Free: Assessment Does your website build trust with buyers and bring in revenue?

Score My Website
Close

Free: Assessment

Does your website build trust with buyers and bring in revenue?
Take this free 6 question assessment and learn how your website can start living up to its potential.
Score My Website
Liz Murphy

By Liz Murphy

Jan 30, 2015

Topics:

Web Design Branding
Web Design  |   Branding

Brand Guide vs. Style Guide: What’s the Difference?

Liz Murphy

By Liz Murphy

Jan 30, 2015

Brand Guide vs. Style Guide: What’s the Difference?

If you’ve ever contemplated rebranding (or maybe even building a brand for the first time) you have probably been all over Google, trying to get the best advice on where to start. It makes you wonder: who’s right and who’s wrong? How do we spot the experts from the fakes?

Long story short, when comparing brand guide vs. style guide, there is no difference. It’s all simply a matter of preference.

All over the wide world of the internet, you’ll see that everyone tends to use two terms – ”brand guide” and “style guide” – interchangeably. Rest assured, everyone is talking about the same thing, they’re just using different titles.

Not the answer you were expecting? I know it’s a bit anticlimactic. 

But before you move onto the next part of your busy day, I want to explain how I use the name “brand style guide” to combine these two terms into a whole, and further break down what a brand style guide truly encompasses, and how it figures into your overall brand messaging strategy.

Defining Brand Style Guide

Your brand is what your customers and audience think of when they hear your company’s name or see your logo. It’s what you represent and who you are as a company. It’s both the voice and the tone within the content you create, and it can be experienced through all the work that you produce.

A brand style guide, therefore, captures your brand and makes it both understandable and replicable.

Well-defined and well-maintained brand style guides allow you to present your brand clearly and to establish trust with your audience, all while ensuring that, internally, everyone you work with is on the same page regarding your brand. 

When a brand style guide is in place, every single person in your company should understand both what the brand is, as well as how to implement it in the work they do.

A thorough brand style guide has two, equally important halves: visual and content.

 brand-guide-vs-style-guide.jpg

Brand Style Guide = Visual Style Guide + Content Style Guide

A visual style guide shows how all content should be designed, while a content style guide controls how the copy and text within the design is developed.

Both work together to perfect the whole. So really, content style guide gives us clear instructions on how to frame and construct the product we want to present to our audience. A visual style guide shows us how to paint the product and make it presentable and worthy of our prospects’ time.

In the marketing world, neither content nor visuals are much without the other. The term “brand style guide” encompasses this unity of visual and content guidelines.

What Does This Mean for You?

What you call your brand style guide is ultimately your choice.

However, be sure you clearly define what it means as a term and as a guide for your employees and partners, so that everyone is on the same page as to its definition and purpose. Thorough and beneficial brand style guides will include clear rules around how your content creators ought to be both writing and designing your marketing and sales materials.

Color, typography, tone and voice are pieces of the brand whole, and all of these brand elements define who you are to your audience. Use a brand style guide to keep this message defined and consistent across all that your company does.

Free: Assessment

Does your website build trust with buyers and bring in revenue?
Take this free 6 question assessment and learn how your website can start living up to its potential.

Related Articles

Can I Use AI Tools To Build My New Website?

September 18, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

What Is a 'Learning Center' and Why Does My Website Need One?

September 14, 2023
John Becker John Becker

How Much Does a Website Redesign Cost in 2023?

July 20, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Do You Need a New Website? Maybe Not

July 19, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

14 Award-Winning Website Designs (& What They Did Right)

July 17, 2023
Christine Austin Christine Austin

What a New Self-Selection Tool for Your Website Will Cost

July 13, 2023
John Becker John Becker

9 Self-Selection Tools to Inspire Your Business Website

July 10, 2023
John Becker John Becker

Website Conversions in 2023 — STOP, START, KEEP

January 25, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

8 of the Best Business Website Designs to Inspire You in 2023

November 17, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

What Does a Great Inbound Marketing Website Look Like in 2023?

November 14, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

Your 2023 Website Strategy Must Include These 6 Things

November 4, 2022
Mary Brown Mary Brown

4 Ways To Recession-proof Your Website In 2023

November 1, 2022
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

Website Mastery: A better redesign process for your business website

November 1, 2022
John Becker John Becker

8 Best Content Management Systems for Digital Marketing in 2023

October 1, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

12 Essential Tips for Improving Your Web Design in 2023

September 13, 2022
Christine Austin Christine Austin

23 of the Best Examples of Business Blog Design

May 30, 2022
Christine Austin Christine Austin

5 Prep Secrets for a Smoother, More Successful Website Project Plan (+ Infographic)

May 16, 2022
John Becker John Becker

Website Redesign Checklist: The 12 Crucial Steps You Need To Be Successful

February 22, 2022
Joe Rinaldi Joe Rinaldi

11 Pricing Page Examples for Business Websites (Updated for 2023)

January 18, 2022
Liz Murphy Liz Murphy

8 Crucial Elements Every Homepage Design Should Have

January 15, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

What Makes a Good Website Design? 7 Award-Winning Examples To Be Inspired By

December 18, 2021
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

Why Homepage Carousels Are Bad (& 3 Alternatives to Try Instead)

August 26, 2021
Joe Rinaldi Joe Rinaldi

Google Shares New Tools to Audit Website User Experience

August 12, 2021
Paul D. Grant Paul D. Grant

New HubSpot CMS Hub Starter Tier Released for Growing Businesses

August 6, 2021
Paul D. Grant Paul D. Grant

Too many internal links in content can confuse Google about site structure

July 9, 2021
Liz Murphy Liz Murphy