Short answer: Brand guidelines are the rules for how your brand looks and sounds: your logo, colors, fonts and the way you write. For a small business a few pages are enough. Two outside rules shape them: text in your brand colors must meet the W3C contrast minimums, and a trademark protects how you use your name or logo with your goods or services.
The parts of brand guidelines
The basics are the logo and its versions, the colors with their codes, the fonts with their weights, and a few lines on voice. Our own brand book, made in Canva, has 9 pages.
It opens with our story, our value promise and why we exist. Then come the logo, the typography (Satoshi in bold and light), four colors with their codes and a page for social media.
From our own brand book, read November 2, 2026.
Brand colors and contrast
The W3C asks for a contrast of at least 4.5:1 for text and 3:1 for large text, which starts at 18 point, or 14 point in bold. Text that is part of a logo or brand name has no contrast requirement, and neither has incidental text such as pure decoration.
Brand guidelines are not an exemption. The W3C says text with too little contrast because of them must still meet the rule. We measured our own colors with the WCAG formula:
| Color on its background | Contrast and what it allows |
|---|---|
| Our brand blue #467df6 on white | 3.80:1: large text only |
| Our brand purple #8a5df6 on white | 4.21:1: large text only |
| Our brand green #10b981 on white | 2.53:1: not enough for text |
| Our brand dark #111827 on white | 17.73:1: any text |
| Our site’s text blue #3565C2 on white | 5.53:1: any text |
| Our brand blue #467df6 on our dark background | 5.16:1: any text |
That is why our site keeps the brand blue for large type and uses a darker blue, #3565C2, for links and small text on white. Our guide to ADA website compliance covers the rest of accessibility.
From the W3C, “Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum)”, and our own measurement.
Protecting the name and the logo
A trademark can be a word, phrase, symbol, design or a mix of them that identifies your goods or services. It protects how you use it with them, not the word in general.
Federal registration is your choice. The USPTO lists benefits such as public notice in its database, a legal presumption that you own the mark, and the right to use the ® symbol.
It isn’t legal advice: confirm your case with your lawyer.
From the USPTO, “What is a trademark?” and “Why register your trademark?”.
How to create brand guidelines
- Collect the logo files you have, in every version: color, black, white and a small mark for profile pictures.
- Write down your colors with their hex codes, and mark which ones pass 4.5:1 for text on your backgrounds.
- Pick one or two fonts, with the weights you use for headings and for text.
- Write a few lines on voice: how you address customers, and the words you use and avoid.
- Add the rules people break most: the space around the logo, which versions go on dark backgrounds, and colors you don’t combine.
- Put it all in one short document that anyone can open, with the files linked.
- Review it whenever something changes, such as a new color, a new service or a new language.
What our own brand book shows
Our brand book defines four colors. Measured on white, only the dark one passes for small text: the blue reaches 3.80:1, the purple 4.21:1 and the green 2.53:1.
So the colors in a brand book are not always the colors for every use. On our site, the text blue on white is a darker shade at 5.53:1, and the brand blue is kept for large type and dark backgrounds.
Before you share your brand guidelines
- Every logo version is there, with the file to download.
- Each color has its code.
- Colors for normal text pass 4.5:1, and for large text 3:1, on your backgrounds.
- Fonts and weights are named.
- There are a few lines on how you write.
- Someone outside your team can follow it without asking.
RememberKeep the guidelines short, give every color its code, and check text colors against 4.5:1, or 3:1 for large text. A logo is exempt; a brand color is not.
Want help with your logo, colors and guidelines? That is our branding service.
Quick answers about brand guidelines
What are brand guidelines?
They are the rules for how your brand looks and sounds: which logo to use and where, your colors with their codes, your fonts and how you write. Anyone who makes something for your business follows them.
What should brand guidelines include?
At least your logo and its versions, your colors with their codes, your fonts and weights, and a few lines on how you write. Our own brand book adds our story, our promise and a page for social media.
Do brand colors have to meet contrast rules?
For text, yes. The W3C asks for 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, and says text with too little contrast is not exempt because brand guidelines chose it. Logos are exempt.
Do I need to register my logo as a trademark?
It is your choice. The USPTO says registration gives benefits such as public notice and a legal presumption that you own the trademark. It isn’t legal advice: confirm your case with your lawyer.
How long should brand guidelines be?
Long enough to answer the questions people ask when they make something for you. Our own brand book has 9 pages, made in Canva, and covers the logo, the type, the colors and social media.
Sources
Read on November 2, 2026. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum). United States Patent and Trademark Office: What is a trademark? and Why register your trademark?. Our own case: our brand book and the contrast of our colors, measured on November 2, 2026.