15 Corporate Style Guides for Branding Inspiration
The pillar stone of branding is the brand manual or style guide. It’s the central, unifying component of most brand development today. So it’s become the kind of thing that freelance designers might be expected to produce. And this trend isn’t limited to graphic design.
Smashing Magazine – a web design trade blog – recently broke down the basic components of style guides in a post by Kate Neville titled Designing Style Guidelines for Brands and Websites. In its wake, I thought I’d put together a premium package of example style guides for your own inspiration. Read more after the jump.
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University of Northampton
“Like any brand manual, its objective is to help people who use the brand to understand its origin, the brand values and provide detailed specifications and guidance on the use of all aspects of the brand.”
University of Northampton Brand Manual (PDF)
Government of Alberta
“There is also a new Government of Alberta corporate identity that was designed to align with the brand. It is straightforward, clear and strong – attributes that people think of when dealing with Albertans.”
Government of Alberta Corporate Identity Manual (PDF)
Cornell University
“This style guide has been developed to assist the individual units of the university in using the Cornell logo in their communications materials in print, web, television broadcast, and electronic presentation media.”
Cornell University Style Guide (PDF)
Brasil Telecom
Brasil Telecom Style Guide (PDF)
Cunard
“This information has been designed and presented to ensure that the Cunard brand is marketed in an appropriate and consistent manner. It is essential that the heritage, quality, elegance and reliability of one of the world’s leading brand names is upheld and adhered to in all circumstances.”
Princeton University Press
“The purpose of this manual is to explain the components of the Princeton University Press visual identity program, to define its graphic design standards, and to illustrate how these standards are applied.”
Princeton University Press Style Guide (PDF)
Kew
“These guidelines will help you produce consistent and effective communication materials for Kew. As well as providing the details of how
elements should be used together, the guidelines should inspire you when developing our brand, establishing useful parameters without restricting creativity.”
Think Brick
“The purpose of the guidelines is to create uniformity in the visual image of Think Brick. It is important that the standards are strictly followed, especially in regard to those concerning the Think Brick logo.”
Think Brick Brand Guidelines (PDF)
BlackBerry
“What’s a brand? More than a name or a logo. More than a name or a logo on a box. And more, ultimately, than what the box contains. What’s inside the box may change, after all–or be succeeded by some other product that’s better, faster and less expensive.”
BlackBerry Branding Guidelines (PDF)
Channel 4
“Whether it is seen on screen or in print, the logo is continuously changing. It can adapt its texture and colour to the surrounding environment. The new identity reflects Channel 4. It is challenging, distinctive and innovative.”
Barbican
“Our identity is not just a logo. It is a design scheme composed of a number of core elements that come together to create a distinctive look and feel that makes the Barbican brand instantly recognisable.”
Barbican Brand Guidelines (PDF)
easyGroup
“Like any manual, its objective is to help people who use the brand to understand its origin, the brand values and the best ways of getting the most out of it.”
Zopa
“Consistency in both layout logic and graphic treatment is essential in providing the user familiar experiences across all user journeys within the site. These style guidelines provide a visual framework to ensure future developments of Zopa.com are consistent with the key foundation pages produced.”
Skype
“This is a guide to the basic elements that make up Skype. Have a read, it will help you to get to know us a little better.”
BBC
“The design philosophy underpins everything we do as a user experience and design team. It informs the way our services look, the way they behave and the way we operate as a team. The foundations should be used by all. They include a vertical grid, baseline grid and recommended templates.”
Global Visual Language 3.0 (PDF)