Brand Design
Brand Guidelines for Glasgow Businesses: What They Include and What They Cost
What brand guidelines are, what a useful set includes, what they cost and why they save money every time someone else designs something for you.
Published 17 October 20264 min read
What brand guidelines are for
Brand guidelines are the instructions for using your brand: how the logo should and should not be used, which colours and fonts to use, and how layouts and imagery should look. They matter most when someone other than your original designer creates something for you, such as a printer, a sign-maker, a web developer or a new member of staff.
What they cost
A brand guidelines document starts from £450. If you only need the essentials, a brand identity pack from £750 includes the logo, colour palette, typography and a brand reference sheet. A full brand design, including the identity system, guidelines and collateral, starts from £1,500.
What a useful set includes
Logo versions and when to use each; clear space and minimum sizes; colour values for print (CMYK) and screen (RGB and HEX); fonts and how to use them for headings and body text; examples of layouts for common items such as social posts and flyers; image style; and clear do and don’t examples. For most small businesses, a focused 8–12 page document is more useful than a long manual nobody opens.
Learned from working inside big brands
Most of my career has been spent designing within other brands’ guidelines, for names including Coca-Cola, Hilton and Laphroaig. The best guidelines are the ones that answer a designer’s questions quickly. That is what I aim for when writing guidelines for smaller businesses: practical rules, not theory.
When you need them
If you are about to brief a website, signage, vehicle graphics or a print run, or you are taking on staff who create your social posts, guidelines pay for themselves quickly by preventing inconsistent and costly mistakes.
Frequently asked questions
- How much do brand guidelines cost?
- From a senior freelance designer, a brand guidelines document starts from around £450, or a brand identity pack with a reference sheet from £750.
- Can you create guidelines for my existing logo?
- Yes. Guidelines can be written for an existing brand, and I can tidy up the logo files at the same time if needed.
- What format are brand guidelines supplied in?
- Usually a PDF that can be shared with printers, developers and staff, along with all the logo and colour files it refers to.
Written by Ross Boag
Need help with design, websites or branding?
Ross Boag is a senior freelance graphic designer in Glasgow with 12+ years of agency and in-house experience, for brands including Hilton, Volvo and Jim Beam. He also designs logos and brand identities and websites, and prints the work through his online print shop, for businesses across Glasgow, Scotland and the UK.