Brand Guideline Design: A Beginner’s Step-by-Step System, by GraphiqVibe on YouTube. 12 min 19 s.
- Video length
- 12 min 19 s
- Time to do it
- 2 hours
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Write down what the brand book must cover before you open Illustrator. List the sections your client needs, such as logo, typography, colours, imagery, layout and social media.
Collect the fonts, colour values and visual references that fit the brand. Note the exact font names, hex codes and image styles so you can drop them in later.
Set up a grid on your first artboard with columns, margins and gutters. A consistent grid keeps every slide aligned and makes the document look designed rather than assembled.
Design the base layout of the first slide: title, page numbers, section labels and spacing. Once it looks right, reuse it for the other pages instead of starting each one from scratch.
Build the logo slide with the logo variations, clear space rules, minimum size and a short do and don't section. Show each version on light and dark backgrounds.
Add the typography slide. Show the headline and body fonts, a size hierarchy and an example paragraph so the reader sees how the type behaves in real use.
Lay out the colours slide with large swatches and the values under each one: hex, RGB and CMYK. Group primary and secondary colours so the hierarchy is obvious.
Fill the imagery slide with example photos, icon styles and illustration rules. Describe what to avoid as well as what to use.
Create the layout slide showing the grid in action with an example page or post. Point out margins and spacing so the reader can repeat the pattern.
Add the social media slide with the post sizes the brand uses and the safe zones for each format. Keep the same grid and type styles as the main pages.
Tips and common mistakes
Set up paragraph and character styles for headings and body text so type stays consistent across pages.
Use the same artboard size for every slide and duplicate the base layout rather than rebuilding it.
Keep to two fonts and a small colour set, because too many options make the guidelines hard to follow.
Export the finished document as a PDF so the client can open it without Illustrator.
Questions
How long should a brand guidelines document be?
As long as it needs to cover the essentials. A small brand can work with 8 to 12 slides covering logo, type, colour, imagery and layout.
Do I need Adobe Illustrator for this?
Illustrator works well because you can set a precise grid and export pages as a PDF. Any vector tool with artboards and text styles will do the same job.
Which colour values should I list?
Give hex for screen, plus RGB and CMYK so web designers and printers both have what they need.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
