Why you don’t need ‘Brand Guidelines’
When new businesses start up the first thing they get is a logo. Logos are usually necessary to give your business an identity and give you a visual representation of what your business does, perhaps its ideals or attributes or how you want your business to be perceived. That is all well and good, but then it can get out of hand.
Some agencies, designers or marketers will suggest you then get some ‘brand guidelines’, specifically visual guide lines. Brand guidelines can be a double edged sword when a business hasn’t even established itself in the market place. Sure, you need to know what you stand for, what you want your customers to think of you and how you want to interact with them. But what you don’t need is a 40 page PDF explaining what colours you can and can’t use on your website, how many pixels you have to leave around your logo, what fonts are forbidden and what some designer thinks is best for your yet undeveloped business.
Brand Guidelines cover many facets of your business and are important in understanding where you are headed. Visual brand guidelines have to be developed, not just made up before you have even sold something or gained your first customer.
You should design your website for your users, maintain your integrity from a brand perspective, trial your website and improve it. Then you can start setting ground rules so that it can be maintained and retain its performance and effectiveness. Spend your money on this and let your customers redefine your brand based on their feedback and patronage.
