Outline of a full brand guide to copy
A brand guide outline in plain text, with every part and the questions for each part. Copy it, fill in the brackets, and delete what you do not need yet.
Copy the outline below into a document, a web page, or a Markdown file. Each part has the questions that it must answer, and your values go in the brackets. Delete the parts that you do not need yet. What a guide contains says which parts to start with.
The outline is plain Markdown. So it works as a file that an AI agent can read, and as a page for people. Each part has its own page on this site, with published examples and more wording.
The outline
# [Brand] brand guidelines
Version [1.0], updated [date]. Questions: [name, email].
What changed in this version: [one line per change].
## 1. Positioning and messaging
Who we are for: [one sentence].
What we do: [one sentence in the words of a customer].
What we never claim: [claims that we avoid, and why].
Our name: [how to write it, and the short forms to avoid].
## 2. Logo
Files: [link to SVG and PNG, light and dark versions].
Clear space: [the space around the logo, and how to measure it].
Minimum size: [width in px on screen, mm in print].
Do not: [each misuse as a sentence: stretch it, recolor it, add
effects, draw it again].
## 3. Color
| Name | Hex | RGB | CMYK | Pantone | Use for |
| [Primary] | [#000000] | [0 0 0] | [0 0 0 100] | [Pantone …] | [main uses] |
How much of each: [for example, mostly white and the primary, and a
little of the accents].
Accessible pairs: [text and background pairs that pass contrast checks].
## 4. Typography
Fonts: [names, weights, and where to download or license them].
Sizes: [headline, body, caption].
If the font is not available: [the fallback font].
## 5. Photography and imagery
What we show: [subjects, places, light].
What we avoid: [as sentences].
Examples: [links to approved images].
## 6. Icons and illustration
Style: [line weight, corners, colors].
Files: [link to the icon set and the illustration sources].
## 7. Voice and tone
We are [trait], but not [the trait taken too far].
In our voice: "[a sentence in this voice]"
Too far: "[a sentence that goes too far]"
Tone by situation: [errors, apologies, legal text, celebrations].
## 8. Words and style
Words we use: [term], not [term].
Product names: [exact spelling and capitals].
Spelling and grammar: [dictionary, date and number formats].
## 9. Layout and templates
Grid and spacing: [columns, margins, spacing unit].
Templates: [links to slides, documents, social formats].
## 10. Using AI
Tools: [the AI tools that people can use for brand work].
AI can make: [first drafts, backgrounds, …].
AI must not make: [our logo, people who look real, …].
Before work goes out: [who checks AI-made work, and against what].
How to fill it in
- First, fill in the parts that people ask about most often. For most teams, these are the logo, color, and voice.
- Write every “do not” as a sentence, also when the guide shows it as a picture.
- Link the real files, not pictures of them.
- Keep the version line at the top current. A reader or an agent looks at it first.
As a Markdown file for agents
Rainbrand has a longer Markdown brand guidelines template for AI agents. It has notes on how to package the logo files and fonts with the guide.
For a single page instead of a full guide, use the one-page brand sheet.