The Corporate Identity Guide (CIG), a.k.a. branding manual or brand standards guide, defines your brand’s visual elements in great technical detail, and provides samples and instructions for their everyday use. Adherence to the guide is crucial for everyone who handles your brand (i.e. marketing staff, partners and third parties), and helps you build and maintain your brand integrity.
Elements covered in the standard CIG include:
- Introduction to your identity.
- Overview of the identity. Logic/concept behind the name and/or symbology. Why it is integral to your company. The importance of representing it properly and consistently.
- Core Elements.
- Specific corporate elements: name, logo, symbology, etc.
- Minimum Sizing.
- Typically includes sizes for use in print (in inches) and screen (in pixels).
- Clear Space.
- Appropriate margins around logo which provide scalable clear space.
- Color: Values, Variations & Background.
- Specific color values for various applications: onscreen, process and spot (Pantone) printing, grayscale, black and white, reversed versions, etc.
- Typography.
- Identifies any specific fonts used in the logo. May recommend font families which complement the brand.
- Avoiding Common Errors.
- What not to do with the logo.
- Application Guide.
- A quick reference table for selecting the best file format for a given application.
- File Types and File Naming.
- Description of the two main graphic file types: vector and bitmap, and when to use what type. Explanation of the logic behind the file naming convention.
- Additional Help and Contact Information.
- Who to contact for technical assistance regarding brand usage.
Optional items to the standard CIG include:
- Corporate Messaging Guide.
- Secondary Color Palette.
- A careful selection of complementary accent and background colors for use in various brand collateral.
- Typesetting Typography.
- Design for various collateral. Demonstrates proper use of additional fonts. Margins, leading, tracking and layout techniques are described and samples provided.
- Photo Styles.
- Identifies and demonstrates suitable types of photographic images. May include special color and/or stylistic treatment.
- Illustration Styles.
- Complementary illustration style suited to two-dimensional graphics: diagrams, charts, graphs, etc. The guide dissects the illustration style to enable other designers to understand and duplicate.
- Unique Product or Business Logo Variations.
- A unique logo design for a specific product or separate business practice. These logos have their own identity and may or may not share a resemblance to the corporate logo. Example: Acro Media vs. StoreBox.
- Secondary Graphic Elements.
- Design complementary graphic elements to be used in conjunction with the brand.
- eStationery.
- Word document, includes title page, table of contents and standard content page layouts. Includes font styling for most commonly used formatting.
- PowerPoint Template.
- Includes one title slide and one standard content slide. Does not include custom screen or element animations, content graphics (charts, graphs, etc.) or content implementation.
The benefit of a Corporate Identity Guide is the ability to clearly know—and to instruct others—exactly how to portray your brand to maintain, protect and promote its value.
