Quick guide to creating a corporate identity manual
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 3:54 am
A corporate identity manual defines the rules for applying the graphic elements of a brand to maintain its visual and communicative coherence. In short, without a manual your brand is sold out.
Your brand identity is your company's personality. It's what makes your brand stand out in the mind of the consumer and differentiate it from the competition. A corporate identity manual is responsible for putting in order all the graphic application rules of your brand, from fonts and colors to logos, applications and images. It is a reference tool that explains how a company presents itself to the world through design. Creating a visual guide has two main benefits: it ensures consistency and saves time.
Consistency is the key to creating a coherent brand image. Any business needs to create communication pieces, such as newsletters, images for social media or online ads. A reference manual allows you to compile all the information so that anyone can access it at any time and follow the same criteria when creating designs.
Below we present the basic elements that your corporate identity manual should have:
1. Definition and philosophy
Before creating a style guide, you need to know your gambling data singapore phone number brand well. The first section should explain the basics, such as mission, vision, personality and core values. It's about capturing the essence of your brand in a few lines of text.
2. Moodboards
A collage of inspiring images helps visualize the concepts behind the creation of the brand.
3. Logos
The logo is the most recognizable element of a brand. This section of the manual ensures the correct use of your logo on any medium. Here you must detail how and when its different versions can be used. To prevent incorrect applications that could convey the wrong message, it is necessary to specify the following basic elements:
Anagram or symbol : graphic element that is part of the logo that represents one or more concepts.
Brand : distinctive sign whose main function is to differentiate and make the company's services unique compared to other competitors.
Tagline : A short phrase specifically designed to cleverly and intelligently express the brand's proposition.
Grid and protection zone : a guide that helps to reproduce the logo in any dimension and support. It establishes a proportional empty space around the logo to ensure its legibility.
Minimum sizes : the minimum recommended size to use a logo without losing its legibility in offset, screen printing and digital printing.
Positive and negative marking : in white on a black background and in black on a white background, to indicate which colour variant should be used on light and dark backgrounds.
Branding on corporate colors and image : an example of how the brand should be presented on different corporate colors and images.
Improper uses : details of how the brand's graphic elements should not be applied, such as deformations, color changes or incorrect sizes.
4. Corporate colors
The choice of primary and secondary corporate colours is one of the most important elements of branding. The manual should specify a colour sample, using references for both printed material and digital media.
Two different codes are used for printing:
Pantone : the most widely used colour catalogue in the world. Using Pantone references ensures that the printed colour will always be the same as the colour chosen in the sample.
CMYK : These are four numbers that indicate the combination of four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key). The equivalent of a Pantone color will not always be exactly the same in CMYK.
For screens two other references are used:
RGB : A combination of three primary colours (red, green and blue). Pantone and CMYK colour equivalents must be specified in order to display them correctly on digital media.
HTML : Hexadecimal code consisting of a hash and 6 numbers and letters. It is used to identify colors in web design.
Remember that all these colors can vary slightly on each medium. The best strategy is to first choose a print color and look for its digital equivalents.
5. Typographic system
Every brand has its own combination of corporate fonts: a main one for the logo and a secondary one for the body of the text. An identity manual specifies the typeface family (whether it is regular, bold or italic) and the sizes (h1, h2, h3). It shows the fonts using all the characters: the letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case and the numbers from 0 to 9. It also includes examples of how each of them is used in headlines, in secondary texts and in CTA buttons on the website.
6. Photographs and graphic elements
This section is essential for any business that tends to use elements such as photographs, icons or illustrations as a resource in its communication. It specifies the style of images that can be used and gives examples that fit the tone of the brand. It also defines the sizes and the correct and incorrect use of:
Corporate photographs : their style and the messages they should convey
Icons and illustrations : sets that fit the brand style
Patterns : images used to create backgrounds
7. Applications
A section with the applications of all the elements previously specified in different publications is what completes an identity manual. Depending on the style of each business, designs can be included on stationery, such as business cards, brochures and envelopes, on promotional material, such as t-shirts and pens, or in different packaging formats. Examples of digital formats are also presented here: ad banners, social media creatives and web elements. All this explains the use of the brand, fonts and corporate colours in visual examples of different on- and offline applications.
The length of an identity manual depends on the needs of each company. The main objective is to create a guide that details a consistent visual identity and can be a reference point for any future design projects.
Your brand identity is your company's personality. It's what makes your brand stand out in the mind of the consumer and differentiate it from the competition. A corporate identity manual is responsible for putting in order all the graphic application rules of your brand, from fonts and colors to logos, applications and images. It is a reference tool that explains how a company presents itself to the world through design. Creating a visual guide has two main benefits: it ensures consistency and saves time.
Consistency is the key to creating a coherent brand image. Any business needs to create communication pieces, such as newsletters, images for social media or online ads. A reference manual allows you to compile all the information so that anyone can access it at any time and follow the same criteria when creating designs.
Below we present the basic elements that your corporate identity manual should have:
1. Definition and philosophy
Before creating a style guide, you need to know your gambling data singapore phone number brand well. The first section should explain the basics, such as mission, vision, personality and core values. It's about capturing the essence of your brand in a few lines of text.
2. Moodboards
A collage of inspiring images helps visualize the concepts behind the creation of the brand.
3. Logos
The logo is the most recognizable element of a brand. This section of the manual ensures the correct use of your logo on any medium. Here you must detail how and when its different versions can be used. To prevent incorrect applications that could convey the wrong message, it is necessary to specify the following basic elements:
Anagram or symbol : graphic element that is part of the logo that represents one or more concepts.
Brand : distinctive sign whose main function is to differentiate and make the company's services unique compared to other competitors.
Tagline : A short phrase specifically designed to cleverly and intelligently express the brand's proposition.
Grid and protection zone : a guide that helps to reproduce the logo in any dimension and support. It establishes a proportional empty space around the logo to ensure its legibility.
Minimum sizes : the minimum recommended size to use a logo without losing its legibility in offset, screen printing and digital printing.
Positive and negative marking : in white on a black background and in black on a white background, to indicate which colour variant should be used on light and dark backgrounds.
Branding on corporate colors and image : an example of how the brand should be presented on different corporate colors and images.
Improper uses : details of how the brand's graphic elements should not be applied, such as deformations, color changes or incorrect sizes.
4. Corporate colors
The choice of primary and secondary corporate colours is one of the most important elements of branding. The manual should specify a colour sample, using references for both printed material and digital media.
Two different codes are used for printing:
Pantone : the most widely used colour catalogue in the world. Using Pantone references ensures that the printed colour will always be the same as the colour chosen in the sample.
CMYK : These are four numbers that indicate the combination of four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key). The equivalent of a Pantone color will not always be exactly the same in CMYK.
For screens two other references are used:
RGB : A combination of three primary colours (red, green and blue). Pantone and CMYK colour equivalents must be specified in order to display them correctly on digital media.
HTML : Hexadecimal code consisting of a hash and 6 numbers and letters. It is used to identify colors in web design.
Remember that all these colors can vary slightly on each medium. The best strategy is to first choose a print color and look for its digital equivalents.
5. Typographic system
Every brand has its own combination of corporate fonts: a main one for the logo and a secondary one for the body of the text. An identity manual specifies the typeface family (whether it is regular, bold or italic) and the sizes (h1, h2, h3). It shows the fonts using all the characters: the letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case and the numbers from 0 to 9. It also includes examples of how each of them is used in headlines, in secondary texts and in CTA buttons on the website.
6. Photographs and graphic elements
This section is essential for any business that tends to use elements such as photographs, icons or illustrations as a resource in its communication. It specifies the style of images that can be used and gives examples that fit the tone of the brand. It also defines the sizes and the correct and incorrect use of:
Corporate photographs : their style and the messages they should convey
Icons and illustrations : sets that fit the brand style
Patterns : images used to create backgrounds
7. Applications
A section with the applications of all the elements previously specified in different publications is what completes an identity manual. Depending on the style of each business, designs can be included on stationery, such as business cards, brochures and envelopes, on promotional material, such as t-shirts and pens, or in different packaging formats. Examples of digital formats are also presented here: ad banners, social media creatives and web elements. All this explains the use of the brand, fonts and corporate colours in visual examples of different on- and offline applications.
The length of an identity manual depends on the needs of each company. The main objective is to create a guide that details a consistent visual identity and can be a reference point for any future design projects.