Annotated Guidelines

Part 9 of 10

How to write the layout and templates section of brand guidelines

The grid, margins and spacing as numbers, and links to the templates that people must start from, so that layouts come from the brand, not from a copy by eye.

The layout section turns the other parts into pages. Designers need the grid and the spacing as numbers. Everyone else needs finished templates. Most everyday work starts best from a template, because a template gets the logo, colors, and type right without a reading of the guide.

What the layout section needs

  • The grid for the main formats: columns, margins, and gutters.
  • A spacing unit, and how it scales.
  • Templates for the usual jobs: slides, documents, social posts, and email.
  • Which formats have a template, and which formats people build from the grid.
  • A layout that follows the grid next to a layout that does not.

How published guides write it

NHS

Any other formats should be sized proportionally, or should replicate the size and margin of the closest format shown here. For example, a square A4 format (210mm x 210mm) should use the size and margin guidelines for A4.

Has: where it applies, exact value. Covers the formats the size table leaves out, with a worked example.

NHS Identity Guidelines, “3. Size and positioning”. Checked 2026-11-11.

IBM

All spacing between elements can be defined by the base unit. Use the following multiples of your base unit to construct your layout: 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 10x, 12x.

Has: exact value. A closed list of spacing multiples that a person or a tool can check.

IBM Design Language, “Spatial relationships”. Checked 2026-11-11.

Wording to copy

Copy this text into your guide. The example is for Larch Coffee, a made-up coffee roaster. Replace the highlighted parts with the facts for your brand.

Layout and templates

Grid: [12] columns, [24 px] gutters, [48 px] margins on screens.
Spacing: multiples of [8 px].
Print: [15 mm] margins on A4.

Templates (start here):
- Slides: [example.com/brand/slides]
- Documents and letters: [example.com/brand/docs]
- Social posts, [1080 × 1080 and 1080 × 1920]: [example.com/brand/social]
- Email: [example.com/brand/email]

Is there no template for your format? Build it on the grid above, and
ask [the brand team].

Common gaps

  • Templates exist, but the guide does not link to them.
  • A picture shows the grid, but the text gives no numbers.