Brand guidelines that need redoing every two years end up costing more than guidelines that were well thought out from the start. Here are the principles we apply to build visual identities that stand the test of time — without needing repeated overhauls.
1. Setting foundations, not trends
A graphic trend has an average lifespan of 2 to 3 years. Guidelines built solely around a fashionable visual effect become dated along with it. The right approach is to anchor the identity in what doesn't change: the company's values, its industry, its personality — then to dress that foundation in a contemporary style, without depending on it entirely.
2. A logo designed to have variants
A logo that only works in colour, at large sizes and on a light background will cause problems as soon as it needs printing in black and white on an invoice, embroidering on a polo shirt, or displaying tiny in a mobile app. A good logo is tested from the design stage in its most demanding situations.
- Monochrome version (black, white)
- Simplified version for small formats (favicon, social media)
- Vertical and horizontal versions depending on available space
A logo that only works in a single version isn't a finished logo yet. — Ze Agency, branding workshop
3. Palette and typefaces: discipline before creativity
A colour palette that's too broad dilutes brand recognition. Two to three main colours, clearly prioritised, are almost always enough — provided they're applied consistently across every medium, from the website to office signage. The same logic applies to typefaces: one heading font, one body-text font, and clear rules for their use.
4. Documenting so everyone applies the guidelines
Brand guidelines that only exist in the head of the designer who created them don't survive that person leaving. A reference document — even a simple one, a few PDF pages — with the logo's permitted and forbidden uses, exact colour codes (RGB, CMYK, hex) and typography rules, lets any future provider apply the guidelines correctly.
5. Planning for formats that don't exist yet
A company building its guidelines today may not yet have an Instagram account, a trade show stand, or a mobile app. A good visual identity plans from the start how it will behave across varied formats — square, vertical, animated — rather than limiting itself to the media known at the time of its creation.
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Well-built brand guidelines aren't set in stone forever: they can evolve through small touches — a palette adjustment, a modernised typeface — without needing a complete overhaul. That's precisely the sign of a solid visual identity: it absorbs the company's changes without losing its recognisability.
Building durable brand guidelines takes a little more discipline upfront, but avoids years of costly, inconsistent small adjustments.
