Our WorkWhy UsPricing
Summit

Ignite: How to Spark Creativity and Build Resilience

Join us for 3+ hours of free content with 5 sessions on sparking creativity and building resilience, featuring 12+ industry experts from Headspace, Webflow, Zapier, Reddit, Coursera, Clari, DirecTV, MasterControl, Matterport, and more.
View event
Gather & Grow

Gather & Grow - March 8th - Your Opinion About Your Brand Doesn’t Matter

Watch the session with Dmitry Shamis and Catherine Blair Timothy as they dive into the foundations of a good and sustainable brand!
View event
Gather & Grow

Zero-click Content | On-Demand Recording

Watch the full session with Amanda Natividad about content quality, social listening, content trends in 2023, and how to leverage zero-click content!
View event
Events & Summits

Explore all the content inside Events & Summits!

See all
BlogCommunityBook a DemoSign In

10 Things You Can Learn from These Famous Brand Style Guides

Team Superside
Team Superside9 min read
10 Things To Learn from These Famous Brand Style Guides

You may have heard them referred to as “brand standards” or “the brand book” or even “our company’s style guide.” Brand guidelines are the style rules a company follows to evoke a personality. There are several things you need to know before you can begin to define your brand guideline.

First, your company must have an idea of who they are. To determine this, you should look at five components. These components define your identity as a company and will influence the choices you make when it comes to the elements of brand guidelines.

  • Mission – What have you set out to do?
  • Vision – Where do you want to go?
  • Target audience – Who do you want to serve?
  • Brand personality – What 3-5 adjectives describe your company?
  • Core values – What values guide your decisions?

Once you know who you are, you can begin to gather inspiration. This is a key step that shouldn’t be underestimated. Everyone who is responsible for building the brand should gather ideas—cut outs from magazines, pins from the internet, color swatches, sayings, etc.—that they feel defines the personality. This will aid the team in narrowing down exactly who you are.

Then it’s time to delve into the six elements of brand design:

  • Logo
  • Brand Story
  • Typography
  • Color Palette
  • Voice
  • Imagery

Logo

Your logo is a fun way to create brand recognition, but if you don’t define certain parameters, it may get skewed wrong in different situations. Make sure you include dimensions for size, proportions, spacing, color variations, and a list of don’ts. Show visual examples by the different specifications so it is clear how your logo should look.

Brand Story

This should be a summary that gets to the heart of your company. It will introduce your audience to who you are, so it should be catchy and can include your vision and mission.

Typography

The fonts you select should complement your personality. Best practices include choosing fonts that are different from your logo, defining kerning and tracking ratios, and deciding how you want your text aligned. Also, explain use cases for each font type.

Color Palette

There are a few things to remember when creating your color palette. You need to take into account the different way your colors may look when printed and digital. Make sure to include the following in your guide:

  • Color match: PANTONE name and number
  • Print color: CMYK
  • Digital color: RGB and HEX codes

Voice

In the voice section, you will build on your content and messaging to show writers and other creatives how to sound. You may want short sentences. Or it is imperative to use active voice. Perhaps you want more melodic messaging, or the company should avoid second person. Creating these rules will help you always sound like you to consumers.

Imagery

Collect images that represent your brand—whether they are taken by you or are from other areas as a mood board—and define when images like them should be used. You want the pictures you collect to represent the feeling you want consumers to get when looking at them.

So now you have an idea of what goes into brand guidelines. Let’s take a look at 10 current trends and big brands that are pulling them off well.

1. Cheerful Geometrics

Geometrics are fun to play with. They include all sorts of shapes, and you can arrange them in fantastic ways. However, in the past, they have been associated primarily with tech and other industries that aren’t customer-facing. In 2019, expect to see geometrics that have more life to them through colors, manipulated shaping, and those all-important curves.

Brands that are using cheerful geometrics:

a. Airbnb

a42c67ef9c31d1ed08ee89b48519fa496d415a8c

b. Flipboard

6ee85460f91e98cdbdb38511a8af4f99835e5f48

c. Yelp

de60db46a5fe0ca32c6ee9b83991f8d355c1aaab

2. Serif Fonts

Sans serif fonts have been the star of the show for a while now, so serif fonts are due for a revival. Depending on the typeface, serif fonts can be playful, elegant, childlike, or old school. And they really are standout fonts. They are best used for headlines, logos, and subheads, though. Don’t expect to see serif fonts on blogs or copy. If you’re just now working on your brand guidelines, go ahead and use a serif to make a statement, but include sans serif for your regular writing.

Brands that are using serif fonts:

a. Jamie Oliver

a3780e1c3fd4a1bcf73fbd0392615085c4dcbe49

b. Medium

678c115fc70a6baa764ded861d252f298fbb096b

c. Vimeo

282e97c5189a96b2bff9350c9f6ca9d1ff7db3be

3. Adjustable Logos

Long gone are the days when we thought a logo could never change because it may shock the consumer or make the brand unrecognizable. Today, we expect brand evolution, and even one small aspect of a brand may be undeniably identifiable. So, the adjustable logos trend is beginning to pick up speed, and we expect to see many more of them in 2019. There are a few ways for a logo to be adjustable. First, it could respond to digital platforms to accommodate the type of screen (this really is a must). Second, it could change depending on use case (it may look different on a business card than it does on a t-shirt). Finally, you may choose to change certain aspects to suit a campaign (like “going green” instead of your normal color to indicate a new earth-friendly product line).

Brands that are using adjustable logos:

a. WhatsApp

40875e3b21ae2eba25591793b1d37bcddb5ddc5c

b. Spotify

acb4d33f343005079268b8650ee5b2eab1809b74

c. Google

b55a213629924512f354daee7a6071fc49754842

4. 3D Imagery

Advances in technology have led to dynamic new possibilities for logos, lettering, and graphics. 3D imagery is one way to really boost your profile, online especially. The look of 3D requires a skilled graphic designer, but the investment is worth it when your audience is left with a permanent wow-emoji face.

Brands that are using 3D imagery:

a. Xbox 360

7682c2ac0033f48ad11c4cc742bf2af1b685cc5a

b. Sony Ericsson

042354dcf5bd395e3d61776e34a0204aa188da46

c. Volvo

14fe647cc132b4c51f4dfce806fcadae4cfe931f

5. Negative Space

Everyone knows negative space is super important in graphic design. This trend isn’t so much about using negative space (you should!). Instead, it’s about how it is used. In 2019, you’ll see more brands using negative space cleverly, as part of the design or as a craft way to get their message across.

Brands using negative space cleverly:

a. Atlassian

7470e1ee9690cb8e398ca582c4861b44c7afdaac

b. Cisco

d249cd5e718e4393762fc810ed4a98c9ee653202

c. Spotify

acb4d33f343005079268b8650ee5b2eab1809b74

6. Ghost Letters

Ghost lettering is a growing trend that is pretty much what it sounds like. Big text that you can see through. The trend started small, with the ghost button, but it’s grown over the years, and we expect 2019 to bring more brands using the transparent typography to draw attention to the background and images while offering a unique view of titles, headers, and logos.

Brands using ghost lettering:

a. Skype

1306138ecc111f94dc7e562019befe43e184aae6

b. IBM

d7d239164c9edd4390614c3e4178c0d11bcb651e

c. Idol

6221b0384e798927fea7b268ef06fbdeb82f7ff3

7. Complex Detailing

Minimalism has reigned supreme for decades, but it may soon be dethroned as brands have started embracing artistry, art deco, and baroque decorative details to create stellar ornamental brand identities. If you go this way, make sure you have a clearly defined color palette and an option for your logo that is less, for instances where it is necessary (like on a business card).

Brands using complex detailing:

a. NASA

36980f0e79b18d2a2d4bfe100f52161d6a3f7f78

b. Shatto Milk Company

34ad7c47a175c267023f424d35e1e02e8cf91d56

c. Pizza Hut

d1539f4063e96fa2dd85f1da7de0f8d48d109e1d

The Future of DesignOps eBook

Facebook, Airbnb and Pinterest all have DesignOps teams to efficiently manage the creative process, but it’s not a one-size fits all solution. Learn about this emerging role in our eBook!

Download the eBook

8. Bright Colors

Oddly, both bright colors and monochromatic schemes are trends this year. Whereas in the past, soft colors and pastels may have taken center stage, this year if you’re using color, it must be loud! Catch the eye of consumers with vibrant colors, especially if your brand is about fun, excitement, or bringing spice to your customers’ lives.

Brands using bright colors:

a. Signal Theory

2f050c956cee7245ac6dd67f898e3bcb4cde79de

b. Slack

6181f099490f96ed0931a3cc70a67e6016761203

c. Instagram

563aa6c22df6bad0e1fde85ec203b23822766b80

9. Monochromatic

If your brand is elegant, sophisticated, or targeting hipsters, you should opt for a monochromatic scheme and leave the bright colors to others. Monochromatics are coming back due to the rise in vintage influence. If you really want a dynamic identity, combine a monochromatic scheme with another trend, like clever negative space or cheerful geometrics.

Brands using monochromatic schemes:

a. MailChimp

2164be9da70a51fbb715337b76940744d5edd753

b. Uber

04054c2cd343687878d6107d0b9963c8fb599404

c. Twitter

4f6ed244de308268c2552ab2f57d81499e8fe897

10. Vintage Influences

This trend comes and goes, and right now it's coming. People love the look of vintage pieces, and nostalgia is currently at a high with many Millennials longing for the 80s and 90s, and fashion looking back at those decades for inspiration. Vintage looks can lend an air of authenticity to brands and can even indicate artisan goods.

Brands using vintage influences:

a. Whistler Bottling Company

736438d6c1ce622e537bdd140724fc29dda543de

b. Fur and Collar

495e0de8966ee3e2c38853bbe3089d544c07a258

c. Bib & Tucker Bourbon

5c49e43e65249beeeddb3c6e9a04a60ad663edaf

Creating a brand identity requires a lot of work. It takes several sessions of back and forth, ideation, building upon concepts, and talking through what’s really at the heart of the business. But once you have created a set of guidelines to follow, your identity will begin connecting with your workers, customers, and other stakeholders.If you're having a difficult time checking what the standard for good branding looks like, check out our guide on brand identity examples.

Superside’s visual identity service can help you lay down your guidelines by partnering with you to discover what each of the six elements can be for your company’s personality. Our top-notch, vetted senior art designers and directors are available 24/7, and we assign a personal account manager to help you through the entire process.

Whether you are just starting out with your brand guidelines or it’s time to refresh, this collection of trends should help you start drafting a design that fits your business.

Join Our Gather & Grow Unwebinar Series

Each session features speakers from companies like Amazon, PUMA and Twitch Prime, tackling the intersection of marketing and design. Live Q&A, highly interactive with actionable tips!

Save my seat
Published: Mar 15, 2019
Team Superside
Written by
Team Superside
Team Superside is comprised of writers from all over the globe. We love making stuff, telling stories and sharing fun, nerdy ideas with the world.

Join our community of 15,000 strong and receive the best design and marketing content, biweekly

No charge. Unsubscribe anytime

Continue reading

Hassle-free design starts here

Superside is an always-on design company that makes design frictionless and hassle-free for marketing, sales, creative and product design teams. This means top-quality designs at lightning-fast speeds, improved velocity and go-to-market and completely secure and confidential file sharing and collaboration.

In this one-on-one live demo, you’ll see:
- How Superside works
- A first look at the Superside platform
- The most suitable subscription plan for you

Get ready to join 450+ scale-ups and enterprise teams doing good design at scale with Superside’s dedicated team model.
Ready to get started?Book a demo now

Book a call with us

Loading...
We need your phone number for the demo. We'll never use it for any other purposes.
Superside is a revolutionary way for businesses to get good design done at scale.Trusted by 450+ ambitious companies, Superside makes design hassle-free for marketing and creative teams. By combining the top 1% of creative talent from around the world with purpose-built technology and the rigor of design ops, Superside helps ambitious brands grow faster. Since inception, Superside has been a fully remote company, with more than 700 team members working across 57 countries and 13 timezones.
© 2023 Superside. All rights reserved.