In Illustrator, I have formed a series of brand guidelines for the Floralia visual identity. Many brands use brand guidelines to outline their visual design style, instructing designers, clients and shareholders on how different brand assets are to be used. Brand guidelines cover the do’s and don’ts, and can be useful in collaborative environments in which multiple designers may be working on a project, making it easier for one designer to pick up where the other left – ensuring consistency throughout.
“Brand guidelines, or brand style guides, are a set of clearly defined standards and rules that summarise your brand’s identity. Think of it as a handbook filled with all the key details about your brand – including how it should look, sound and be viewed by consumers. Brand guidelines encompass your brand’s values, unique selling points (USPs), mission statement, vision and more. This helps to create a consistent message and feel across your entire business – from your products and packaging to your website and social channels.” (Adobe, 2025)
Below is the Floralia brand guidelines PDF. In this document, I have included information on how the brand assets must be utilised, and what should be avoided. I have also designed the brand guidelines in accordance to the Floralia visual identity, which further exemplifies how the branding should be applied.
I began by discussing the logo and how it should be displayed. I have mentioned how the logo mark must not be altered and have provided grid templates to ensure proper positioning and alignment of the icon. I have also mentioned how the icon is to be utilised on splash screens as a loading asset, discussing how the animated icon can be used in place of a the static icon in these scenarios.
Then I have moved onto typography, where I provide information on how typography is to be balanced with the logo icon to form a typographic logo variation. I have also specified the primary typeface, and how the typography is to appear across devices. I took careful consideration to the weights and point sizes in accordance to display sizes. Next, I provided examples of best practice for colour contrast and accessibility by specifying that text contrast should be in adherence to the WCAG 2:1 AAA guides, which is a legal requirement for mobile and web in the UK.
Finally, I have included a sample of the colour palette, along with their HEX values. Providing the exact HEX value ensures that others are using the precise values. I have set a rule to make sure other people do not deviate from the provided colour palette, explicitly stating that colours are not to be altered in any way – such as desaturating.
In addition to this, I have created a dedicated library within Adobe where I have added all my assets to, such as SVGs, colour palettes and typefaces. Adobe libraries carry across all Adobe apps, meaning it is easy to access all assets whilst designing in different platforms. It is also quick and easy to make any changes if needed, which will then update across the library and carry over to all platforms.
Overall, this guarantees consistency across all designs related to the Floralia brand. Now that the branding is clearly decided upon, I am ready to focus on the app design, where I can apply the correct visual treatment as defined in the guidelines.
References:
Adobe (2025) Brand Guidelines Examples: What to Include with Style Guide Examples. [Article]. Available online: https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/discover/examples/brand-guidelines#why-are-brand-guidelines-so-important [Accessed: 05/01/2025]