Brand Guidelines in the traditional sense are a fairly major document which include instructions on how to properly use your brand, these can include the various versions of the logo, what your corporate colours are, what fonts should be used and even give information on what tone of voice or style of imagery can be taken.
These kind of guidelines are expensive to produce and are really only necessary if you are a larger organisation. They are very useful if you are going to send your logo to strategic connections, franchisees or other agencies and want to control how your logo is used and how the brand looks.
However even in a small company brand identity is very important. It is how your customers recognise your organisation and it should uphold your values, so although you may not need an 80 page document it is useful to have:
- Your logo in various formats, including a version that can be used on a coloured background
- The colour references used in your logo, ideally in CMYK and RGB, but Web Safe Colours are useful too (click here to read more about colour formats)
- The font or fonts that your logo uses
These items give you the ability to use your logo in a consistent manner in your ongoing marketing. Your designer should be able to give you these details with no problem.