Sunday, June 5, 2011

What is brand-book?

Brand-book is a vital tool for identifying the brand and is the peak of corporate identity.

Brand is a clear identification of your product or your company which is well thought-out.
What is a brand-book for? How does it differ from the complex of corporate identity?


Corporate identity is a set of elements and the number of these elements may differ very much- from four or five in the design of "small package" of corporate identity to hundreds when developing more complicated complex. But still this is just set, more or less complete.
Brand-book is a set of visual corporate standards and regulations, instructions for practical use of corporate identity in the daily work of the company. Which combinations, for example, fonts or colors are permissible in certain situations? How should firm printing products and various promotional materials look and be made up? What specific elements should be used in design of offices of companies, in promotional materials and in exhibition stands? Literate answers to all these questions can only be found in a brand-beech and nowhere else.
So instructions, set of standards and regulations - that's the essence of a brand-book.
Where and when to use?

First of all, when various activities of the company expand, as well as the company expands geographically. Many units or affiliates produce the variety of information, structured in the printed and promotional items. In order to preserve the corporate brand it is important to maintain its main visual communication - a single corporate identity. Corporate standards and regulations should be developed, documented and clearly stated. Here is a need in brand-book. 

Components of brand-book:
1. Logo (description of a company's logo, possible options for its implementation, standards and rules for use of the logo in different situations, as well as its placement next to other logos and images).
-Dimensions (for different formats, minimum size)
-Indentation
-Major (corporate) color
-More colors
-Monochrome execution
-Inappropriate use
2. Branded font (description of the corporate font of the company and recommendations for additional options of fonts).
-Typing family (name, pattern)
-Additional font (recommendations for font options, when there is no possibility of using corporate font)
3. Business documentation (a description of standards and recommendations for registration of official documentation). Calling cards (personal, corporate) Forms (the official letterhead, orders)

Facsimile form Envelopes (S4, S5, European standard) There are also additional positions (advanced brand-book):
4. The client documentation (a description of the standards and principles of design client documentation). Proposal forms Contract forms Accounts Presentation
5. Outdoor advertising (principles of the layout of outdoor advertising materials). Billboards on highways Banners, flags Advertising signs and installation on buildings The electronic scoreboard


Advertising on transport6. Presentation Materials (recommendations for a product presentation, examples of layouts of booklets, invitations, etc.) Presentation booklets Promotional posters Invitations, cards, flyers
CD-presentation
7. Advertising in the press (options of execution of advertising in print media).
Commercials band (cover and inside band) in periodicals
Modular announcement
8. Image products (description of the general rules of design of corporate attributes and souvenirs, as well as recommendations and examples of different design (for example, notebooks, etc.)).
  • Paper and leather folders
  • The paper for notes
  • Notebooks
  • Pens, badges, key chains, watches, lighters, T-shirts, umbrellas
  • Paper and plastic bags
9. Navigation (elements of indoor and outdoor navigation and recommendations for their use).
Signboard over the central entrance
  • Street signs
  • Navigation elements inside the premises (door-plates, plate-pointers, color coding etc.)
  • Recommendations for the use of different types of navigational elements
  • Floor system of pointers
  • Ceiling mounting pointers
  • Wall system of pointers
  • Recommendations for placement of navigational elements
What to do with brand-book? The main thing is to make it.
To make it at the first steps of the firm would be better. If the start-up company is still in doubt, if markets are not defined, it is preferable to wait 1-2 years. And when the business is ready formalize it. It usually happens with the harmonization of the entire business process such as writing job descriptions, budgeting, clear distribution of functions of the company divisions. Then a brand-book can be printed for advertising and marketing divisions. They provide it to advertising manufacturers. Brand-books of a single ad campaign are very useful. It is beneficial when you need to place an enormous amount of information in different media in a short period of time and do not want to waste time on long procedures of concordance. Brand book or its absence could be viewed as a private matter of corporate culture and skills of advertising manager. While customers do not have their brand-books, the level of the printing, editorial media, manufacturers of outdoor advertising will be measured extremely conditional categories. As a result, everyone loses: advertising managers, companies, which miss an excellent tool to influence on the client. Time and money on endless adjustments and modifications of corporate identity are wasted.
Cited from :http://itb-company.com/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=45&id=24&lang=english&task=viewwww.chandrakasem.info