18 min read

Brand Consistency

Use an organisation's logo, colours and fonts correctly — clear space, minimum size, and the things you must never do to a logo.

What Is a Brand Identity?

When you design for an organisation, you use its brand, not your own taste. Organisations often have brand guidelines — a document that says exactly how to use the logo and colours. Following them makes your work look official and trustworthy.

The (fictional) organiser's logo, supplied as a vector SVG.

Hill Country Young Scientists Society — brand essentials
Hill Country Young Scientists Society — brand essentials

Always use the exact codes from the guidelines — do not pick a colour "by eye" from a screenshot. Brand CMYK values are chosen by the brand's designers with a print colour profile, so they differ from the simple formula in the colour mixer.

Stretch or squash it (always hold proportions when resizing). Recolour it or change its font. Add effects — shadows, glows, outlines — unless the guidelines allow them. Rotate it or crop part of it off. Place it on a busy background where it cannot be seen. Redraw or retype it yourself — always use the original file.

Practice

Select the things you should NOT do to an organisation's logo.

Choose all that apply.

What Is a Brand Identity?

When you design for an organisation, you use its brand, not your own taste. Organisations often have brand guidelines — a document that says exactly how to use the logo and colours. Following them makes your work look official and trustworthy.

The (fictional) organiser's logo, supplied as a vector SVG.

The Society's Brand Guidelines

Hill Country Young Scientists Society — brand essentials
Hill Country Young Scientists Society — brand essentials

Always use the exact codes from the guidelines — do not pick a colour "by eye" from a screenshot. Brand CMYK values are chosen by the brand's designers with a print colour profile, so they differ from the simple formula in the colour mixer.

Never Do This to a Logo

Stretch or squash it (always hold proportions when resizing). Recolour it or change its font. Add effects — shadows, glows, outlines — unless the guidelines allow them. Rotate it or crop part of it off. Place it on a busy background where it cannot be seen. Redraw or retype it yourself — always use the original file.

Consistency Across Materials

Practice

Select the things you should NOT do to an organisation's logo.

Choose all that apply.