Notes on staying on-brand
Practical notes on brand guidelines, AI tools, and keeping a whole team's work on-brand.
Brand guidelines for AI tools: what to know first
Brand guidelines for AI tools start with a design brief. Here is what to write down before connecting Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor, and who should own it.
Brand resource center vs. brand portal: what each one holds
A brand resource center and a brand portal both promise one place for brand files. Here is what each term covers and when a resource center runs short.
Brand photography guidelines: what belongs in them
Brand photography guidelines cover subject matter, composition, color and lighting treatment, people and representation, and usage rights for every image.
Social media brand guidelines: what to include
Social media brand guidelines need profile specs, voice per platform, approved visuals, and reply rules. Here is what belongs in each section, and who owns it.
What belongs in design system documentation
Design system documentation should cover usage rules, do and don't examples, design tokens, and accessibility notes for every component, kept current.
Logo guidelines: what belongs in them, and why
Logo guidelines should cover the primary mark, approved variants, clear space, minimum size, colors and backgrounds, and what never happens to the logo.
Why ChatGPT custom instructions drift from your brand
ChatGPT custom instructions drift from your brand because they are static text, disconnected from the current guide. Here is what keeps AI output on-brand.
Digital brand guidelines: what belongs in them
Digital brand guidelines hold the same rules as a brand book, but live online, not as a PDF, so values and files stay current. Here is what belongs in them.
What to look for in a Lingo alternative
A Lingo alternative should price your organization once, hold your brand's strategy as well as its files, and let your team's AI tools read it directly.
What to look for in a Bynder alternative
A Bynder alternative should publish a real price, fit a team that needs a brand portal, not a content supply chain, and let AI tools read the brand directly.
What to look for in a Brandfolder alternative
A Brandfolder alternative should publish a real price, hold your brand's judgment as well as its files, and let your team's AI tools read it directly.
Brand voice guidelines: what belongs in them
Brand voice guidelines need six working parts: a one-line voice, a word list with replacements, formality by context, mechanics, examples, and a named owner.
Brand voice guidelines template: what to include
A brand voice guidelines template needs six parts: a one-line voice, a word list, formality rules, mechanics, example passages, and an owner to keep it current.
What to look for in a Frontify alternative
A Frontify alternative should price your whole organization once, hold the brand's strategy as well as its files, and let your team's AI tools read it directly.
Typography guidelines: what belongs in yours
Typography guidelines set the type scale, typefaces, weights, spacing and usage rules a brand follows, so every headline and caption looks intentional.
What belongs in a brand design system
A brand design system holds a brand's strategy, visual rules, design tokens, and finished components in one place, built once and kept current as it changes.
How to write a graphic design brief
A graphic design brief states the problem, the audience, the exact deliverables, and the brand rules a designer follows. Here is how to write one in six steps.
What brand asset management actually means
Brand asset management means more than a shared folder of logos. It covers the files, the rules for using each one, and who keeps both of them current.
Design brief example: two filled-in briefs you can reuse
A design brief example shows two filled-in briefs, from the ask to the approval line, plus the weak and strong version of the section that usually goes vague.
ChatGPT brand guidelines: how to connect them
Connect ChatGPT to your brand guidelines by pasting a design brief into custom instructions, or by linking one over MCP so every conversation reads it.
How to choose brand management software
Brand management software ranges from simple asset libraries to full brand portals, with pricing, AI tools, and ownership to weigh. Here is what to check first.
How to give Claude your brand guidelines
Give Claude your brand guidelines by pasting a design brief into the prompt or connecting one over MCP. Here is how each method works, and when to use it.
Brand governance model a small team can keep
Brand governance for a small team means one named owner, a short list of decisions that need sign-off, and a logged exception process, not a committee.
How to keep brand consistency across a team
Brand consistency holds when every person who touches the brand, new hire or ten-year lead, works from the same current files. Here is how to keep it that way.
How to build a brand style guide people use
A brand style guide only works if people actually open it. Here is what to include, how to write rules people can copy, and who should own and update it.
Brand guidelines template: what belongs in yours
A brand guidelines template needs nine sections, from logo specs to the words your brand avoids. Here is what belongs in each one, and who keeps it current.
Design brief template: how to write one that gets used
A design brief template has eight sections, from the problem to the approval path. Here is what to write in each one, plus a one-page template you can copy.
What a brand portal is and what belongs in one
A brand portal is one current place for a company's strategy, guidelines, assets, and components. Here is what belongs in one and who keeps it current.
Brand compliance: make it part of daily work
Brand compliance sticks when the rules reach the work. Keep strategy, guide, assets, and components in one portal, and send them to your team's AI tools.
How to document a brand color palette
Document a brand color palette by recording each color's values, its job, and the pairings that pass contrast, then keeping it in one place your team reads.
Brand guidelines examples and what makes them usable
Four public brand guidelines examples, what each one gets right, and the four tests that separate a brand guide people follow from one nobody ever opens.