What goes in a startup's brand guidelines (and what to skip)
What goes in a startup's brand guidelines (and what to skip)
What goes in a startup's brand guidelines, in plain terms: the few rules worth writing down early, and the 60-page document you don't need yet.
Ismael Branco
•
•
5 min read
Branding
What goes in a startup's brand guidelines (and what to skip)
What goes in a startup's brand guidelines, in plain terms: the few rules worth writing down early, and the 60-page document you don't need yet.
Ismael Branco
•
•
5 min read
Branding
What goes in a startup's brand guidelines (and what to skip)
What goes in a startup's brand guidelines, in plain terms: the few rules worth writing down early, and the 60-page document you don't need yet.
Ismael Branco
•
•
5 min read
Branding
A startup's brand guidelines should cover the few rules that keep you consistent: how to use the logo, your colours and where each goes, your fonts, and a short note on voice. A page or two is plenty early on. You do not need a 60-page brand book with rules for every edge case. The job is to stop you and anyone you hire from drifting, not to document a company you don't have yet.
Brand guidelines sound like a big corporate deliverable, and at a big company they are. For a startup, most of that document is wasted. Here's what's actually worth writing down, and what you can safely ignore until later.
Why you need any guidelines at all
The point of guidelines is consistency, and consistency is what makes you look like a real company instead of a scattered one. Without a simple reference, you make slightly different choices every time, a different blue here, the logo squished there, and it adds up to a brand that feels off. Guidelines are the cheapest way to keep the identity doing its job as more people touch it.
What to include early
Keep it to the rules you'll actually use.
Logo use. The versions you have, which to use where, and the obvious don'ts. Minimum size, clear space, and what never to do to it, stretch it, recolour it, add effects. This prevents the most common and most visible mistakes.
Colour. Your palette with defined roles, not just a set of swatches. Which colour leads, which support, what's for backgrounds, the exact values. Roles are what stop a site from using six different blues.
Type. Your fonts and how they're used. Headings, body, the sizes and weights that keep things feeling like one company.
Voice, briefly. A short note on how you sound, with a couple of examples of in-voice and out-of-voice. This keeps your writing consistent, which matters as much as the visuals. More in finding your brand voice.
That's it. Those are the rules that get broken daily and cost you consistency. Writing them down is a deliverable in both the Startup Branding Sprint and Full Branding and Website, kept to the useful size.
What to skip for now
Here's what belongs in a big company's brand book and not yet in yours: exhaustive rules for every application, co-branding and partnership lockups, detailed motion and animation specs, photography and illustration art direction at length, tone rules for a dozen channels you're not on, and a history-and-mission section nobody reads. Building these early is a lot of effort documenting a company that doesn't exist at your scale yet. It's the same overspend as buying more brand identity than you need.
Keep it usable
The best guidelines for a startup are short enough that you'll actually open them. A tidy page or two, or a simple Figma page, beats a polished 60-page PDF you built once and never look at. You can grow it as the company grows and real edge cases come up. For Relentlessly I built a brandbook kept to what the team would actually use, enough to let their in-house team carry the brand forward without me, instead of an exhaustive manual nobody opens.
Not sure your current guidelines cover the right things, or whether you even need them yet? Book a free audit and I'll tell you what's worth writing down.
A startup's brand guidelines should cover the few rules that keep you consistent: how to use the logo, your colours and where each goes, your fonts, and a short note on voice. A page or two is plenty early on. You do not need a 60-page brand book with rules for every edge case. The job is to stop you and anyone you hire from drifting, not to document a company you don't have yet.
Brand guidelines sound like a big corporate deliverable, and at a big company they are. For a startup, most of that document is wasted. Here's what's actually worth writing down, and what you can safely ignore until later.
Why you need any guidelines at all
The point of guidelines is consistency, and consistency is what makes you look like a real company instead of a scattered one. Without a simple reference, you make slightly different choices every time, a different blue here, the logo squished there, and it adds up to a brand that feels off. Guidelines are the cheapest way to keep the identity doing its job as more people touch it.
What to include early
Keep it to the rules you'll actually use.
Logo use. The versions you have, which to use where, and the obvious don'ts. Minimum size, clear space, and what never to do to it, stretch it, recolour it, add effects. This prevents the most common and most visible mistakes.
Colour. Your palette with defined roles, not just a set of swatches. Which colour leads, which support, what's for backgrounds, the exact values. Roles are what stop a site from using six different blues.
Type. Your fonts and how they're used. Headings, body, the sizes and weights that keep things feeling like one company.
Voice, briefly. A short note on how you sound, with a couple of examples of in-voice and out-of-voice. This keeps your writing consistent, which matters as much as the visuals. More in finding your brand voice.
That's it. Those are the rules that get broken daily and cost you consistency. Writing them down is a deliverable in both the Startup Branding Sprint and Full Branding and Website, kept to the useful size.
What to skip for now
Here's what belongs in a big company's brand book and not yet in yours: exhaustive rules for every application, co-branding and partnership lockups, detailed motion and animation specs, photography and illustration art direction at length, tone rules for a dozen channels you're not on, and a history-and-mission section nobody reads. Building these early is a lot of effort documenting a company that doesn't exist at your scale yet. It's the same overspend as buying more brand identity than you need.
Keep it usable
The best guidelines for a startup are short enough that you'll actually open them. A tidy page or two, or a simple Figma page, beats a polished 60-page PDF you built once and never look at. You can grow it as the company grows and real edge cases come up. For Relentlessly I built a brandbook kept to what the team would actually use, enough to let their in-house team carry the brand forward without me, instead of an exhaustive manual nobody opens.
Not sure your current guidelines cover the right things, or whether you even need them yet? Book a free audit and I'll tell you what's worth writing down.
A startup's brand guidelines should cover the few rules that keep you consistent: how to use the logo, your colours and where each goes, your fonts, and a short note on voice. A page or two is plenty early on. You do not need a 60-page brand book with rules for every edge case. The job is to stop you and anyone you hire from drifting, not to document a company you don't have yet.
Brand guidelines sound like a big corporate deliverable, and at a big company they are. For a startup, most of that document is wasted. Here's what's actually worth writing down, and what you can safely ignore until later.
Why you need any guidelines at all
The point of guidelines is consistency, and consistency is what makes you look like a real company instead of a scattered one. Without a simple reference, you make slightly different choices every time, a different blue here, the logo squished there, and it adds up to a brand that feels off. Guidelines are the cheapest way to keep the identity doing its job as more people touch it.
What to include early
Keep it to the rules you'll actually use.
Logo use. The versions you have, which to use where, and the obvious don'ts. Minimum size, clear space, and what never to do to it, stretch it, recolour it, add effects. This prevents the most common and most visible mistakes.
Colour. Your palette with defined roles, not just a set of swatches. Which colour leads, which support, what's for backgrounds, the exact values. Roles are what stop a site from using six different blues.
Type. Your fonts and how they're used. Headings, body, the sizes and weights that keep things feeling like one company.
Voice, briefly. A short note on how you sound, with a couple of examples of in-voice and out-of-voice. This keeps your writing consistent, which matters as much as the visuals. More in finding your brand voice.
That's it. Those are the rules that get broken daily and cost you consistency. Writing them down is a deliverable in both the Startup Branding Sprint and Full Branding and Website, kept to the useful size.
What to skip for now
Here's what belongs in a big company's brand book and not yet in yours: exhaustive rules for every application, co-branding and partnership lockups, detailed motion and animation specs, photography and illustration art direction at length, tone rules for a dozen channels you're not on, and a history-and-mission section nobody reads. Building these early is a lot of effort documenting a company that doesn't exist at your scale yet. It's the same overspend as buying more brand identity than you need.
Keep it usable
The best guidelines for a startup are short enough that you'll actually open them. A tidy page or two, or a simple Figma page, beats a polished 60-page PDF you built once and never look at. You can grow it as the company grows and real edge cases come up. For Relentlessly I built a brandbook kept to what the team would actually use, enough to let their in-house team carry the brand forward without me, instead of an exhaustive manual nobody opens.
Not sure your current guidelines cover the right things, or whether you even need them yet? Book a free audit and I'll tell you what's worth writing down.
Frequently asked questions
What should be in a startup's brand guidelines?
The few rules that keep you consistent: how to use the logo (versions, sizing, clear space, don'ts), your colour palette with defined roles, your fonts and how they're used, and a short note on voice with examples. A page or two covers it well at the early stage.
How long should brand guidelines be for a startup?
Short. A page or two, or a simple Figma page, is usually enough. The goal is a reference you'll actually open and use, not a polished 60-page book. You can expand it as the company grows and real edge cases appear.
Do early-stage startups need brand guidelines?
Yes, a lightweight version. Even a one-page reference prevents the small inconsistencies, slightly different colours, misused logos, that make a brand look scattered. You don't need an exhaustive brand book, just the handful of rules that get broken most often.
What's the difference between brand guidelines and a brand book?
Brand guidelines are the practical rules for using your brand consistently. A full brand book adds extensive sections on history, mission, co-branding, motion, photography, and every application. Startups need the practical guidelines; the comprehensive brand book is for larger companies.
Frequently asked questions
What should be in a startup's brand guidelines?
The few rules that keep you consistent: how to use the logo (versions, sizing, clear space, don'ts), your colour palette with defined roles, your fonts and how they're used, and a short note on voice with examples. A page or two covers it well at the early stage.
How long should brand guidelines be for a startup?
Short. A page or two, or a simple Figma page, is usually enough. The goal is a reference you'll actually open and use, not a polished 60-page book. You can expand it as the company grows and real edge cases appear.
Do early-stage startups need brand guidelines?
Yes, a lightweight version. Even a one-page reference prevents the small inconsistencies, slightly different colours, misused logos, that make a brand look scattered. You don't need an exhaustive brand book, just the handful of rules that get broken most often.
What's the difference between brand guidelines and a brand book?
Brand guidelines are the practical rules for using your brand consistently. A full brand book adds extensive sections on history, mission, co-branding, motion, photography, and every application. Startups need the practical guidelines; the comprehensive brand book is for larger companies.
Frequently asked questions
What should be in a startup's brand guidelines?
The few rules that keep you consistent: how to use the logo (versions, sizing, clear space, don'ts), your colour palette with defined roles, your fonts and how they're used, and a short note on voice with examples. A page or two covers it well at the early stage.
How long should brand guidelines be for a startup?
Short. A page or two, or a simple Figma page, is usually enough. The goal is a reference you'll actually open and use, not a polished 60-page book. You can expand it as the company grows and real edge cases appear.
Do early-stage startups need brand guidelines?
Yes, a lightweight version. Even a one-page reference prevents the small inconsistencies, slightly different colours, misused logos, that make a brand look scattered. You don't need an exhaustive brand book, just the handful of rules that get broken most often.
What's the difference between brand guidelines and a brand book?
Brand guidelines are the practical rules for using your brand consistently. A full brand book adds extensive sections on history, mission, co-branding, motion, photography, and every application. Startups need the practical guidelines; the comprehensive brand book is for larger companies.
Building your startup and not sure if your brand is working? Let's find out.
Book a free 30-min brand audit. I’ll look at what you have and tell you what’s working, what’s not, and what to do next.
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I write about branding, startups, and design when I have something real to say. Sent whenever I write something good.
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A newsletter you might actually read.
I write about branding, startups, and design when I have something real to say. Sent whenever I write something good.
Works
Services
Company
Resources
A newsletter you might actually read.
I write about branding, startups, and design when I have something real to say. Sent whenever I write something good.