Brief 1 // imprint // Brand Guidelines

After researching into brand guidelines and looking at the style of some guidelines out there I have started to design the guidelines for imprint. I took the same design system for the layout of each page which i used in the branding, this will make it consistent across the board of all products.

Breakdown of publication

To show the guidelines better and explain certain elements of the publication, I have chosen some selected pages within it to explain and talk about the design more.

The contents page is a good example of showing how the column guide has worked throughout the publication. The information is set to the columns and give the page a well structured style which is needed for the contents page. 

All the section title pages are designed in this same style. The header is placed within the brand pattern. To get the pattern i duplicated the already created pattern and then deleted triangles from the pattern to make it more wider spread. I think this works well for the section header as it is very colourful and brings out the brand colours within the publication. 

The logo pages follow this same structure, there is information which explains about the logo and why it is designed in that particular way, with the logo in the lower two thirds of the publication page. These offset each other well create a balanced page design which has a lot of white space leaving the logo being the main attention of the page design. 

Other elements within this section include the exclusion zone. This is the minimum area that should be left around the logo. I had to create this diagram for the publication and again it was placed within the bottom two thirds of the publication page. 

Colour changes within the logo are not allowed, they must be kept within the brand colours. This page illustrates this element to the brand, with the same structure to the page layout, it is consistent within the design but communicates a different element of the brand. 

The typeface of the brand is very important and should only be used for the brand, this page explains the uses of the typeface. Keeping the page in the same design layout, the publication is consistent throughout.

Colour palettes for the brand, with a breakdown of the CMYK, RGB and HEX code. This makes sure that the brand colours will always be correct and used right. 

The brand pattern is another element of the brand which brings it to life and makes it more colourful on printed material. This page shows the pattern and the use of it. With the pattern being shown in solid colours of the two separate brand colours and then the mix of them it shows how the pattern can be applied in different ways. 

The final section of the guidelines is the application section. This shows how the brand is applied to various products and what it should look like. The printed material is shown first with the letterhead, compliment slip and business card. This shows how the brand should be applied over a range of different formats within the branding stationary. 

The way in which the logo should be used is another important factor to the brand. Here it is shown how the monogram should be used on a book published my imprint. The logo should be present on the spine and can also be located on the front cover too. Explaining these elements and actually providing a diagram to illustrate this should improve the brand application by users, as they can physically see how it should be. 

Finally at the end of the guidelines there is the contact information. This is simply to contact the publishing company and to get in touch for working with the company too. The image is related to the company and implies that your book could be on the bookshelf if published by imprint.