Brand guidelines and brand books: logo, colour and type rules in one PDF
We create brand guidelines for new and existing logos: logo versions, clear space, RGB, CMYK and HEX colours, typefaces, backgrounds and usage examples. A logo sheet of up to 8 pages costs from 900 PLN net, also for a logo you already have.
- Price
- from 900 PLN
- Timeline
- 5-7 business days
- Copyright
- Full
How much do brand guidelines cost?
A logo sheet of up to 8 pages costs from 900 PLN net, brand guidelines of up to 24 pages from 1,900 PLN, and a full brand book of up to 48 pages with tone of voice and templates from 3,900 PLN. Brand guidelines describe the logo, colours, typefaces and their use. A brand book describes the whole brand: also tone of voice, photo and illustration style and material templates.
- Price
- from 900 PLN
- Timeline
- 5-7 business days
Inside a brand book
A logo without rules soon takes on a life of its own.
01 / 05
Logo versions
Every variant of the mark with notes on when to use it: primary, horizontal, vertical, mark only, monochrome.
02 / 05
Clear space and sizes
How much free space to leave around the logo and the smallest size in print and on screen.
03 / 05
Colours
RGB, CMYK and HEX codes and, on request, Pantone equivalents, with colour proportions.
04 / 05
Typography
Typefaces for headings and body text, with licence information and substitutes for office documents.
Aa
Outfit
Aa
Inter
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Logo files
A pack of SVG, PDF, EPS and PNG files named as in the guidelines, so everyone finds the right one.
What you get in brand guidelines
We deliver the guidelines as a PDF for viewing on screen and sending to suppliers, together with a pack of logo files named as in the guidelines.
Logo versions
Every variant of the mark with notes on when to use it: primary, horizontal, vertical, mark only, monochrome.
Clear space and sizes
How much free space to leave around the logo and the smallest size in print and on screen.
Colours
RGB, CMYK and HEX codes and, on request, Pantone equivalents, with colour proportions.
Typography
Typefaces for headings and body text, with licence information and substitutes for office documents.
Backgrounds and pairings
Which backgrounds and photos the logo can sit on, and which it cannot.
Misuse
Examples of what not to do: stretching, recolouring, shadows, rotating.
Logo files
A pack of SVG, PDF, EPS and PNG files named as in the guidelines, so everyone finds the right one.
Who uses brand guidelines
Guidelines are not for the designer who wrote them. They are for everyone who will use your logo without you.
Printer
Gets CMYK and Pantone colours, so nothing is matched by eye.
Developer
Knows which logo goes in the header, the HEX colour and which fonts to load on the website.
Agency or freelancer
Designs a campaign in your style without guessing or more questions.
Sign maker
Knows the minimum size, the clear space and the version for dark backgrounds.
Your team
Makes presentations and posts that look like the company, not like another version of the logo.
Partners and media
Publish your logo correctly when you send them one PDF instead of explaining on the phone.
Why a business needs brand guidelines
A logo without rules soon takes on a life of its own. The printer picks the colour by eye, the developer stretches the mark to fit the header, and someone on the team puts the white logo on a light photo. Each decision looks small, but a year later the company has five shades of its colour and three versions of its logo.
Brand guidelines settle these decisions in advance. They say which logo versions exist and when to use them, how much clear space to leave around the mark, how small it can be, what the brand colours are in print and on screen and which typefaces to use. Good guidelines also show misuse, because examples teach fastest.
We prepare guidelines in three scopes. A logo sheet is a few pages with the key logo rules. Brand guidelines add backgrounds, misuse, a construction grid and examples on real items. A full brand book describes the whole brand: also tone of voice, photo and illustration style and templates.
We can prepare guidelines for a logo we designed, but also for a mark you have had for years. In that case we first tidy up the files and colours, and if the logo only exists as a JPG, we redraw it as a vector.
Brand book packages
Net prices. Anything beyond a package is quoted before we start.
Logo Sheet
The key logo rules on a few pages, for a small company and work with a printer.
from900 PLN
5-7 business days
- PDF of up to 8 pages
- Logo versions and their use
- Clear space and minimum sizes
- RGB, CMYK and HEX colours
- Typefaces
Most chosen
Brand Guidelines
Full logo and colour rules with examples, for a company working with several suppliers.
from1,900 PLN
2-3 weeks
- PDF of up to 24 pages
- Everything in the logo sheet
- Backgrounds and colour pairings
- Logo misuse
- Construction grid of the mark
- Examples on real items
Full Brand Book
A description of the whole brand: from the logo, through tone of voice and photos, to templates for your team.
from3,900 PLN
3-5 weeks
- PDF of up to 48 pages
- Everything in the brand guidelines
- Tone of voice with examples
- Photo and illustration style
- Rules for print and online
- Templates for core materials
Net prices in PLN, starting from the amount shown for the scope described. We reserve about 15% of the project time for revisions, so a bigger project gets proportionally more time for changes. Anything beyond the package is quoted before we start.
Package comparison
| Scope | Logo Sheet | Brand Guidelines | Full Brand Book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pages | up to 8 | up to 24 | up to 48 |
| Logo and colours | yes | yes | yes |
| Backgrounds and misuse | none | yes | yes |
| Construction grid | none | yes | yes |
| Tone and photos | none | none | yes |
| Templates | none | none | yes |
| Timeline | 5-7 business days | 2-3 weeks | 3-5 weeks |
How brand guidelines come together
Review1-2 days
We collect logo files, colours and existing materials and check what is inconsistent.
1Tidying the mark1-3 days
We settle logo versions, colours and typefaces. If the logo is only a JPG, we redraw it as a vector.
2Rules2-7 days
Clear space, sizes, backgrounds, misuse and, in the brand book, tone, photo and illustration rules.
3Layout and examples2-6 days
PDF layout, examples on real items and templates if they are in the package.
4Files1 day
The guidelines PDF and a pack of logo files named to match.
5
We reserve about 15% of the project time for revisions. Decisions about logo versions and colours are best made early, because the rest of the guidelines depends on them.
What the price of brand guidelines depends on
The number of rules to describe changes the price most, followed by the state of the files we start from.
- 1
Scope of rules
Logo and colours on a few pages is different work from describing tone, photos and templates for a whole brand.
- 2
State of files
When the logo is only a JPG or exists in several versions, it has to be tidied up first.
- 3
Number of examples
Each example on a real item, from a business card to a sign, is a separate mockup.
- 4
Templates
Editable templates for your team need to be prepared and tested in the software you use.
How not to overpay
- Collect every logo file before we start
- Choose the scope by how many people will use the brand
- Start with a logo sheet and expand it as the company grows
- Order guidelines together with a logo or identity project
Who we create brand guidelines for
Companies with a logo but no rules
Order in the files, colours and versions of a mark that is already a few years old.
Companies about to hire an agency
One document the agency gets at the start instead of a series of questions.
Chains and franchises
Rules that make every location look the same, even when different suppliers make the materials.
Companies with a new logo
Guidelines for a mark designed elsewhere, if the designer did not provide rules.
Organisations and universities
Rules for many departments and people who create materials on their own.
How to prepare for a guidelines project
A complete set of what already exists helps most, including materials you do not like.
0 / 6 ready
- Every logo file you have
- Colours, if they are written down anywhere
- Typeface names or font files
- Photos of your sign, business cards, website and other materials
- The suppliers who will use the guidelines
- Examples of logo misuse that have already happened
Guidelines for a logo you already have
Many companies have had a logo for years but no rules for it. Files are scattered across inboxes, every supplier has a different version, and the colour differs between the sign, the website and the business card. In that case the guidelines start with tidying up: we choose one primary version, settle the colours and prepare a full set of files.
We do not change the logo unless you ask us to. If we spot a problem during the review, such as a mark that is illegible at small sizes, we describe it and propose a logo refresh as a separate scope. The decision is yours.
Logo sheet, guidelines or brand book
| Situation | Enough | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sole trader, one printer | logo sheet | few suppliers, simple materials |
| Company with a team and several suppliers | brand guidelines | misuse and background rules prevent mistakes |
| Brand with agencies, franchises or a marketing team | full brand book | rules must cover tone, photos and templates |
| Logo only as a JPG | vectorization and a logo sheet | the mark has to be rebuilt first |
Brand guidelines from the inside
What you will find in typical guidelines and how to make sure people use them.
The contents of typical brand guidelines
Guidelines open with a short introduction to the brand and its character. Then the logo: the primary version and variants, the construction of the mark, clear space, minimum sizes in print and on screen. Next come colours with RGB, CMYK and HEX codes, and Pantone where needed, with the proportions in which to use them.
Further chapters cover typography with a heading and text hierarchy, logo pairings with backgrounds and photos, misuse, and examples on real items from a business card to the website. A full brand book adds chapters on tone of voice, photo and illustration style and templates.
How to make sure people use it
The best guidelines will not help if they sit in a folder nobody knows about. Name one person responsible for the brand who sends the guidelines to every new supplier together with the pack of logo files.
Keep the files in one place, for example a shared cloud folder, with names that match the guidelines. When someone asks for the logo, you send a link rather than hunting through old emails.
When to update the guidelines
Guidelines should keep up with the brand. An update makes sense when a new product or sub-brand appears, when there is a new channel such as video or an app, or when the team keeps breaking a rule because it is impractical.
We quote an update as a smaller job: we add a chapter or change rules, and the rest of the guidelines stays as it is.
Guidelines as a PDF and in the cloud
We deliver the guidelines as a PDF, because anyone can open it and it is easy to send. For a brand used by many people, a shared cloud folder helps too: the guidelines, logo files, typefaces and templates in one place, with a simple folder structure.
We can set up such a folder on request in the service your company uses. If the brand needs a browser-based guidelines site, we can design it as part of web design, and VulCode can build it.
Let us start with a talk about your brand book
A free online consultation or a quote in the calculator.