A brand manual is a crucial tool for documenting brand assets and how to use them. Without proper documentation and clear guidelines a visual identity can quickly become incoherent and messy.

 

However, I think a good brand manual goes beyond merely describing how to use visual assets. Ideally I see a brand manual as part of every employees onboarding material, describing the company identity, values, tone of voice and key strategic goals.

 

When used right the brand manual is a powerful internal document that strengthens identity and focus fosters a unified direction of ideas within the company.