brand-guidelines-composer

Brand Guidelines Composer

A brand guidelines document consolidates everything the brand has decided into a single reference. Most brand guidelines fail in one of two ways: they're too thin (a one-pager that doesn't actually constrain anything), or too bloated (a 90-page tome nobody opens after launch).

This skill chooses the right level of detail for the brand's actual context, structures the content so it's findable, and assembles it for the right output format (docx, pdf, web-published, or a Notion/Confluence page).

Pair with [[brand-strategist]], [[brand-naming]], [[brand-identity-system]], [[brand-voice-tone]] for the source material; [[design-document]] for the design system; [[docx]] / [[pdf]] for execution.

When to use this skill

• Producing a brand guidelines document for a launching brand.
• Updating brand guidelines after a refresh.
• Auditing existing guidelines for completeness.
• Creating internal-only vs. external-publish versions.
• Re-formatting guidelines from one output (Word) to another (web-published).

What this skill is NOT

• Not the strategy / naming / voice / identity skills. Those produce the content; this skill assembles it.
• Not the document-design skill — see [[design-document]] for the visual layout.
• Not the file-execution skill — docx and pdf skills generate the files.

The standard structure

When asked to produce brand guidelines, default to this 9-chapter structure. Adjust depth per scale (one-pager vs. enterprise tome).

1. Brand foundation

• Mission, vision, values — one paragraph each, plain English.
• Personality and voice attributes (preview of voice chapter).
• Audiences — who we serve, with specifics.
• Positioning summary — pulled from [[brand-strategist]] output.

2. Verbal identity

• Tagline / positioning statement.
• Voice — 4 attributes with do/don't pairs (full content from [[brand-voice-tone]]).
• Tone register — situation-to-tone matrix.
• Naming conventions — for products and features.
• Glossary of terms we use / avoid.
• Filler-words ban list — specific to this brand.

3. Logo

• Primary mark — full color, monochrome, knockout.
• Lockups — logo + tagline, vertical, horizontal.
• Monogram / favicon — the small-size variant.
• Clearspace — minimum margin around the mark.
• Minimum size — smallest acceptable usage.
• On-light / on-dark / on-color rules.
• Misuse examples — show what's banned (don't stretch, don't recolor, don't add effects, don't crop).

4. Color

• Primary palette — semantic naming, HEX, RGB, HSL.
• Secondary palette.
• Neutrals — surface and text.
• Functional palette — success, warning, error, info.
• Tokens and contrast pairings — WCAG AA / AAA verified.
• Dark-mode rules — separate values where needed.

5. Typography

• Display, text, mono families.
• Type scale — modular, with px and line-height per step.
• Pairing and weight rules — which face to use where.
• License coverage — what use cases are licensed.
• Fallback stacks for digital surfaces.

6. Imagery and illustration

• Photography direction — subject, lighting, composition, palette, treatment, style.
• Do/don't mood references.
• Illustration style — if commissioned.
• Iconography style — family, stroke weight, fill rule, sizing.

7. Motion (if applicable)

• Easing curves — custom defaults.
• Duration scale.
• Reduced-motion behavior.
• See [[motion-and-transitions]] for the full motion-system reference.

8. Applications

Per surface, show how the brand applies:

• Web (with screenshots / spec).
• Mobile (with screenshots / spec).
• Deck templates (16:9 master slides — see [[surface-deck-16x9]]).
• Document templates (8.5×11 — see [[surface-document-letter]]).
• Social (LinkedIn / Instagram — see [[surface-social-linkedin]] and [[surface-social-instagram]]).
• Email (signature, header, footer).
• Swag and environmental (if applicable).

9. Governance

• Who owns the brand? (specific role / team).
• How to request approvals?
• Where do brand assets live? (Figma library, internal SharePoint, brand portal).
• How to flag brand drift?
• Refresh cadence — when does the brand get re-audited?

Sizing the guidelines to the brand

One-pager (small / scrappy brand)

A single page covering:

• 3-attribute voice + 1 tagline.
• Logo + 3 colors + 2 fonts.
• One "do this not that" example.
• One contact for questions.

Use when: small startup, internal-only brand, fast turnaround. Don't over-engineer.

Standard (most B2B brands)

6–12 pages or screens covering all 9 chapters at moderate depth.

Use when: small-to-mid companies, internal use plus partner/agency reference.

Enterprise (large brand, multi-product)

30–60 pages or a full web-published brand portal. Each chapter at full depth, with template files and asset downloads.

Use when: enterprise organization, multiple sub-brands, broad agency network, regulatory requirements.

Format selection

Format	When
PDF (8.5×11 or A4)	Default for distribution. Use [[design-document]] + [[pdf]] skill for production.
Web-published (HTML / Notion / Confluence / brand portal)	Living document. Easier to update. Use when the brand will evolve.
Figma file	Designer-facing companion to the document. Always paired with one of the above.
Mixed	Web for living rules, PDF for partner/agency distribution, Figma for design execution. Most enterprise brands.

Authoring workflow

When asked to compose brand guidelines:

1. Inventory inputs. What's done? What's missing?
   • Strategy from [[brand-strategist]]?
   • Naming from [[brand-naming]]?
   • Voice from [[brand-voice-tone]]?
   • Identity system from [[brand-identity-system]]?
   • Photography / illustration direction?
2. Fill gaps. If anything is missing, route back to the relevant skill. Don't compose guidelines around incomplete content.
3. Pick scale — one-pager / standard / enterprise — based on brand context and team size.
4. Pick format — PDF / web / mixed.
5. Outline the document following the standard 9-chapter structure (or adapted version for one-pager).
6. Compose each chapter by lifting content from the source skills. Don't rewrite from scratch — reference the source content.
7. Add governance. Brand decisions need an owner. Document who.
8. Hand off to design execution — [[design-document]] for visual layout, [[docx]] / [[pdf]] for file generation, or web-publish workflow for living docs.
9. Review with the brand owner before publishing.

Common guidelines failure modes

Failure	Symptom	Fix
Tome that nobody reads	90-page enterprise guidelines, never consulted	Right-size to brand context; add a 1-page summary at front
One-pager that doesn't constrain	Single page with 5 colors and a logo; doesn't answer real questions	Add do/don't examples, ban lists, application examples
Vague voice section	"Bold. Friendly. Modern." with no examples	Route to [[brand-voice-tone]]; rebuild with attributes + do/don't pairs
No governance	Document doesn't say who owns the brand	Add governance chapter with named owner
Outdated colors / type	Guidelines reference brand assets that have evolved	Audit and update; or move to web-published format for living updates
Missing application examples	Logo and colors documented, but no surface-specific application shown	Add Applications chapter with screenshots / spec
No motion guidelines	Brand has digital surfaces but no motion direction	Add motion chapter; route to [[motion-and-transitions]]
Inconsistent file structure	PDF guidelines, but design assets scattered across email and Slack	Centralize asset storage; document location in governance
No dark-mode rules	Brand has digital surfaces but only light-mode color values documented	Add dark-mode rules to color chapter

Hand-offs

• [[brand-strategist]], [[brand-naming]], [[brand-voice-tone]], [[brand-identity-system]] — source content.
• [[design-document]] — for visual layout of PDF/Word guidelines.
• docx and pdf skills — for file generation.
• [[design-imagery]] — for photography direction within guidelines.
• [[design-iconography]] — for icon family documentation within guidelines.
• consulting-humanize — for cleanup of guidelines prose.

Constraints

• Don't compose guidelines around incomplete content. Fill source gaps first.
• Don't bloat one-pager brands into enterprise tomes — over-engineering wastes the team's time.
• Don't skip governance. A brand without an owner drifts.
• Don't reference brand assets without documenting where they live.
• Don't produce guidelines without surface-specific application examples.
• Don't ship guidelines with a "Bold. Friendly. Modern." voice section. Voice needs do/don't pairs.
• For Slalom client work, brand guidelines often go through Slalom's IP team for legal review — coordinate the path before publishing externally.