Getting a brandbook created:
The importance of a corporate identity handbook for your brand

A brand book, also known as a corporate identity manual, is a document that establishes a brand's visual and communication guidelines. This document includes:

• Logo use: How and when the logo may be used.
• Color palette: The primary and secondary colors of the brand.
• Typography: The fonts to be used consistently.
• Imagery: Guidelines for photography and illustrations.
• Tone of voice: The writing style and tone of voice of the brand.
• Social media guidelines: How the brand presents itself on various social platforms, including content style, hashtags and visual elements.

The cost of having a brandbook created varies depending on the complexity and expertise of the branding specialist or design firm. You will pay less for a basic brand book with the essential guidelines than for a comprehensive handbook with in-depth brand strategy and visual guidelines.

If your company is embarking on a new direction or needs a fresh look, a brand book plays a crucial role in the rebranding process. It helps ensure a smooth transition by providing clear guidelines for the new visual and communication style. This prevents customer and employee confusion and ensures that the new branding is applied consistently across all communications.

When creating a brand book, companies sometimes go awry by:

• Too little detail: A brand book should provide sufficient guidelines to ensure consistency.
• Don't make updates: Brands evolve, and a brandbook must change with them.
• Overly rigid guidelines: Creativity must remain possible within the framework of the corporate identity.

For a brand book to be effective, it must be implemented properly. Some ways to ensure this:

• Training and workshops: Teach employees how to apply the guidelines correctly.
• Internal communication: Share the brandbook with the entire team and make it accessible.
• Tools and templates: Make it easier by offering ready-made templates for presentations, social media and documents.
• Monitoring and Adjustment: Regularly monitor compliance with guidelines and make adjustments as needed.

A consistent brand name and tone of voice reinforce your authority and recognition, making search engines find your brand more relevant. Clear content guidelines help optimize blogs and Web pages for search engines. In addition, a cohesive visual identity - with consistent images and colors - creates a better user experience, increased engagement and more interaction, which indirectly improves your search ranking.

A strong brand is built around a compelling story, and storytelling plays an important role in creating emotional connections with the target audience. A home style manual supports this process by sharing the brand history, highlighting the brand's origins and key drivers. It also focuses on the brand's core values, which form the basis of communication and how they are expressed. Finally, visual storytelling plays a key role, with images and design reinforcing the brand identity and visually supporting the story.

It's the perfect time to take a critical look at your website. After developing new brand guidelines, it is essential to ensure that your website is seamlessly consistent with the updated style. This means adjusting not only the visual elements such as colors, typography and imagery, but also optimizing the overall user experience and navigation to ensure consistency in branding. The goal is to create an online presence that is not only visually appealing, but also fully reflects the brand identity and provides a smooth experience for your visitors.