You should be updating your brand guidelines. Here’s why.

As your organization changes, so does the way in which your brand shows up, which is why it’s important to keep those guidelines updated.

Psst! If you’re new to brand guidelines, check out our post Brand Guidelines 101, and then come back to this one.

Don’t wait until your organization gets a full rebrand to update your guidelines. You can find ways to use what you have, and express them in a way that captures a more modern audience.

In today’s world, brand guidelines are no longer rulebooks; they serve as flexible tools that enable those using them to navigate the organization’s brand elements with creativity and confidence. 

Forget the do’s and don’ts, effective brand guidelines should include sample application mockups accompanied by notes. Mockups demonstrate visual assets’ adaptability across various contexts. By providing supportive guidance, brand guidelines should spark excitement about the brand’s potential and versatility. 

They function as dynamic systems, allowing for creativity while still maintaining essential guardrails to ensure consistency and brand integrity. In essence, modern brand guidelines should inspire and empower, encouraging exploration and innovation within the boundaries of the brand’s identity.

Brand guidelines are most commonly available as PDFs, what about going digital? Not only does this make it more accessible, it also gives you flexibility to update them more regularly (at a lower cost, too).

There are a few formats available to use for your digital brand guidelines:

• Google Slides
• Canva
• Figma
• Notion
• Web platforms like Brandpad or Bynder

You could even opt for a combination of a PDF and a digital environment, like we did for our client Arts Midwest. They have a digital Press Kit, with links to logos and resources, and they have a full set of guidelines in PDF.

Motion guidelines dictate how your visual elements behave and interact in the digital space. They provide a roadmap for bringing your brand to life through movement, ensuring consistency and cohesion across digital platforms. 

From the speed of transitions to the style of animations, these guidelines detail every aspect of motion design. 

Motion and animation are present in your brand expressions more than you realize. Making a Reel for Instagram? A video to post on LinkedIn? Are there animations on your website? Including a GIF in your next email newsletter? Looking to spice up a presentation deck? These are all great examples of when motion or animation could be applied to your graphic elements. And just like those elements, you’ll need some guidelines for these, too.

Integrate guidelines for ensuring accessibility across all brand assets, including digital platforms, by considering factors like screen reader compatibility, color contrast ratios, and keyboard navigation. 

Accessibility shouldn’t be an afterthought. It should be present when and where your brand is applied.

Provide mockups and guidelines for creating adaptive branding systems that can flexibly adjust to different contexts, platforms, and user preferences.

We’ve been saying over and over again that consistency is key. And while that’s true, adapting your brand (within reason) to the platform is essential for more engaging content. Think TikTok or Instagram Reels. Adaptive branding allows brands to participate in what’s trending, while staying authentic. 

Be specific. There will be instances, like for social media, where you would use trending voice overs, stickers or GIFs. But you would never do the same on your website or email communication. Make sure the use cases are clear in your guidelines.

Like it or not, artificial intelligence is here. Chances are at least some people in your organization are already using AI to aid in their work. They may use it to brainstorm titles for a slide deck presentation, to write an article, or to create social media captions.

While AI is a great starting point, it’s important to include AI-specific voice and tone guidelines, so that AI-powered chatbots, virtual assistance and voice-activated devices can produce content that remains cohesive to your organization’s brand experience across channels.

Here’s an example of guidelines you can include in a prompt when using AI to generate content:

• Friendly: Use language that feels warm and welcoming, like you’re having a conversation with a friend.
• Clear and Simple: Keep sentences short and easy to understand, avoiding jargon or complex terminology.
• Helpful: Provide useful information and solutions to users’ questions or problems.
• Positive: Maintain a positive and upbeat tone, even when addressing challenges or concerns.
• Professional: Strike a balance between friendliness and professionalism, ensuring that interactions reflect the credibility and reliability of my brand.

With AI, the more information you give it, the more tailored its responses will be. Think about including some aspects of your brand personality, organization’s purpose and audience that can be copied and pasted into a prompt.

A design system is a lot like a brand style guide, but more geared towards equipping UX/UI designers, content strategist and web developers for their work on an organization’s web properties.

It will include things like Voice and Tone guidelines, a glossary, and then components and modules and how to use each one appropriately.

A documented design system is helpful for helping you scale your website and ensuring everyone is building content in a consistent, strategic way. Learn more about what makes a successful design system.

By keeping brand guidelines up to date, organizations can ensure that your brand remains relevant and engaging in the ever-changing digital landscape. So, let’s throw out the old rulebook and embrace the future of brand guidelines—a future that inspires, empowers, and adapts to the needs of both organizations and their audiences.