A brandbook describes the company's values, goals, and philosophy. This section is crucial as a tuning fork for ensuring the designer's work aligns with the company's ideology.
Burger King starts its guideline with a brief brand history and its values
A guideline is an assembly instruction where, in technical language, it is explained how part A looks and how to attach it to part B to create the final product.
Public Version. A concise version for the public with primary brand descriptions and key identity elements. It includes links to download logo variations, color schemes, and possibly some brand assets. This version often excludes links to brand fonts, icons, patterns, and layout files.
The fragment from the guidelines of the U.S. Army regarding compositional styles
B2B. A more extensive format for printers, manufacturers, and contractors. It includes print-ready files tailored to specific tasks, layouts, and presets.
Internal. A highly detailed guideline for company employees. It includes all files, a collection of ready-made layouts, icon libraries, and photos. It is part of the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement).
The guideline example should be here, but it is not public.
At the outset, I suggest creating a simple, short guideline, working with it for six months, and then returning to refine it. In this scenario, it becomes clear whether the document is being used at all and what it should contain to be useful.
