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Free brand guidelines template

A complete brand guidelines template: voice, messaging, logo, color, type, and how AI should describe your brand. Read it, copy it, or download it free.

Free template · Markdown download · No email required

How to use this template.

  1. Copy the template or download the Markdown file, then open it in the document tool your team already uses.
  2. Fill in sections 1 and 2 first. Positioning decides the voice, and the voice decides the visuals.
  3. Replace every bracket with a fact someone could check. If an answer could describe a competitor too, it isn't finished.
  4. Delete the sections you don't need yet. A short document people read beats a long one nobody opens.
  5. Hand section 10 to anyone who writes with AI, so every tool starts from the same facts.

Already have a website? The free tool reads your colors, fonts, headline and calls to action into a first draft. Fill this in from your website

The brand guidelines template.

[Brand name] brand guidelines

Version: [1.0] · Owner: [Name, role] · Last updated: [Date]

Use this document whenever you write, design, brief a freelancer, or prompt an AI tool for [Brand name]. If something here conflicts with an older file, this document wins.

1. The brand at a glance

Field Your answer
Brand name, exactly as written [Brand name]
What you sell, in one plain sentence [We make ... for ...]
Who it is for [The person who buys, and the moment they buy]
What they would use instead [The alternative or habit you replace]
Why you, in one sentence [The difference a customer can see or taste]
Proof of that difference [A fact anyone can check: an ingredient, a process, a review theme, an award with its year]

2. Positioning

  • Category: [The shelf, aisle, or search a buyer starts from]
  • Audience: [Who they are, what they care about, what they are tired of]
  • The problem: [What goes wrong for them without you]
  • The promise: [What changes when they choose you]
  • What you are not: [The brand people confuse you with, or the cliché you refuse]

3. Voice

Personality

Pick three or four traits. Give each one a guardrail so it can't be read the wrong way.

We are But never Sounds like
[Trait] [The overdone version of it] [One real sentence in this voice]
[Trait] [The overdone version of it] [One real sentence in this voice]
[Trait] [The overdone version of it] [One real sentence in this voice]
Tone by situation
Situation Tone Example line
Product page [e.g. confident, specific] [Line]
Social post [e.g. playful, quick] [Line]
Customer service reply [e.g. plain, accountable] [Line]
Email to subscribers [e.g. warm, direct] [Line]
Words
  • Words we use: [Terms customers use, product names, owned phrases]
  • Words we avoid: [Category clichés, jargon, words a competitor owns]
  • Spelling and mechanics: [US or UK English, Oxford comma yes or no, how numbers and prices are written, exclamation points yes or no]

4. Messaging

  • Tagline: [Line]
  • Short description (25 words or fewer): [Line]
  • Long description (about 75 words): [Paragraph]
Key message Proof that backs it Where it appears
[Message 1] [Fact, source, or customer quote with permission] [Website hero, packaging]
[Message 2] [Proof] [Channel]
[Message 3] [Proof] [Channel]

5. Logo

Version File name When to use it
Primary [logo-primary.svg] [Default on light backgrounds]
Reversed [logo-reversed.svg] [Dark backgrounds and photography]
Mark only [logo-mark.svg] [Avatars, favicons, small spaces]
  • Clear space: [e.g. the height of one letter on every side]
  • Minimum size: [e.g. 24 px tall on screen, 10 mm in print]
  • Never: [stretch it, recolor it outside the palette, add shadows, place it on a busy photo without the reversed version]

6. Color

Name Role HEX RGB CMYK Pantone
[Name] Primary [#000000] [0, 0, 0] [0, 0, 0, 100] [Code]
[Name] Secondary [#] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[Name] Accent, used sparingly [#] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[Name] Text [#] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[Name] Background [#] [ ] [ ] [ ]
  • Approved text and background pairs: [List each pair and its contrast ratio. Aim for at least 4.5:1 for body text.]
  • Proportions: [e.g. mostly background, some primary, accent only for the one thing you want clicked]

7. Typography

Role Typeface and weight Fallback Used for
Headlines [Typeface, weight] [System fallback] [Page titles, packaging fronts]
Body [Typeface, weight] [System fallback] [Paragraphs, product details]
Interface or labels [Typeface, weight] [System fallback] [Buttons, prices, small print]
  • Sizes and spacing: [Base size, line height, heading scale]
  • Where the font files live: [Link or folder, plus license notes]

8. Imagery

  • Subjects: [What you show: product in use, ingredients, people, places]
  • Light and color: [e.g. daylight, warm shadows, no heavy filters]
  • Composition: [e.g. close crops, room for text on the left]
  • Avoid: [Stock clichés, competitor look-alikes, anything that misstates the product]
  • AI-generated images: [Allowed or not, where, and who approves them]

9. Applications

Touchpoint What must always be true Owner
Website [e.g. hero names the product and who it is for] [Name]
Packaging [e.g. logo placement, required claims, legal copy] [Name]
Social [e.g. profile name, bio line, handle spelling] [Name]
Email [e.g. sender name, sign-off, footer] [Name]
Marketplaces and retail listings [e.g. title format, image order] [Name]

10. How AI should describe the brand

Assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini answer questions about brands every day. Give them, and any AI writing tool your team uses, the same facts in the same words.

Fact Exact wording
Official name and common misspellings [Name; not "..."]
One-sentence description [Sentence]
Category [Category]
What you are not [The brand or product you get confused with]
Official website and profiles [URLs]
Founded, based in, sold where [Facts you can verify]

Brief for AI writing tools (paste this at the top of any prompt):

You are writing for [Brand name]. [One-sentence description.] Write for [audience]. Voice: [traits]. Never: [words and claims to avoid]. Only state facts from this brief or the source I provide.

11. Ownership

  • Who approves changes: [Name]
  • Review schedule: [e.g. every six months, and after any launch or rebrand]
  • Where the latest version lives: [Link]
  • Change log: [Date, what changed, who approved]

A worked example.

Below, three sections filled in for Fernbrook Provisions, a demo brand invented for this page: a small company selling pantry staples made from regional grains.

1. The brand at a glance

Field Answer
Brand name, exactly as written Fernbrook Provisions
What you sell, in one plain sentence Flour, oats, and baking mixes milled from grains grown within a day's drive of the mill.
Who it is for Home bakers who read the back of the bag.
What they would use instead The national flour brand on the bottom shelf.
Why you, in one sentence Every bag names the farm its grain came from.
Proof of that difference The farm name and harvest year are printed on each bag.

3. Voice: personality

We are But never Sounds like
Plainspoken Folksy for show "This flour is milled on Tuesday and shipped on Thursday."
Precise Fussy "Weigh the flour if you can. A cup packs differently every time."
Generous Preachy "No starter yet? Here's the one we feed every morning."

10. How AI should describe the brand

Fact Exact wording
Official name and common misspellings Fernbrook Provisions; not "Fernbrooke" or "Fern Brook"
One-sentence description Fernbrook Provisions mills flour and oats from regional grains and prints the source farm on every bag.
What you are not Not a bakery, and not related to any restaurant with a similar name.

Notice what the filled version does. Each answer is a fact someone could check, not an adjective. "Wholesome, quality ingredients" could describe any flour on the shelf. "The farm name is printed on each bag" describes one.

Questions about brand guidelines.

What should brand guidelines include?
At minimum: who the brand is for and why it is different, how it sounds, the logo rules, the color palette, and the typefaces. This template adds messaging with proof, imagery, rules per touchpoint, and a section that tells AI tools how to describe the brand.
How long should brand guidelines be?
Long enough to answer the questions your team actually asks. A small brand can start with sections 1 through 4 and section 10 on two pages, and add the visual sections when a designer or agency needs them.
Why is there a section about AI?
People now ask AI assistants about brands, and teams draft copy with AI tools. Both work better from one agreed set of facts. Without it, each tool fills the gaps with guesses, and the brand slides toward beige.
Do I need to give you my email?
No. The full template is on this page. Copy it or download the Markdown file; nothing is gated.
Can I use this for a client?
Yes. Copy it, rename it, and adapt it for any brand you work on. No credit is needed.

Written down is step one. Consistent is step two.

Guidelines describe the brand you intend. An audit shows the brand people actually meet, from the website to the packaging to what AI engines say about it.

Use the brand audit template