Five Essentials for Brand Style Guides - NEW Resource Promo!
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 14. 09. 2020
- Get the Style Guide Kit: geni.us/style-guide-kit
This one time (at band camp?), a logo I designed was butchered. But that experience led to an epiphany: I didn't set my client up for success. I didn't give him the information he needed to make visual decisions for his brand in the future. I just sent him the logo files in a zip folder and said, "Thanks!" And that was it.
What I learned is that whenever we hand work over to our clients, we need to give them an instruction manual. This is especially important for branding projects. But the same thing applies to anything we make for other people.
So think back onto your last projects. Did you set your clients up for success? If you work in-house, is your team all speaking the same visual language? If you own a brand, are you being clear with your vendors?
It's something worth thinking about, especially if you've ever been in a situation like mine. Seeing your work out in the wild is a nightmare if the work is twisted and ruined.
Information is everywhere now, and sometimes we just need to know what to look for. There's one thing that can solve a ton of these awkward situations... and in branding, it's called a Style Guide. Style Guides serve as the instruction manual for the brand. It outlines the rules that designers have to follow when they're working with the brand. And while the concept sounds restrictive, sometimes it's nice to have clear boundaries. To have a neat sandbox to play in.
Some other terms that mean the same thing are Style Guidelines, Brand Guidelines, Brand Bible, Brand Manual, or simply Style Manual.
At a minimum, I would expect a Brand Style Guide to include:
1. An outline of all the logo and visual assets available
2. Guidance on when to use each version
3. Color and typography usage
4. Spacing and layout guidelines
5. Strong "DO NOTs" - things like squishing, stretching, and butchering the logo
This stuff feels self-explanatory... but what if your "self" wasn't a designer? If I gave you a box of amazing ingredients like white truffles, wagyu steaks, and fresh uni... would you know what to do with them? Without a recipe, most of us would make Gordon Ramsay cry.
So set your work for success. Send off your designs with a style guide that follows that basic format. Clients will be clients, yes. Things will happen. But you'll be able to prevent 90% of the mishaps we encounter in branding execution.
But style guides can go a lot deeper than that. For those of you who work in branding, you know this. They can be quite extensive. When I used to work with DreamWorks, we'd get style guides delivered to us in VOLUMES - literally several huge printed books for one movie.
Now, that's probably overkill. But it's going to benefit you and the brands that you work on in the long run to have a detailed Style Guide.
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"No one taught him to see." That is super powerful not just for a designer but for any creative.
Thanks đđ
Its called Visual literacy - this was the only thing I learned about design in my 4 years studying visual communication.
Looking for this right after I heard him. đ
@@Novamute on my final year of a graphic communication degree,, I can say the same
This is sparking an idea for a piece on "How to see"
Ben, your style guide kit was hands down the best design asset purchase Iâve made. Literally saved me around a months worth of work recently. Thank you and looking forward to trying your other products too đđđ»
I'm new to this industry. Having worked in healthcare for 10 years where everything was black and white, I must say this video helped me out a lot. I have to create a style guide for the agency I work for and must say I was hella nervous. I'll keep watching videos and learning from the best! Thanks for this video!!!!
Hey Ben, just wanted to say thanks to you and The Futur team for providing such incredible content so consistently. I love how real and genuine you guys are with your audience. The material you teach from your own personal experiences are priceless, but having said that, I'll gladly pay for it. Definitely purchasing this one, cheers!
Thanks
We need another "Building a Brand" series. That shit was sooo dope. If not educational it was legit entertaining.
I love the breakdown of logo spacing and layout guidelines; my company has a style guide our designer made and I can tell you as a non-designer that it makes the world of a difference in making it easier to create assets without his direct help, while remaining on brand.
Awesome!
I've been watching so many videos and obviously been learning so much from you guys. I know compliments can mean a lot and therefore we should not hold back saying them. So ben, congrats for being this lovable person that inspires us, you are truly my inspiration. I think we can all see how selfless you are by putting yourself out there and take all the feedback you can to grow as a person and as businessman. Props for the story telling, it is a great advice you've been telling you and Chris and I'm sure as hell using it everytime I can to convey my ideas. So big thanks to you and keep rocking mate !
Man, Thomas, thanks so much
Thanks for investing your time into this Ben! I am looking forward to picking up the knowledge bombs you drop! Cheers
It's always great seeing a video from you, Ben. I do social media management and create style guides for social media. So this is super useful.
Awesome thank you!
"Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." - Muhammad Ali
This is when I thank the CZcams algorithm for this awesome recommendation. I just started working on a style guide for a client and didn't know where to start, now I know
We got you :)
Ouch and thank you. Been there and had this same epiphany afterward. Thanks for sharing!
Ben, this is so insightful. Love how you present!
Ben, love your energy. Thanx a lot for this, will post this video to my students đ
So true! Clients are clients no matter what they think they know
Hehe itâs very true
The content you guys post is really useful and in-depth. And it's really nice to see Ben on the channel.
I love the comparison of style elements to raw cooking ingredients!
In fact I have recently been considering the comparisons between the concepts of "anyone can design" being very similar to "anyone can cook".
Knocked it OUT of the park, Ben! So stoked to purchase this incredible pack!
Thanks Daniel!
Honestly Ben, I know this seems kinda weird, but there's something so familiar and likable about you. I grinned the whole time I watched this video. Thanks my brother - you're a good man. (Funny story too haha)
Hehe thank you!
@@mrbenburns :-)
You guys consistently drop gold on CZcams!
We got it a few months ago and we loved it, very well made!
Thank you for this clear explanation! So appreciated! đđđ
Great video once again, a lot of value in this one! đ
Thank you guys for the amazing value you offer in your contents
Our pleasure!
I hate it when a client stretches,add or remove anything from a design u 'v delivered to them," A client will be a client"! Thanks Ben
Hehe itâs the truth
Happy to see you Ben!
Good to see you Desmond!
OMG! That's what I was looking for and trying to make for quite some time. I think that's the kick start I need to start creating and doing things.
And that video too "How to Create Design Systems in InDesign Tutorial" is amazing. I need that too Design Systems
You're a design hero Ben Burns. Have a wonderful day dude.
Ben You are an amazing story teller!
So much value! Thank you for teaching us.
Thank you đ
Glad it was helpful!
Fantastic! I totally get it when a client butcher's your ....er!...their logo! This is a good idea. Thank You for sharing!
Thank you!
This is exactly what I need! Thanks for this Ben.
This is outstanding.
Sometimes even when you DO set a client up for success with a comprehensive (and expensive) style guide they STILL go and butcher a beautiful logo and ID system. This actually happened to me about a month ago where the client decided to ignore the style guide and design their own building signage (I drive past it 3 times a week and I can't bear to look at it). I like the idea of your style guide kit offering. I'll look into it. Thanks.
Aww yeah I know how it feels. Clients will be clients
This is AMAZING. Thanks Ben!
Funny. Something similar happened to me with a trucking company... But in a good way.
I had the foresight to design an actual truck and trailer and put the logo, images and other information on there in a way that, when he was ready, he could show it to the printer and/or trailer manufacturer how it should look. It's super satisfying seeing nice trucks and trailers around here with my design on them. It literally re-ignited my passion for this business.
This video's brewery footage is from a CZcams documentary/reality show The Futur made called Building a Brand, showing start-to-finish the agency rebranding a brewery. It was SO good! Hope there's a season 2! Loving your content, The Futur, and looking forward to taking some of your classes. đ
@@JosVanWeesel Oh wow! The Futur must be a very big job so that makes sense. I hope they all still get to practice design and strategy still somehow.
already bought it a week or so ago. BEN BURNS AND THE FUTUR TEAM Y'ALL DA BEST!
Awesome! Thank you!
Helped me a lot!what a meticulous one.
I will surely get this. Currently working on a client web site (currently in the wireframe phase)
This is gold.
Thanks Ben!
Your works are amazing and it gives more fantastic ideas and inspirations. Thanks very much for inspiring me
đ
i can not wait to get this one!
G-oooooo-d point. So True. Thanks!
this is amazing! thank you!
THanks Preet!
this is great - never heard of a style guide. Always learning from this channel!
Glad it was helpful!
Be prepared for the deep well hehe
Long time no see Ben ! welcome back
Nice Story, I am happy to find out this one...
Thank you so much
The benefits of a styleguide really depends on the customer. I have done great effort in creating a detailed styleguide with "how to NOT do stuff" just to see that the customer breaks almost all the guidelines anyways :)
Hehe thus the disclaimer... Clients will be clients.
Excellent
love me some Ben Burns
Iâve Ben waiting for this. đđŒ
Dad jokes for life đđȘ
đthank youđ
Love you "ben" and "the future" team â€ïžâ€ïž
1:32 I'm dyingđ. I feel your pain Ben.
Amazing!
FILE STRUCTURES!!! WUUUUUUUW!!! My favorite part of any project. thank you, ben, thank you. Also, thank you for the person who transcript the video on the "video description" with all the social media links & info for us to get more knowledge. Maybe you are the one who give us likes in the comments?? Hi there :D
Hehehe allllllll me :)
That's one crazy cheap price for the style guide kit. I was expecting a 3 figure amount!
My initial thought was "But no one wants to pay for that! If you deliver a logo and then give instructions on how to use it - some clients will say: no thanks, I just needed the logo files, bye'"
But then I thought back to the last time I was the customer. I paid to have my kitchen remodeled but wanted to finish up the last details myself. I was then really happy to have the carpenter go through a list of things I should consider, like "this part can be easily removed if you need access to the pipes. but don't touch that part" etc. I wouldn't consider saying "no thanks, I just needed the kitchen installed, bye"
Super helpful! One thing I'd love to see, since you guys are now fully on the Webflow train is a resource like this built into a fully functioning Webflow template. I think a live website style guide would be way more useful for clients.
Great idea!
@@mrbenburns OMG he replies! 7 year Webflow veteran and Webflow Expert here! Any way I can get involved in something with you guys! Love your content but I honestly am sometimes scared to watch it because I feel like I need to get my shit together đ Love your work, I have your personal site bookmarked just for designspiration!
Oh where in rural Virginia, I could have even seen that very billboard! I am half way through creating a brand design course that talks about brand style guidelines but pretty sure yours is like 10x better in every way đ€Łđ€Łđ€Ł beautiful work, always in aw of the work you do, the video editing and of course the structure of your content. Oh and the type hierarchy.
Thanks so much Lindsay! Send me your course when youâre done!
@@mrbenburns sure thing! 3 more weeks of editing left (god help me! lol)
When I was in college, I took a Branding class where we had to create our own company and all the assets that went with it (logo, stationary, packaging, style guide, etc.). It was good for what it was at the time. But in retrospect, I didn't really learn much from it because of how bare-bones it was, and the experience hasn't translated well to where I am today. Even though I graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design, I've never held a job within the graphic design industry. I have created logos in the past for a few clients though, but I've never delved much into brand identity. I'm currently creating a logo for my brother-in-law for a company he owns, and I've been watching a lot of these videos for inspiration and creative resources because I want to delivery him a good product. I loved the Building a Brand series you guys did, and it has taught me more than what I learned in my 4 years at college. I'm using that information to good use for this project, and I'm definitely going to buy this Style Guide because of how beneficial it will be for not only this project, but for future ones as well. Thank you The Futur for giving us such in-depth insight into the industry and how to become designers and artists!
Thanks doc! Appreciate the kind words and support - good luck on the project!
Thanks for the designer hug Ben
Thanks
I'd love to know your thoughts on sizing for brand guides. Part of me thinks sticking to paper sizes A4, A3 so that it works better when printed out, but it looks like you design yours in keynote to 1920x1080px size. Have you ever had problems when you print these out?
hi ben first of all thank your for the tips and informations you give they 're very helpful but i have a questioni hope you answer in the style guidline you supose to put your logo construction and the spacing so what tool do you use to present that and how you put it in the guidline
Thanks for the informative video Ben, always loving what you guys are doing for us designers.
My question is how foes one create a style guide if I don't have the experience to create one?
Start with the template!
Thanks to the whole Futur team for all this information and support! I just tried to download the style guide but the page is not active. Is it still available?
Sweet! Gonna check it out. Also... what camera are you using? Lens? I love the look of your videos. ê°ìŹí©ëë€!! Iâm in Korea, btw. đ
I liked and subscribed!
good product
amazing:))
This one time (at band camp?). Bought.
How ironic, I was watching one of your videos while notification for this one popped up.
Itâs fate!
How crazy. I was just looking at the style guide thing and then this video pops up. đ
Itâs destiny...
@@mrbenburns It might be. Thanks for the amazing resource, Ben!
What are you thoughts of more modular identities and how to deliver those to the client? Like Paula Scher's Kit of parts. There are so many options, a style guide can/does compound quite quickly.
Yep! The style guide gets beefy, but itâs still the best way to deliver. Having clear roles for the parts is important. Remember youâre providing a recipe... not cooking every dish for the client
Hey , thank u for making design word more educated!Just a question . Why link to the template doesn't work?
great edit
did you edit this?
@@thefutur Stewart
Hello, Ben! đđœ
I am finishing a course specializing in multimedia i crated a brand book, and a web page, illustrations where is the best place to put that portfolio and find places to do the intersnship?
Nice
Great price! Bought it immediately. Can't wait to start working.
Awesome thank you!
Hey guys! Love your work and resources, just wanted to get this right was the existing kit updated? Because this was already on your site before this video.
Yep! Already in Version two :)
@@mrbenburns thanks Ben!
This is great, Ben. Canât wait to check it out! One question - does it mention ADA compliant foreground and background color combinations (ie minimum contrast)? I know it doesnât apply to all projects but itâs very important for creatives to always advocate awareness for ADA.
Yep! I didnât dive deep, but recommended some tools to check color contrast in the page text.
@@mrbenburns amazing. i have yet to come across contrast in any brand book from another external agency before. nicely done and thank you for a great resource here!
Anne this is probably something we can do better, and Iâd like to learn more. Would you mind shooting me a DM?
Anything available for digital marketing strategists (non graphic designers) who only work in Canva, but help clients with early branding decisions for their digital products?
Was that a curved monitor? Would you suggest it for designers using the Adobe suit?
i remember u mentioned this story in another video, it stuck with me because iwas going through the same thing
We should start a support group lol
Great video but the link to the download doesn't work...
the link redirects me to "page not found"
Style guide link Says page not found :(
I am primarily a filmmaker, but occasionally find myself having to do some brand work, specifically the ideation and the writing of the ideas that inform everything else. So, I don't work on logos or other specific "brand objects", I deal with the ideas and intentions that inform these specific objects and the creative decisions behind them. So my question is: what is this kind of "idea-work" or "idea style guide" work called? How do I go about this process in a more systematic way? Is this kind of material dealt with in the Style Guide Kit or is there a more well suited resource for this? I would really like help on this matter because I see that I could really use this for creating the Style Guides for my own film projects. Thanks in advance.
nice intro
Hey Ben,
Thanks for the video!
Would like to know: Ai or Indesign for Styleguide and why is one software better than the other?
this is Chris, but for style guides, probably InDesign
@@thefutur thanks for the response, but why indesign?
Cause it has more layout options, grids and text options compared to Ai?
Yup InDesign. I went deep on why in another video on the Academy channel - with inDesign you can make document wide changes like colors and fonts with just a click or two. Illustrator would take wayyy more time. Unless youâre popping out a one-pager of course, in which case either one will work.
Hey Ben , where have you Ben? đ
We need more of your gr8 videos !
More to come!
Can not access the kit
What if a client canât afford my services so we try to get to an agreement. What do you think about charging less and not providing a style guide in such case? Would you recommend still providing it?
Yep in these cases I drew up a version that was only one page - thatâs a bonus template in the kit too
Can this Style Guide be for Design Portfolio as well?
It could make an interesting feature in a case study, but itâs really for branding projects