Brand guidelines template

Keep your brand consistent, memorable, and professional.

Inconsistent brand guidelines can lead to mixed messaging, diluted brand value, and missed opportunities to connect with your audience. From mismatched logos to off-brand colors or conflicting tones in content, the lack of alignment can confuse your customers and undermine your brand's credibility.

A brand guidelines template can help you maintain consistent branding across your business. A clear and well-documented brand identity ensures that every touchpoint—a social media post, a website design, or internal communication—feels cohesive and authentic. Without consistency, your brand risks coming across as disorganized or unprofessional.

A central hub for brand guidelines is crucial for successful project collaboration, especially for marketing teams. Creating a free brand guidelines template you can build and customize gives your teams a resource that grows with your business. By creating a centralized, easily accessible brand guideline document in Confluence, your team can stay aligned and deliver consistent, meaningful branding at every level.

Create brand guidelines in Confluence for free

Types of brand guideline templates

Different businesses need distinct approaches to brand documentation. Some common types include:

Visual brand guidelines focus on design elements and visual identity standards. These are essential for teams that must maintain consistency in their marketing tools and creative assets.
Messaging guidelines establish voice, tone, and communication standards. They maintain a consistent, collaborative culture among teams that interact with customers, such as marketers and customer service representatives.
Comprehensive brand guidelines combine visual and messaging elements into a complete brand system. Brands should have an extensive template to share with everyone, from executives to marketers, customer service reps, and designers.

What should brand guidelines include?

Your guidelines should cover all essential aspects of your brand identity. Through strategic planning, determine which elements are most crucial for your company:

Logo usage and specifications: Define clear rules for logo placement, minimum sizes, precise space requirements, and approved variations, including monochrome and reversed versions.
Color palette with precise color codes: Document your primary and secondary color palettes with exact RGB, CMYK, HEX, and Pantone values for consistent reproduction across all mediums.
Typography and font hierarchies: Specify your brand's typefaces for digital and print applications, including font weights, sizes, and spacing guidelines for different heading levels and body text.
Tone of voice and messaging principles: Establish your brand's personality through language, including specific vocabulary choices, writing style guidelines, and examples of appropriate communication across different channels.
Visual asset guidelines: Set standards for photography style, illustration guidelines, iconography usage, and any other visual elements that represent your brand identity.
Social media standards: Detail how your brand should be represented across social platforms, including profile imagery, post formatting, hashtag usage, and engagement guidelines.

Benefits of using a brand guidelines template

Maintains consistency

A well-structured template ensures brand uniformity across all channels. Teams can improve project collaboration with Confluence, which helps them maintain brand standards. Get everyone on the same page with a centralized, living document updating the latest brand guidelines.

Use the message house template to keep your messaging consistent across departments.

Saves time

Templates streamline the process of documenting brand standards and brainstorming, allowing teams to focus on implementation rather than format decisions. Effective project management becomes more manageable when everyone works from the same blueprint.

Improves collaboration

Templates facilitate clear communication among team members, making implementing project collaboration best practices across departments easier.

Ensures professionalism

A well-documented brand guide elevates your brand's credibility through consistent, polished presentation. By ensuring a unified voice and look, your brand gains trust and recognition in a competitive marketplace and leaves a lasting impression on stakeholders and customers.

Streamlines onboarding

Templates simplify and streamline onboarding. New employees can quickly implement brand standards, making the process more efficient.

Set new employees up for success with the 90-day plan template.

How to create brand guidelines

Step 1. Define brand identity

Clarify your mission, vision, values, and target audience as the foundation for your guidelines. This foundational work will inform every subsequent branding decision and ensure your visual identity aligns with your company’s core purpose. Research your target audience's preferences and behaviors to create guidelines that resonate with them.

Step 2. Choose visual elements

Select and standardize your logo, color palette, and typography. Document specific use cases for each element, including minimum sizes, spacing requirements, and color variations for different backgrounds and applications.

Create a new Confluence page for a flexible way to take notes, plan projects, and embed knowledge from third-party apps. Invite the whole team to edit, offer suggestions, and provide feedback.

Step 3. Outline brand voice and tone

Establish how your brand communicates through language, including tone and style. Create detailed examples of appropriate voice across different channels and scenarios, from formal communications to social media posts. Include specific vocabulary lists with preferred and avoided terms to maintain consistency.

Step 4. Set guidelines for imagery

Define the style, types, and rules for photos, illustrations, and other visuals. Provide specific guidance on image composition, lighting, and subject matter to maintain a consistent visual narrative. Document technical requirements such as file formats, resolution standards, and cropping guidelines.

Step 5. Document content guidelines

Include rules for writing headlines, messaging, and calls to action. Provide examples of successful content across different platforms, formats, and templates for common content types. Create a clear hierarchy for messaging to ensure critical brand communications maintain their impact.

Step 6. Include examples

Provide clear "do" and "don't" examples of branding. Create side-by-side comparisons that illustrate common mistakes and their corrections. Include real-world applications across different mediums to show how guidelines translate into practice.

Step 7. Make it user-friendly

Organize the guidelines in an accessible, easy-to-follow format. Include a clear table of contents, searchable sections, and quick-reference guides for commonly needed information. Consider creating interactive elements or checklists that help users quickly find and implement the necessary guidelines.

Collaborate with your team to create the template using Confluence, where you can share in-line comments, reactions, and engaging visual elements like GIFs.

Tips for writing practical brand guidelines

Creating brand guidelines requires a balance of clarity, usability, and comprehensiveness. Here are key tips to ensure your guidelines serve their purpose:

Structure for quick reference: Create a clear organizational structure with descriptive headings and a logical flow from basic to complex elements. This allows team members to quickly locate needed information without getting overwhelmed.
Visual examples matter: Include comprehensive visual demonstrations alongside written instructions. Show comparisons of correct and incorrect brand applications to reinforce proper usage and explain why certain choices work better than others.
Design for scannability: Break dense information into digestible sections with consistent formatting and ample white space. Quick-reference sections for frequently needed information help teams find answers fast.
Plan for evolution: Build your guidelines in a format that's easy to update and maintain. Include version control information and establish a transparent implementation plan to keep guidelines current.
Balance depth with clarity: Focus on the most important rules and principles first, then layer in more detailed specifications. Your guidelines should be thorough without becoming overwhelming.
Customize for different users: Create targeted sections for different team needs, from quick-start guides for new employees to detailed specifications for designers. This ensures everyone can access information relevant to their role.
Provide practical applications: Include real-world examples across various scenarios and mediums. Offer templates or starter files to help teams create on-brand materials efficiently.

Brand guideline examples

Well-structured brand guidelines can provide valuable insights into organizing and presenting your brand standards. Here are two examples that demonstrate different approaches to creating comprehensive yet practical guidelines:

Global technology hardware manufacturer

A global technology hardware manufacturer structures their guidelines around user empowerment and innovation.

Their guide might open with their mission of "creating accessible technology for all" before detailing precise specifications for their minimalist product photography style, monochromatic color palette, and geometric iconography system. Their tone of voice section would emphasize clear, jargon-free language that makes complex technology concepts understandable for everyday users.

Sustainable food delivery service

A sustainable food delivery service might center its guidelines on its commitment to environmental responsibility.

Their guide might feature a vibrant earth-tone color palette, food photography guidelines emphasizing fresh ingredients, and detailed specifications for their compostable packaging designs. Their brand voice guidelines would focus on balancing education about sustainability with an approachable, conversational tone that makes eco-conscious choices feel accessible rather than intimidating.

Create brand guidelines with Confluence

Building brand guidelines in Confluence empowers teams to create a dynamic, accessible resource that evolves with your brand. With Confluence, you can develop a living document that's easy to update, share, and reference across your company. Collaborative features allow your team to contribute insights and updates while maintaining version control, ensuring your guidelines stay current and relevant.

Confluence lets you structure your brand guidelines intuitively with flexible pages and whiteboards that combine documentation, real-time collaboration, and embedded knowledge. Teams can seamlessly edit content, add visual examples, and provide feedback in comments. With features like @mentions, notifications, and catch-up summaries, everyone stays aligned on the latest brand standards and can quickly find necessary information.