We have recently finished another project for More Rooms Limited (MRL), an interior design company working in the North West. We have previously worked with MRL on creating their brand identity and website, so we’re very happy to be working with them again on creating their brand guidelines.
Challenges
Brand guidelines are integral in creating a consistent and cohesive brand. They describe and detail the font, size, brand colour, logo dimensions and all aspects of communication layouts.
The brand’s set of values, its essence, are visually materialised not just through the logo but through all the collateral material used to communicate the brand through the website, printed communications and through the images, MRL uses to communicate its personality.
If brand guidelines are not clearly presented it is easy for logos or company colours to be slightly changed over time. Although the customer may not notice a very slight change from one communication to another, but after few slight changes here and there, the brand can be unrecognisable and brand loyalty would be lost.
Mass advertising can help build brands, but authenticity is what makes them last.
Solution
In order to achieve a consistent brand, a set of brand guidelines work as a ‘manual of use’ of the brand, where the logo usage, the corporate colours, the fonts, the styling for printed and digital communications are clearly defined and where its uses are explained. They effectively work as a “how to” guide to using, and presenting the brand.
The main benefit of creating the brand guidelines for MRL, as well as to any other brand, is to ensure that the brand is used consistently across all communications. It can happen that, in the future, some design material is delegated to third parties, and that’s when the brand guidelines take action. They ensure that the brand is used according to its brand specialist, defined from the beginning.
In order to create the brand guidelines for MRL, we analysed the company’s values and personality. After the analysis phase, the elements of the brand were identified and systematised. This was communicated by creating a document with different sections to explain the use of the different elements of the brand.
Each brand guidelines manual is as unique, as the brands are all different. The fonts use for one brand varies from another, it’s not just about choosing a serif or sans-serif font, but about identifying why to use one and not the other. A brand’s personality relies on each of these elements, they all work together to create the brand image.
Results
MRL were very pleased with how the guidelines were presented and explained. It helped them to really understand why the different elements of their brand look like they do and the importance of each of those elements. We looked forward to working with More Rooms Limited on future projects.
