Write Guidelines for the Person Who Is Not a Designer
The document will be used by an office manager with Canva. Design for them.
Brand guidelines are usually written by designers for an imagined future designer. In practice they are opened by whoever has to make a poster on a Thursday afternoon.
Lead With What They Will Actually Do
Not the concept, not the thinking, not a page about the rationale for the colour. The first spread should be the logo, the clear space, and where to find the files. The story can go at the back for whoever wants it.
Show Wrong Examples
A page of correct usage teaches less than a page showing the logo stretched, recoloured, put on a busy photograph and given a drop shadow, each with one line saying why not. People recognise the mistake they were about to make.
Separate Rules From Preferences
Mark clearly what is load-bearing and what is taste. “The wordmark is never redrawn” is a rule. “We tend to set headlines in sentence case” is a preference. Presenting both with equal force means neither is respected.
Give Them a Template, Not Just Rules
The single most effective page in any guidelines document we have made is the one that says: for a social post use this file, for an A4 document use this one. Guidance without assets gets improvised around within a month.
The Test
Hand the document to someone in the client’s office who was not in any of the meetings and ask them to make something. Watch where they hesitate. That is your next revision.
