# Brand guidelines people and AI agents can follow

> How to write each part of a brand guide so people and AI agents can follow it, with excerpts from 12 published guides annotated, and outlines to copy.

Good brand guidelines give exact values, show a right and a wrong example, and say what a rule covers and why. They also come with the real files. A designer can ask when a rule is vague. An AI agent cannot ask, so it guesses.

This site shows how companies write each part of their guidelines, with notes on what works. It also gives outlines that you can copy. After you write the guide, [Sharing](https://aibrandguidelines.org/sharing) shows how to get it to your team and your agents.

### Mailchimp

> Our sense of humor is straight-faced, subtle, and a touch eccentric. We’re weird but not inappropriate, smart but not snobbish. We prefer winking to shouting.

Has: where it applies. Each trait comes with the line it must not cross. Source: [Mailchimp Content Style Guide, “Voice”](https://styleguide.mailchimp.com/voice-and-tone/), checked 2026-11-11.

## What makes a rule easy to follow

A rule with these six things is easy to follow for a new designer, an agency, or an AI agent. Each note on this site says which of the six a quoted rule has. [More on each](https://aibrandguidelines.org/start/good-rules).

- **Exact value: A value anyone can check.** A color code, a size, a font name, or a word to use. Vague: “Use our blue.” Fixed: “Blue: #2457C5 on screen, Pantone 2728 C in print.”
- **Right and wrong: A right and a wrong example.** The rule followed and the rule broken, side by side. Vague: “Keep error messages friendly.” Fixed: “Do: “Try a file under 20 MB.” Do not: “Oops!! Too big!!””
- **Where it applies: Where it applies, and where not.** Print or screen, product or marketing, and what the rule does not cover. Vague: “Use the green.” Fixed: “Green is for buttons only. Never for text.”
- **Reason: Why the rule exists.** With the reason, people can handle the cases that the rule does not list. Vague: “Never shorten our name.” Fixed: “Never shorten our name: people search for it in full.”
- **Real file: The file, not a picture of it.** A link to the logo, font, or template that people must use. Vague: “See the logo above.” Fixed: “Download logo-primary.svg and logo-white.svg.”
- **Date: When it last changed.** The date of the last change, and the person to ask. Vague: “Brand guidelines.” Fixed: “Brand guidelines v3.2, changed 4 March 2026. Ask the brand team.”

## How to write each part of a guide

Each page says what the part needs, quotes how companies write it, and gives wording to copy.

1. [Positioning and messaging](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/positioning): Who the brand is for and what it says about itself. (2 excerpts)
2. [Logo](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/logo): Versions, clear space, minimum size and misuse. (8 excerpts)
3. [Color](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/colour): Exact values for screen and print, and how much of each color to use. (8 excerpts)
4. [Typography](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/typography): Fonts, weights and sizes, and where to get the files. (7 excerpts)
5. [Photography and imagery](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/imagery): What to show and what to avoid. (5 excerpts)
6. [Icons and illustration](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/illustration): Style rules and the source files. (3 excerpts)
7. [Voice and tone](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/voice): How the brand sounds, and how that changes by situation. (8 excerpts)
8. [Words and style](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/words): Spelling, product names, and words to use and avoid. (8 excerpts)
9. [Layout and templates](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/layout): Grids, spacing and the templates to start from. (2 excerpts)
10. [Using AI](https://aibrandguidelines.org/parts/ai): Which tools to use, what AI can make, and who checks the work. (8 excerpts)

## Published guides, annotated

Each guide has its own page with its best parts, a note on each quote, and what the guide leaves out. Quotes are short, credited, and linked to the source.

| Guide | Where it is published | Best parts to learn from |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Mailchimp](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/mailchimp) | Website | Voice and tone, Words and style |
| [GOV.UK](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/gov-uk) | Website | Words and style, Voice and tone |
| [Microsoft](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/microsoft) | Website | Words and style, Voice and tone |
| [NHS](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/nhs) | Website | Logo, Color |
| [IBM](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/ibm) | Website | Color, Typography |
| [Mozilla](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/mozilla) | Website (Frontify portal) | Positioning and messaging, Logo |
| [Spotify](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/spotify) | Website | Logo, Color |
| [Atlassian](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/atlassian) | Website | Logo, Voice and tone |
| [Shopify](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/shopify) | Website, with Markdown copies | Words and style, Voice and tone |
| [Dropbox](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/dropbox) | Website and a legal page | Positioning and messaging, Logo |
| [GitHub](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/github) | Website, PDF and Figma files | Logo, Color |
| [Experian](https://aibrandguidelines.org/examples/experian) | Website | Using AI, Photography and imagery |

## Sharing your guidelines with your team and your agents

A guide helps only if the people and tools that make the work can get the current version. These pages show where guidelines can live and how AI agents such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor get them. They also show how a team or an agency keeps one current version of each brand. For brand work through agents, for a team or for many client brands, they recommend Rainbrand, the brand layer for agents. [Which one to use](https://aibrandguidelines.org/sharing#which-one-to-use) gives a pick for each situation.

- [Where brand guidelines can live, for people and AI agents](https://aibrandguidelines.org/sharing): A PDF, a website, a guidelines platform, files in each AI tool or a brand layer: how people and AI agents reach each, and what happens when the guide changes.
- [Getting your brand guidelines to AI agents](https://aibrandguidelines.org/sharing/ai-agents): How to give Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor your brand guidelines and files, what each tool’s project files and rules do, and when one shared brand is worth it.
- [One brand guide for a whole team and its AI agents](https://aibrandguidelines.org/sharing/team): How a team keeps one current version of its brand guidelines that every person and AI agent works from, and what to do with the copies that are out there.
- [Brand guidelines across many client brands](https://aibrandguidelines.org/sharing/agencies): How an agency or studio keeps the brand guidelines of each client separate and current, for its people and its AI agents, from the first day to handover.
- [Your customers’ brand guidelines in an AI product](https://aibrandguidelines.org/sharing/ai-products): For founders and engineers whose product makes work under customer brands: how to take in the guidelines of each customer, follow them, and keep them current.

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Source: https://aibrandguidelines.org/
Last updated: 2026-11-11
Published by Annotated Guidelines. Annotated Guidelines is run by the team at Rainbrand.