IntroductionWelcome| 00:04 | Hi I'm Nigel French.
Welcome to Developing a Style Guide.
| | 00:08 | In this show course we're going to be
looking at who is the style guide for and
| | 00:12 | what are the elements that should be included?
| | 00:15 | To demonstrate these points I've created
a style guide for the Roux Academy of Art.
| | 00:20 | Let's get started then
with Developing a Style Guide.
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| Using the exercise files| 00:00 | If you're a Premium member of the
lynda.com online training library, you have
| | 00:05 | access to the exercise files
used throughout this title.
| | 00:10 | The files are all in the Exercise Files folder.
| | 00:14 | If you're a Monthly or Annual
subscriber to lynda.com, you will not have
| | 00:19 | access to the exercise files, but you
can still follow along with the files of your own.
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1. What Is a Style Guide?Understanding style guides in the branding process| 00:00 | Your style guide, or branding
guidelines document, is an instruction manual for
| | 00:05 | how to use your company's branding materials.
| | 00:08 | The point of a style guide is
consistency, and an intelligent style guide is
| | 00:14 | part of ensuring that your brand is
promoted consistently, both internally and
| | 00:18 | outside the company.
| | 00:21 | The style guide explains the values
of your brand and where relevant, its
| | 00:26 | history and its evolution.
| | 00:29 | It shows the logos of your brand and
clearly explains when and how they should
| | 00:34 | be used, and tries to
anticipate potential misuses.
| | 00:39 | It shows the colors of your brand, with
numerical breakdowns of those colors, for
| | 00:43 | use in print and onscreen.
| | 00:46 | It explicitly states the appropriate
usage of other design elements of your
| | 00:51 | brand, like the type choices and the
use of imagery, as well as the appropriate
| | 00:56 | writing tone to be used in all communication.
| | 00:59 | The style guide is an important part of
the branding process, but it is just a part.
| | 01:06 | This diagram, adapted from Alina
Wheeler's Designing Brand Identity, shows how a
| | 01:11 | development of a style guide fits
into the overall process of designing a
| | 01:16 | company's brand identity.
| | 01:18 | So that process begins with research,
and in the research phase you'll interview
| | 01:24 | the concerned parties, evaluate
existing brands, and determine the vision,
| | 01:28 | strategy, and goals of your brand.
| | 01:32 | Next, you'll clarify the strategy,
| | 01:34 | come up with a naming strategy, develop
key messages, and write a creative brief.
| | 01:41 | Then the actual designing of the
identity begins, and you'll present a visual
| | 01:45 | strategy of this design identity.
| | 01:49 | Stage four, you'll finalize that identity,
| | 01:52 | develop the look and feel of the brand.
| | 01:55 | And then stage five that's where the style
guide comes in, as well as developing a
| | 02:00 | strategy for launching the brand.
| | 02:03 | So that's where the style guide fits into
the equation of designing a brand identity.
| | 02:09 | It's a very important part, but it
is just a part of that whole process.
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| Who is the style guide for?| 00:00 | Depending on the nature of your
company, your style guide may have different
| | 00:04 | audiences, with differing levels
of familiarity with your brand.
| | 00:08 | Perhaps there's an internal design
team responsible for your company's
| | 00:12 | communications, both within
the company and client-facing.
| | 00:16 | Or perhaps job roles are less
structured and employees with a wide variety of
| | 00:21 | responsibilities, from sales to marketing,
to legal, to human resources, to customer
| | 00:26 | service all need to produce branded materials.
| | 00:31 | Perhaps your company
works with outside designers.
| | 00:33 | These external agencies are your
partners in building your brand.
| | 00:39 | But they will not be as
familiar with your brand as you are.
| | 00:42 | The style guide saves time,
money, and frustration by avoiding off-
| | 00:47 | brand communication.
| | 00:49 | There may be times when you partner with
other companies to extend the reach of your brand.
| | 00:55 | These co-branding partners need to
know how to use your branding materials in
| | 01:00 | conjunction with their own.
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| Formatting a style guide| 00:00 | So what will be the format of your style guide?
| | 00:04 | Will it be a custom book or brochure,
will it be on the web as a micro site,
| | 00:10 | will the pages be laser printed and
put into a binder, or will it be a screen
| | 00:15 | PDF, possibly an interactive PDF?
| | 00:21 | In the case of the Roux Academy
guidelines, I've opted for a simple interactive PDF.
| | 00:28 | This has the following benefits.
| | 00:30 | It's accessible, it's cheap, and it's
flexible. Revisions can easily be made.
| | 00:37 | I'm going to point out a
few aspects of its design.
| | 00:41 | The document was created in Adobe InDesign.
| | 00:44 | Since the document is to be
viewed onscreen, I've chosen a
| | 00:47 | landscape orientation.
| | 00:49 | Our monitors are wide rather than tall, so
this makes the most efficient use of space.
| | 00:55 | I've chosen the page size of U.S.
Letter so that if the user wants to print the
| | 01:00 | document they can do so easily.
| | 01:03 | The table of contents not only
provides an overview of the structure of the
| | 01:07 | document, but it's conveniently hyperlinked
to the different sections, for easy navigation.
| | 01:13 | All pages have a link back to the Contents page.
| | 01:19 | Because the style guide is intended
to be viewed onscreen, I've chosen the
| | 01:22 | typeface designed for screen, Myriad Web
Pro, and I've made the size and leading
| | 01:28 | larger than would be necessary for print.
| | 01:34 | The folio is entered on the master page.
| | 01:38 | As part of the folio I have included a
text variable, which will update with the
| | 01:44 | file modification date and time.
| | 01:47 | A style guide is an evolving document
subject to revision. Including a Last
| | 01:53 | Modified text variable removes any
ambiguity that may arise from there being
| | 01:57 | different versions of the
document in circulation.
| | 02:02 | So that the style guide can be
distributed as an interactive PDF document, I've
| | 02:07 | included basic navigation controls.
| | 02:09 | Again, these have been
placed on the master page.
| | 02:14 | I have a next button, a last page button,
previous page, and a first page button.
| | 02:23 | There is also a link back to the Contents page.
| | 02:26 | Hyperlinks connect to files that are
available for download, like the logo
| | 02:30 | and the color palettes.
| | 02:33 | To take advantage of the nature of the
interactive PDF, I have set the initial
| | 02:37 | view of the document to Full Screen.
| | 02:40 | This is an option in your
interactive PDF Export settings.
| | 02:46 | This option is also
available in Acrobat Professional.
| | 02:51 | Those then are just some of the design
choices to consider when making a style
| | 02:55 | guide in the interactive PDF format.
| | 02:58 | For more information about creating
interactive PDFs using InDesign, I highly
| | 03:03 | recommend you check out
Mike Rankin's InDesign CS6:
| | 03:08 | Interactive Documents in the
lynda.com online training library.
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2. The Purpose of a Style GuideUnderstanding the purpose of a style guide| 00:00 | A well-thought-out style guide is an
essential tool for strengthening and
| | 00:04 | maintaining your brand identity.
| | 00:06 | A style guide can serve
different functions for different people.
| | 00:10 | As the designer of the brand, the style
guide is a way of ensuring that people
| | 00:15 | use your designs in ways you had intended.
| | 00:18 | Without a style guide, your designs
are like a piece of machinery lacking
| | 00:22 | an instruction manual.
| | 00:23 | Writing the style guide is your
opportunity to expand upon the thinking behind
| | 00:28 | the logo, your choice of typefaces,
your choice of colors, et cetera.
| | 00:34 | Perhaps your brand elements are
metaphorical or based upon a theme; the style
| | 00:39 | guide is your opportunity to explain it.
| | 00:41 | Even if you're the only person likely
to be designing with the brand elements--
| | 00:47 | maybe you design them for your own
company--the style guide is a useful way of
| | 00:51 | clarifying your thoughts about the brand.
| | 00:53 | The style guide removes time-consuming
guesswork and ambiguity about how the
| | 00:59 | brand should be implemented.
| | 01:04 | As the person responsible for the
integrity of the brand, the style guide is your
| | 01:08 | touchstone for ensuring that your
brand is implemented by your staff and your
| | 01:13 | branding partners, in ways that are
consistent with your brand vision.
| | 01:18 | The style guide makes it clear what the
brand stands for, how its elements work
| | 01:22 | together, and how they are implemented.
| | 01:25 | It should address as many
scenarios as are relevant.
| | 01:30 | While much of the style guide is
nothing more than common sense, don't
| | 01:34 | lose sight of the fact that other
people are not as concerned about your
| | 01:37 | brand's image as you are.
| | 01:39 | Where any possible areas of
ambiguity or confusion exist, your contact
| | 01:44 | information should be clearly displayed.
| | 01:47 | With the increasing importance of
branding and the use of branding guidelines,
| | 01:52 | there is a danger that the style guide might
read as a list of rules about what not to do.
| | 01:57 | For this reason it's important to
find the right tone in the style guide.
| | 02:01 | It should explain rather than patronize.
| | 02:05 | The designers implementing your brand
want to be able to exercise their creativity.
| | 02:10 | Good designers appreciate the need for,
and are happy to work within, constraints,
| | 02:16 | so long as they understand the
design logic behind those constraints.
| | 02:20 | The style guide should aim to get your
internal design team and the designers
| | 02:24 | working for your branding partners
onboard, rather than alienate them with a
| | 02:29 | series of finger-wagging rules.
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| Understanding what to include in a style guide| 00:00 | The scope of a style guide will
vary from one brand to another.
| | 00:05 | Obviously, a style guide for a local
bakery will have far fewer branding
| | 00:08 | scenarios to address than that
for a multinational company with a
| | 00:13 | diverse product range.
| | 00:15 | Here are the basic elements to include.
| | 00:17 | A position statement. Who are
yo? What are your brand values?
| | 00:24 | What's the voice of your brand?
Are you informal, chatty, formal?
| | 00:30 | What are your naming conventions?
| | 00:31 | How do you write your
company name, your product names?
| | 00:36 | How should your logo be used, and
importantly how should it not be used?
| | 00:41 | What are your type choices
and how should type be used?
| | 00:44 | What colors have you chosen and how
should they be used? And how should imagery
| | 00:50 | be incorporated into your brand? Do you
favor illustration over photography and
| | 00:56 | if so, what style of
illustration? What style of photography?
| | 01:02 | Here are some other elements to
consider that may be applicable.
| | 01:05 | If your internal design team or
your branding partners are creating
| | 01:09 | documents like newsletters, brochures,
interactive PDFs, maybe you could
| | 01:15 | start them off with templates.
| | 01:17 | What's the social media persona of your brand?
| | 01:20 | How do you handle your Facebook Timeline,
your LinkedIn profile, your Twitter feed?
| | 01:26 | You could supply collateral items like
business cards, envelopes, letterhead,
| | 01:32 | invites. Are there any forms to consider?
| | 01:35 | Will your brand elements be applied
to gift items like T-shirts, pens?
| | 01:43 | And will your brand items be applied to
signage for conventions and trade shows.
| | 01:47 | Obviously, not all of these
items will be applicable;
| | 01:51 | you can just choose to
include the ones that are.
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3. The Elements of a Style GuideExploring position statement and voice| 00:00 | In this chapter, I'm going to drill
down to the various different sections
| | 00:04 | of the style guide.
| | 00:05 | The purpose of the position
statement is to make explicit where your
| | 00:09 | business stands in relation to its
competitors without saying anything
| | 00:13 | negative about your competitors.
| | 00:15 | What's the status of your business
within its industry? Is it new, established,
| | 00:22 | innovative, pioneering?
| | 00:25 | This should be short, and its tone in
keeping with whatever tone you've adopted
| | 00:30 | as your brand voice.
| | 00:32 | Not everyone using your style guide will
be as familiar with the brand as you are.
| | 00:38 | The position statement is your opportunity to
clue them in on what your company is all about.
| | 00:44 | The style guide is not just about
maintaining a consistent look, but also about
| | 00:49 | maintaining a consistent tone.
| | 00:50 | The tone of your written
communication plays a significant part in
| | 00:55 | developing your brand's style.
| | 00:56 | Your style guard should be an example of
the writing tone you use, but it's also
| | 01:02 | worth spelling it out.
| | 01:04 | In the example of the Roux Academy,
the style should be plain-spoken,
| | 01:09 | without unnecessary jargon.
| | 01:11 | Adjectives and the adverbs
should be used sparingly.
| | 01:15 | The voice should be friendly and
approachable, but not overly familiar or chatty.
| | 01:20 | In deciding what's an
appropriate tone for your brand,
| | 01:22 | it might be helpful to
visualize who you're talking to.
| | 01:25 | How would you address
that person in conversation?
| | 01:28 | Whatever you decide upon, that tone
should be used consistently across all your
| | 01:33 | written communications:
| | 01:35 | hard-copy letters, emails,
social media postings.
| | 01:41 | In considering the writing tone, you should
also consider the importance of a style manual.
| | 01:46 | Do you use initial caps for headings and
subheadings, or is everything in sentence case?
| | 01:52 | Do you use em dashes or
en dashes for a long dash?
| | 01:56 | Do you put a period after mister or missus?
| | 01:58 | It's not necessary to create your own
style manual; you can adopt an existing one.
| | 02:05 | The Roux Academy uses the
Chicago Manual of Style.
| | 02:08 | For any areas of grammatical or writing
style ambiguity there is an established
| | 02:13 | reference to consult.
| | 02:15 | If there are any brands-specific terms
that differ from or are not addressed by
| | 02:20 | the style manual, you can address them here.
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| Working with logos| 00:00 | It would be a mistake to consider
the logo and the brand synonymous.
| | 00:05 | The logo is just one visual
representation of the brand.
| | 00:08 | However, it is the most important
visual representation, and is likely the
| | 00:13 | first ambassador of your brand that potential
clients and customers will come into contact with.
| | 00:19 | Understandably, we feel
rather protective of our logo.
| | 00:22 | The purpose of this section of the style
guide is to make explicit how the logo
| | 00:27 | can be used; when, if appropriate,
alternate versions of the logo can or should be
| | 00:32 | used; and perhaps most
importantly, how the logo should not be used.
| | 00:38 | When focusing on negatives--i.e. things
that should not be done--avoid using
| | 00:42 | a patronizing tone.
| | 00:44 | The designers implementing
your brand are your collogues.
| | 00:47 | Talk to them as equals and most
importantly, show them, using examples, why certain
| | 00:53 | usages are inappropriate.
| | 00:56 | If your logo is the way it is for
historical reasons, say so here.
| | 01:02 | If certain elements of the logo have
a historical importance, explain it.
| | 01:07 | Perhaps the logo has evolved
over time to its present form.
| | 01:11 | Show how this evolution has happened.
| | 01:14 | Many logos may be combined with a
tagline, a short pithy statement that
| | 01:19 | describes the company or product,
or explains its philosophy. Nike:
| | 01:24 | Just Do It; Apple: Think Different;
| | 01:27 | FedEx: The World on Time; Target:
Expect More, Pay Less.
| | 01:33 | If yours is such a logo then you should
include specific instructions about in
| | 01:37 | what circumstances it's necessary to
use the logo with the tagline and in what
| | 01:42 | circumstances the logo should be used alone.
| | 01:46 | Many logos come in different versions.
| | 01:49 | In the example of the Roux Academy
logo, there are different versions for
| | 01:53 | internal documents and client-facing documents.
| | 01:57 | The style guide should make it clear
when to use what version and why.
| | 02:01 | Your logo has been designed to
read well at a variety of sizes,
| | 02:07 | but there is a threshold minimum size
below which the symbol, or more likely the
| | 02:12 | type, will be illegible or unreadable.
| | 02:16 | You'll need to decide what this
minimum size is and state explicitly that it
| | 02:21 | should never be used below this size.
| | 02:24 | Positioning your logo too close to
the edge of a page or screen will
| | 02:28 | undermine its integrity,
| | 02:29 | so state clearly any restrictions
on the positioning of your logo.
| | 02:33 | An important aspect of your logo
design is the whitespace around it.
| | 02:40 | The style guide should contain a
diagram indicating the whitespace or clear
| | 02:44 | space around the logo.
| | 02:47 | This may be expressed explicitly as
an absolute measurement, in inches and
| | 02:52 | metric, or perhaps more usefully, since
the logo will be reproduced in a range of
| | 02:57 | sizes, as a relative size
using one of the logo elements.
| | 03:02 | Logos frequently need to be
flexible enough to be used with sub-brands.
| | 03:08 | In the case of the Roux academy,
the sub-brands are the different
| | 03:12 | academic departments.
| | 03:17 | In practical terms, you should explain
what versions of the logo are available
| | 03:21 | for download, and when they should be used.
| | 03:24 | These files can be stored on your web
server, perhaps in a password-protected
| | 03:29 | media relations portal.
| | 03:32 | You can make a hyperlink
to them in the PDF document.
| | 03:35 | These then are some other
considerations to take into account when preparing
| | 03:39 | guidelines for your logo usage.
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| Working with typography| 00:00 | It's not just what you say, but how you
say it that shapes your brand personality.
| | 00:05 | For this reason, your use of
typography is an important aspect of your brand.
| | 00:12 | It's often said that there are no
bad fonts, just inappropriate fonts.
| | 00:16 | Typefaces are like shoes: sometimes
flip-flops are the right choice; other
| | 00:21 | times it's hiking boots.
| | 00:23 | You don't want to get
those two occasions mixed up.
| | 00:26 | You need to make sure that you've
chosen a typeface or typefaces to enhance the
| | 00:29 | image of your brand.
| | 00:33 | Even if your logo is typographically
challenging, the typeface that supports it
| | 00:38 | should be readable and accessible.
| | 00:42 | Consider the typeface's design
pedigree. Is it traditional or contemporary,
| | 00:46 | formal or informal? Who designed it
and when? And does it have any specific
| | 00:53 | connotations, either positive or negative?
| | 00:57 | In the case of the Roux Academy brand,
it's of paramount importance that the
| | 01:01 | typeface be readable and the style
guide explicitly states this, pointing out
| | 01:07 | some type usages to avoid.
| | 01:10 | Once again, most of this stuff is
common sense, but it doesn't hurt to anticipate
| | 01:15 | as many potential misuses as possible.
| | 01:17 | As well as the design
considerations that contribute to the type's
| | 01:22 | accessibility, there is also the
practical consideration of the availability of
| | 01:27 | the fonts, both within your
office and the offices of your partners
| | 01:32 | implementing your brand.
| | 01:33 | Fonts are not free and buying licenses
for typeface families can be expensive.
| | 01:40 | For this reason, the Roux Academy brand
has opted for typefaces that are already
| | 01:45 | owned by its design team, or in the case
of Arial, are installed as part of Mac
| | 01:51 | and Windows operating systems.
| | 01:52 | The use of your type should be
rolled out across all your written
| | 01:57 | communications, from a prospectus or
catalog of hundreds of pages to the humble
| | 02:03 | email signature and everything in between.
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| Using brand colors| 00:00 | In this portion of the style guide, we
want to include information about our
| | 00:04 | primary and secondary color palettes.
| | 00:07 | Because a style guide is very
rule-bound, it may seem a bit restrictive to
| | 00:11 | designers working with your materials,
| | 00:13 | so it helps to explain why
you've made the choices you have.
| | 00:17 | Most importantly, the style guides
should explicitly state the Pantone
| | 00:21 | reference numbers, the CMYK ink
percentages, the RGB values, and the
| | 00:27 | hexadecimal codes of your brand colors.
| | 00:32 | You can also include tint percentages
and advice on using a custom rich black
| | 00:36 | when applying black to solid areas.
| | 00:40 | As a courtesy to those using your style
guide and to ensure there is no margin
| | 00:44 | of error in the use of your brand
colors, you can include a link to color
| | 00:48 | palettes in the Adobe
Swatch Exchange, or ASE, format.
| | 00:52 | These color palettes can easily be
loaded into the Swatches panels of InDesign,
| | 00:59 | Illustrator, and Photoshop.
| | 01:03 | So here I am, in InDesign, where I will
open a new document. And on my Swatches
| | 01:09 | Panel, first thing I'll do is select
all unused and then delete the default
| | 01:14 | color swatches, return to the Swatches
panel, and load the color swatches of the
| | 01:21 | brand. In this case, I'm going to go
to the Exercise Files folder/roux colors
| | 01:26 | and they are in the ASE, or
Adobe Swatch Exchange, format.
| | 01:30 | And then we have the
predefined color swatches for the brand.
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| Working with images| 00:00 | The kind of images you choose and how you use
them is an essential part of your brand's style.
| | 00:06 | Does your brand favor
illustration over photography?
| | 00:09 | And if so, is there a
particular style of illustration?
| | 00:13 | In this section, you can address broad
concerns, such as a preference for images
| | 00:17 | of people doing things, engaged with
the camera as well as smaller details
| | 00:22 | like a requirement that images be placed in
frames with a rounded corner, for example.
| | 00:28 | You can also mention image treatments
to avoid, such as drop shadows or beveled
| | 00:32 | edges, if you feel they are
odds with your brand's aesthetic.
| | 00:37 | If the style guide will be used by
an internal design team, you can, if
| | 00:41 | appropriate, include details on how to
access an image library or online stock
| | 00:46 | photo library to which
the company is subscribed.
| | 00:50 | In addition to the aesthetic considerations,
you should also include the required
| | 00:54 | technical spec of the images, the
minimum image resolution, acceptable color
| | 01:00 | modes, and appropriate file types.
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ConclusionNext steps| 00:00 | So that brings us to the end of this course.
| | 00:02 | I hope you found it useful.
| | 00:04 | I'd like to recommend some other
courses that relate to this one and that
| | 00:08 | you might find useful.
| | 00:10 | The first is Brand Building
Basics, with Lorrie Thomas Ross.
| | 00:14 | If you're interested in making your
own interactive PDF, then I highly
| | 00:19 | recommend InDesign CS6:
Interactive Documents, with Mike Rankin.
| | 00:24 | And then there are two courses authored by me:
Designing a Logo and Designing a Business Card.
| | 00:33 | I'd also like to recommend this book,
Designing Brand Identity, by Alina Wheeler.
| | 00:39 | So, good luck with developing your
own style guide, and thanks for watching.
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