Definition
A comprehensive document dictating exactly how a brand should be presented, from logo placement to approved adjectives. It's the brand police manual ensuring global consistency while crushing the creativity of anyone who dares color outside the lines.
Example Usage
According to brand guidelines, the logo must have 50 pixels of clear space on all sides and can only appear on these seventeen approved background colors.
Origin
Corporate branding practices from the mid-20th century, formalized with design systems
Fun Fact
Some brand guidelines are hundreds of pages long—NASA's Graphics Standards Manual was 60 pages in 1976 and has become a design collector's item worth thousands of dollars.
Source: Brand management and corporate identity standards
Related Terms
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