I am building a directory for brand guidelines

Design Resources
#1

Hey guys,

For those who might not be familiar, brand guidelines are essentially the rulebook for how a brand should look and feel. They cover everything from logos, colors, fonts, and imagery to tone and messaging. These guidelines ensure that every piece of communication stays consistent with the brand’s identity, whether it’s on a website, in an ad, or on social media.

I am building a directory called Get Brand Guidelines that gathers these brand guidelines inspirations from top brands. I created it because I noticed that while many brands share their guidelines, they’re often scattered across the web. This directory makes it easier for designers to quickly find reliable inspiration and see how different companies maintain a consistent visual identity.

I’d love to get your thoughts on it - what works, what can be improved, or any ideas to make it even more useful. Thanks for taking a look, and happy designing!

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#2

If you don’t get direct posts from the owners of the brand, I can see the potential for legal issues (though I’m NOT a lawyer.) A lot of top brands keep their brand lockups proprietary, and if you do find one randomly on the web, it may not be legitimately posted. Using a brand lockup without the permission of the owner is also a trademark violation. If the designer doesn’t have access to the actual corporate marketing people, it’s likely they don’t have permission to be using the brand/logo at all.

When working with brand guidelines a Graphic Designer’s ONLY source should be the client themselves. I do a lot of this stuff and top brand logos, logo usage rules and colors change quite often, sometimes in unobtrusively miniscule ways. If you don’t have the most up to date brand guidelines, you risk a rather expensive redo and it will be on the designer that used the wrong guides.
I do production work, and it’s my first question. “Do we all have the most current brand guide from the client.”
Because yeah, this has nearly happened more times than I can count over a nearly 30 year career. And we’ve had a few redos in that time too.
We don’t go to some random thing found on the internet. It has to be legit from the owner.

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#3

Hey @hasibhaque07, this brand guideline directory is a really helpful resource. At the moment, I can’t think of anything to improve the website - it’s simple and clear. I love that companies make their brand guidelines accessible to the public online, but it’s usually a tedious search to find them - thanks for putting this together!

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#4

@PrintDriver I totally agree that there could be legal issues when brand guidelines not meant to be available to the public are shared online. The brand guidelines shared in this directory are already made for public viewing directly by the companies - if you click on the button for each one, it takes you to the company’s brand guideline site - so they are legit. If you did a search, you’d be able to access them on your own - this guideline directory just cuts out the need to do that search. So, for this guideline directory, there shouldn’t be any legal issues involved.

In terms of having updated guidelines, if a designer was working on a project for any company, they definitely should inquire for the most up-to-date version of their brand guidelines. As for this directory, the brand guidelines are digital, so the companies can easily edit them and keep them up-to-date. But these guidelines are meant for the general public to get a better understanding of their brand and for inspiration, not to actually use them, so I don’t think them being completely up-to-date matters here.

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#6

@hasibhaque07 By the way, I found some more brand guidelines you could add to the brand guidelines directory - hope this helps!

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#7

Hey @efmgdesign, thanks so much for your kind words! That was exactly the goal to make it easier for everyone to find brand guidelines without the hassle. Glad you found it useful!

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#8

@efmgdesign That’s awesome - really appreciate you sharing! I’ll check them out and add them to the directory. Thanks for helping make this resource even better!

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#9

Someone beat you to it.

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#10

@Mojo Yes, I’m aware of this directory too - it focuses on PDF brand guidelines (though, some online ones have been added recently), so it’s great to have this new one that focuses solely on the online brand guidelines.

And just to point out from PrintDrivers’s comment above, the creator of the Branding Style Guides directory definitely has to consider potential legal issues because the PDF version isn’t usually made for public access - any PDF brand guideline submissions to the site are probably vetted for permission to be posted in the directory.

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#11

Not really sure what purpose a directory serves.

If I need the brand guidelines I just ask them.

Or search for
Company name brand guidelines

Or

Filetype: PDF Company name brand guidelines

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#12

Based on the original post, it sounds like the point of the directory is pure inspiration. It looks like @hasibhaque07 is not hosting the content rather he is linking to the company’s online brand guideline.

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#13

I don’t remember ever looking at other brands for inspiration.

I’ll ask again, what’s the point?

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#14

@Smurf2 I can’t talk for anyone else, but, for me, as a new designer, looking at other brand guidelines for inspiration is helpful in two ways.

One, brand guidelines act as a guide for creating one - to know the range of elements necessary to include based on how basic or complex a brand guideline needs to be.

Two, as the more complex ones include strategy elements, they help train my brain to understand how brand strategy and visual identity connect.

Finding available brand guidelines in a directory saves me so much time, hence the purpose for a directory.

3 Likes
#15

Brand guidelines are about rules, not creativity. They exist to maintain consistency for an established brand, not to teach designers how to create something original.

If you’re starting out, your focus should be on developing your own creative process, not following someone else’s framework. Looking at existing guidelines won’t teach you how to build a brand from scratch, it only shows the final product, not the strategic thinking behind it. That’s like trying to learn how to cook by reading restaurant menus.

Brand guidelines are deeply tied to a company’s history, values, and goals. Without understanding the reasoning behind each decision, you risk mimicking rather than learning. True inspiration comes from research, experimentation, and problem-solving, not from copying pre-existing formulas.

Design is always evolving, and many brand guidelines are outdated the moment they’re published. Instead of fixating on how a specific brand did things in the past, new designers should study fundamental design principles, psychology, and market trends.

Looking at other brands’ work is like seeing the answer to a complex equation without knowing how to solve it. Sure, you can copy the numbers, but without understanding the process, you haven’t actually learned anything. Real learning happens when you tackle the challenge yourself and define strategy, selecting colours and fonts, and crafting a unique visual identity from the ground up.

Otherwise, you’re just memorising answers instead of learning how to solve the problem.

If you’re trying to learn by looking at other brands and their guidelines you’re not learning anything. Or rather you’re learning the wrong things and only hindering yourself and your own processes.

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#16

@Smurf2 I think there is a misunderstanding here about why brand guidelines are helpful for me.

I completely agree with you - brand guidelines are rules, not creativity or to teach how to build a brand. Research, experimentation, and the problem solving process of brand identity design are crucial and part of my creative process of creating a brand identity. Looking at brand guidelines as a guide is solely to understand the elements that go into them after the branding is done - to me, it’s no different than using a brand guideline template as a guide. From a new designer’s perspective, looking at others’ frameworks is sometimes necessary - how else would I know what goes into a brand guideline?

During my studies at Shillington, my teachers encouraged us to further our learning by reading blogs, like Brand New, to train the brain towards what works and what doesn’t work in branding. I found this helpful and, because I like to diversify what I look at to get a more well-rounded understanding of branding, I started looking at other things related to branding, like the more complex brand guidelines that include strategy elements, to understand how brand strategy and visual identity align. I understand that design is always evolving and these brand guidelines are not always up-to-date, but it’s still helpful for this purpose.

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#17

I agree.

True

Also true

I agree with both of you, but it depends on how I view it.

Sometimes, designers follow corporate guidelines when working for a company with guidelines. Other times, designers create the guidelines as part of a brand development project.

In the first instance, the designer looks for the brand parameters that must be considered. The guidelines don’t provide creative inspiration; they specify boundaries and requirements.

In the second instance, creativity does play a role, but it’s never unbridled creativity. Instead, it’s the creativity involved in the complex process of analyzing and working with a company to build the visual components of a brand. When writing the guidelines and designing the guidebook, creativity is used to determine how best to communicate the brand requirements to others.

When writing and designing a brand book, a designer needs to be familiar with how others have solved their problems. This familiarity doesn’t provide a roadmap, but it does provide information. Similarly, every screenplay writer has seen hundreds of movies, and every novelist has read hundreds of books.

Seeing and reading brand books, movies, or novels doesn’t provide a formula or a behind-the-scenes look at what went into their development. However, it does spark interest and provides valuable inspiration while triggering important questions about the processes behind their creation.

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#18

I don’t really want to digress any further so I’ll leave at this and I don’t think anything will change my mind, if I’m being honest.

Reading a Stephen King novel doesn’t make you an author, just like watching a documentary on filmmaking doesn’t make you a director. Even attending a writing seminar by Stephen King wouldn’t instantly make you a writer of his calibre.

The same applies to brand guidelines, they provide information and inspiration, but they don’t teach you how to build a brand from scratch. True mastery comes from hands-on experience, working with mentors, experimenting, and refining your own creative process. Just like the best writers and filmmakers study their craft while developing their own voice, great designers don’t just follow trends they set them by understanding the strategy behind branding and making original, informed decisions.

Even Stephen King started by copying stories from comic books as a kid, but his parents pushed him to write his own. He studied writing in college, had mentors, and attended workshops to refine his craft, worked at newspapers, wrote short stories for newspapers etc.

All I’m saying is don’t skip over the hard part to get to the easy part, everyone can do the easy part, it’s the hard part that’s hard.

You can give me the fonts, the colours, the logo, the images, and I can put together a lovely brandbook for you. But getting to all those micropoints of what the brand is is the hard part.

Don’t skip over things and take shortcuts.

#19

Hey @Smurf2 , I completely understand your perspective, and I appreciate the depth of thought you’ve put into it. However, I think there’s a slight misunderstanding of what this directory aims to do.

This platform is purely for inspiration—a place where designers, especially those new to crafting brand guidelines, can see how established brands structure theirs. It’s not a shortcut, and it’s certainly not a replacement for the hard work that goes into branding. Just like you mentioned, brand guidelines provide information and inspiration, not a step-by-step formula to create a successful brand.

Think about it this way—nobody tells a child to start speaking the day they’re born. They observe, listen, and learn before they start forming words and sentences. Similarly, designers study existing brand guidelines to understand structure, essential elements, and presentation before they develop their own approach.

Nobody is skipping the hard part. Nobody is taking shortcuts. Designers still have to use their creativity, strategy, and understanding of branding principles to create something unique. This directory is simply a resource for those who want to explore how major brands define their identity.

And finally, since you seem to be passionate about setting trends—would love to see some of your work! Have you set any design trends? We’d love to get inspired by a designer like you.

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#20

I didn’t really want to delve into this again but here I go

I appreciate the response, but I want to make one thing clear, there’s no misunderstanding on my part. I fully understand what this directory aims to do, which is exactly why I questioned its usefulness in the first place,and let me be clear - I asked the question and replied to the answer I got, that’s the depth of my answers so far.

Let me go at this again from your perspective.

You say this is a platform for inspiration, but inspiration from current brand guidelines is not as valuable as it’s made out to be. Looking at finished brand books won’t teach a designer the why behind the decisions, only the what. If someone wants to truly understand branding, they’re better off studying strategy, psychology, and design principles rather than just browsing polished outcomes.

Your analogy about learning to speak doesn’t quite fit. Kids don’t just observe language; they experience trial and error, receive correction, and build understanding through interaction. They fail their way into fluency. That’s what real learning looks like. Designers don’t develop their skills by passively looking at finished brand books; they do it by building brands themselves, testing their ideas, and refining them through real-world experience.

Nobody becomes a great writer by copying Hemingway’s manuscripts, and nobody becomes a great designer by collecting PDFs of established brands’ guidelines. At best, this directory shows the surface of branding, it doesn’t teach the thinking behind it.

And as for whether I’ve set any design trends, what does that have to do with anything? This isn’t about me. It’s about the larger issue of how designers develop real expertise. Following trends is easy. Setting trends comes from deep understanding and originality.

Also

I can see how having a directory of brand guidelines could be useful in certain contexts. For example, it’s a great reference for designers working within an established brand who need to ensure consistency. It can also be helpful for marketers, content creators, and even clients who need to understand how branding elements should be applied across different mediums.

Additionally, for those learning how to document a brand identity, rather than create one, this kind of resource provides a solid framework.

Writing clear, effective brand guidelines is a skill in itself, and seeing how major brands present their guidelines can offer insight into structuring information, defining usage rules, and communicating a brand’s essence in a way that’s accessible to teams and stakeholders - and also designers, beginners to seasoned pros.

So while I maintain that studying guidelines isn’t the same as learning how to build a brand, I do see value in having a well-organised directory as a practical resource for specific applications.