Brand Style Guide for a Small Business (With a Template)

The structure and template on this page are our view from building websites and print material for small businesses. Two outside references, both checked on 13 November 2026: the USPTO's page What is a trademark? for the TM and ® symbols, and the NASA Brand Center as a public example of brand guidelines written for outside suppliers.

What a brand style guide is for

A small business rarely makes everything in house. A printer does the van and the flyers, a freelancer builds the website, a staff member posts on social media, and a new designer arrives two years later. Without a written guide, each of them guesses, and the logo slowly gets stretched, recoloured and retyped.

The guide does not need to be a thick book. The NASA Brand Center, for example, offers "Guidelines, best practices, and resources for partners, brands and vendors working with NASA" and says its guidelines cover "logo usage, merchandising requests, media usage, and advertising requests." A small business needs the same idea at a much smaller scale: one or two pages that answer the questions suppliers ask every time.

What goes in it

Keep each part short, and show rather than describe: a picture of the logo used wrongly saves a paragraph of rules.

• Logo use: which version to use where (full logo, symbol only, one colour), the clear space to leave around it, the smallest size it stays readable at, and a few examples of what not to do: stretched, recoloured, on a busy photo, with effects added. The file types and versions a website needs are covered in our guide to logo files and brand assets.
• Trademark symbols: if you use one, say when. The USPTO explains that you can use TM for goods or SM for services "even if you haven't filed an application to register your trademark", and that the ® symbol is only for marks registered with it: "Once you register your trademark with us, use an ® with the trademark." Ask a trademark lawyer if you are unsure which applies to you.
• Colours: each brand colour as exact codes (hex for screens, plus the print values your printer gives you), with a note on which is the main colour and which are accents. Whether a colour is readable as text on a website is a separate check, explained in the brand colours and contrast section of that guide.
• Type: the font names for headings and body text, a fallback for email and documents where the brand font is not installed, and where the licence is kept. Font licences for web use are covered in the fonts and licences section.
• Imagery: what your photos look like (real staff and premises or stock, natural light or studio, people or products), two or three good examples, and a note on what to avoid. Who owns a photo and whether you may use it is a separate question; see photos on your website: your own, stock and licences.
• Voice: how the business sounds in writing, in three or four traits with an example of each. If you already have voice guidelines, link to them rather than copying them in; our guide to brand voice guidelines has its own one-page template.
• Examples: two or three real pieces that got it right, such as a business card, a social post and the website header. People copy examples more reliably than they follow rules.
• Contact: who approves new material and where to get the files.

A one-page template

Copy this into a document, fill in each line, and add pictures where it says so. If a line does not apply yet, leave it out rather than inventing an answer.

1. Business name and how to write it: exact spelling, capitals, and whether Ltd, LLC or a short form is used.
2. Tagline, if you have one: the exact wording and punctuation, and whether it may appear without the logo (see slogan and tagline ideas).
3. One-line description: what you do and for whom. If you have a mission statement, use it here; see how to write a mission statement.
4. Logo: picture of each version, when to use each, clear space, minimum size, and three pictures of what not to do.
5. Colours: a swatch for each colour with its hex code and print values, marked main or accent.
6. Fonts: heading font, body font, fallback font, licence location.
7. Photos and graphics: three example photos, a sentence on the style, and what to avoid.
8. Voice: three traits with one example sentence each, or a link to your voice guidelines.
9. Examples: pictures of two or three finished pieces.
10. Files and contact: the link to the shared folder, and the name of the person who signs off new work.
11. Version and date: so everyone can tell whether they have the current one.

Export it as a PDF for suppliers, and keep the editable version next to the brand files.

Who uses it

• Staff: anyone who writes emails, posts on social media, makes a price list or sets up a slide deck. For them the voice and examples parts matter most.
• Printers and sign makers: they need the print colour values, vector logo files and clear space rules. Send the guide with every new order.
• Agencies and web developers: they need everything, plus the screen colours, fonts and logo versions for the site. A guide at the start of a project saves several rounds of questions; our website content checklist lists the other things to gather.
• Freelancers and partners: anyone who puts your name on their work, such as a photographer, an event partner or a supplier listing you as a stockist. Tell them who to ask before anything is published.

Where to keep it

Keep the guide in the same shared folder as the logo files, fonts and photo licences, in an account the business owns rather than a former employee's or a supplier's. Give the PDF a plain name with a date, such as brand-style-guide-2026-11.pdf, and send the folder link instead of attachments, so people always get the current version.

Review it when something changes: a new logo, a new service, a new photo shoot. When you update it, change the version date and tell the people above, so an old copy does not keep circulating.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a brand style guide and brand guidelines?

Usually nothing; the terms are used for the same document. Some businesses use "style guide" for the visual rules and "brand guidelines" for a longer document that also covers voice, values and positioning. What matters is that suppliers can find the logo, colour, font and voice rules in one place.

How long should a small business brand style guide be?

One or two pages is enough for most small businesses. Add pages only when people keep asking the same question, such as how to lay out a social post or a sign.

Do I need a designer to make a brand style guide?

Not to write it. You can fill in the template above yourself if you have the logo files and colour codes. A designer helps when the logo itself needs work, or when you want examples of layouts made for you.

Want a website, logo files and style guide that all match? See our services.