now. A trial Visualbook at your own address is free for 14 days — no credit card needed.