What are brand guides?

Brand guides can be described as a set of rules that must be followed when working with any particular brand. They’re established by the brand designers and are very often quite specific in detail. Brand guides outline such things as acceptable colors to use, any type requirements that are associated with the brand, as well as details regarding orientation rules given for various elements of the brand. The object is to ensure that the hard work that was put in to develop the brand isn’t altered or destroyed by incorrect representation.

Applying brand guides to a website

Brand guides are sometimes narrow in scope in that the only elements taken into consideration could be a company logo as well as the company name. There could be only a few rules regarding their use, but sometimes the details can be quite extensive.

Style sheets are, in their own way, a version of a brand guide. When you write CSS, you’re giving very specific rules as to how something will display visually. It could be helpful to take things a step further. When you’re putting a site together, sometimes it’s nice to have a comprehensive view of what is available to you.

To be more specific, it could be beneficial to put together a private document that is a cumulative display of your style sheet. Not only would it provide a look at the overall design of the website, it could incorporate each element as well. Headings, lists, links, and any other elements that will be used throughout the site can be put on display to let you know exactly what it is you’re working with.

Collaboration can be much more productive

Personally, I think that the greatest benefit that can come from a Web branding style guide is apparent during collaboration. Each and every designer and developer will envision the end result of a document in a slightly different way, even when admiring the exact same comp or mock.

If a branding guide is provided for the website, a more comprehensive view can be attained that can help the brand to stay consistent in each document throughout the website. Collaboration is very common in Web design and development, and I think anything you can do to help out your fellow coworkers will not only help your company, but your clients as well.

What to include in a Web branding style guide

A Web branding style guide should be as detailed as you see fit. In my opinion, the more detail you have the ability to provide the better. Beyond adding examples of various design elements, there are a few other things you can choose to include as well. If circumstances allow, you can include examples of alternate cases in which some other class or id will be used. Beyond that, you can also include some notes of your own using the styles you’re putting on display. If it should be explained when certain ids or classes should be used, it would be helpful to include that information there.

It’s about keeping things constant

There are many things you can include in a Web branding style guide, but the goal to keep in mind is making your life easier and designing a better product. Not only could a Web branding style guide help you and your coworkers during the initial development of the website, it could come in quite handy the next year should your client request a new feature be added or a section of their website be updated.

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Defining objectives with site planning guides

There are many processes and techniques which a company can have in place to help in-house design and development. Not many involve clients directly, but site planning guides do. To put it simply, a site planning guide is a document designed to help your client think and make decisions about an upcoming project while being guided by your questions.

The idea is to have your client answer questions that will be vital in dictating the direction of initial design ideas that will coincide with any preconceived wishes the client has. Beyond having some control concerning a design direction, you’re also able to ask questions that will help you determine what aspects of development will be involved.

In my personal experience, site planning guides are distributed to clients during the initial discussions of the project in order to ensure that both the company and the client share the same notes and everything is clear. Having the details on the table allows the company to have an accurate quote for the project as well as a very comprehensive contract that both sides should be pleased with in the end.

What questions to ask

The questions presented in your site planning guide should be at least partially specific to your client, the project, and your established process. The questions can be worded in a way which help you to get the technical answers you’re seeking while allowing your client to answer in their own words. Some general topics that can be touched upon could be:

Company Information

Establishing official information on your client is essential for a successful project. Coming up with a primary contact for the company can be beneficial as well. Requesting a primary contact lets your client know that you’d like to have a single person to primarily communicate with regarding any project details, changes, or general communication.

Project Goals

Knowing what your client aims to get out of a project will help to ensure that the work you’re doing is on track. If the project starts changing direction, you’ll have reference materials to help keep things in line.

Competitive Analysis

Your clients will know more about their competition than you simply due to the nature of business. Getting an impression of competition from clients can give you insight into how exactly they would like to stand out from their crowd. It will also help to see what your client feels is positive in their industry.

Internal Analysis

Knowing what your client likes and dislikes about their current state will help you to know what to focus on with your new and improved design. If your client hates blue because “everybody uses blue”, you’ll know that your mocks will be using anything but. If the only thing your client wants is “whatever this Web 2.0 thing is”, then you know just what to do.

Feature Requests

If your client has any hidden requests up their sleeve that will radically skew both the quote and the budget, it’s best to find out about it as soon as possible before any final plans are laid.

Of course there are other questions that can (and should) be asked in a site planning guide. The thing to keep in mind is your objective: to improve your process.

Keep it under constant revision

Documents such as a site planning guide can always be left open for improvement. Over time, you’ll be able to compare and contrast questions that work well for you and questions that just take up space. A site planning guide should be under constant revision in order to keep it as targeted as possible. Keeping your site planning guide sharp will not only help your design process, it can be improved for your clients as well.

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