A logo is not a brand: what your brand guidelines should include

If your sign, your invoices and your Instagram look like three different companies, you have a logo but no brand. Here is what a simple, useful set of brand guidelines contains.

Many businesses in the UAE have a logo that someone made when they opened. Over time, different people make the sign, the menu, the invoices and the social posts — each with their own idea of the colours and fonts. The result looks like several companies, not one.

Brand guidelines fix that. They do not need to be a 100-page book. A good set is short enough that your team and your printer will actually use it.

What a useful set includes

• What you stand for: one or two sentences on who you serve and why you are different.
• Your logo, with a simpler version and an icon, and clear rules on spacing and minimum size.
• Your colours, written as exact codes for print and screen, so nobody guesses.
• Your fonts, for headings and body text, in English and Arabic.
• How you sound: a few words on your tone, with examples of what to say and what to avoid.
• Real examples: a business card, an invoice and a social post, so people can copy what works.

Why Arabic needs its own attention

In the UAE most brands appear in both English and Arabic. If the Arabic version is an afterthought — a random font, a squeezed logo — it shows. Choose an Arabic typeface that matches your English one in weight and feel, and show both side by side in the guidelines.

Make it easy to follow

Guidelines only work if they are used. Share ready-made templates for the things you produce most, keep the files in one shared folder, and give a copy to every supplier who prints or posts for you.

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