We’ve discussed how your manual’s layout and design should somewhat reflect your brand, but what about the text? Chances are your style guide has quite a bit of type within it for instructions and explanations, so a good way to strengthen your brand’s tone of voice is through these instructions. Skype’s brand manual does just this, interjecting a little humour, and a colloquial and friendly tone into the explanations through instructions that are worded like “Never abuse our logo, it doesn’t have arms so it can’t fight back (our lawyers however, are another story).” Figure out your brand’s tone and consider introducing this to the manual in a unique way that doesn’t compromise the information but enhances it. Have a readthrough and a laugh with the Skype brand guidelines via Issuu.
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For another example of just how meticulous certain brands are, here’s an entire style guide dedicated to Sony’s tagline “like.no.other”. This manual runs down clearance space, positioning, sizing, background and type colour combinations, dimensions, it goes into unbelievable detail about each facet of the tagline, putting great importance on its construction and display. Check out this manual if you want to see just how in-depth the big brands like Sony get with their branding. You can find it over on Issuu.
Sometimes it’s best to just say it large and loud. This style guide by Stihl puts the main instructions for each page in simple terms and huge type, making each direction impossible to ignore. By using simple colloquial language like “Use this colour with this colour”, nothing is lost in translation and any reader would get the general idea of how to maintain the brand by just flipping through the pages. By using real and easy to follow visual examples, this guide is one that makes brand consistency easy. Check it out via Behance.
This is another set of brand guidelines that keep things ultra simple and extremely minimal while still communicating the foundations of the brand. If you’re looking for another example of a brand starter kit, you can’t go wrong with this one. With the logo, colours, type and iconography/patterning specified, the main brand is established. While such a simple set of guidelines may not work for every company (as many require detail), in this case, the minimal elements leave a little flexibility in the branding and applications. To check out these application examples and the project in more detail head over to Behance.
The Swedish Armed Forces has a detailed brand guidelines that includes a section explaining the concept and thought behind the main logo and the sub-brand logos. This manual also delves deeply into imagery–both the way it should be shot, and the colours, but also the subject matter that should be depicted as a part of the brand values–for example on the “don’t” list is “images that romanticize war”. Have a read through and a look at the detailed instructions over at Issuu.
This is another brand manual that puts content in the forefront, with simple and comprehensive visuals and complementary explanations and descriptions, this is another simply designed but cohesive and detailed brand manual. Be sure to check out the pages on vehicle livery that ensure every angle of the vehicle is represented and exemplified with attention to detail. Check the whole thing out at Visual Bits.
Are you designing for a more corporate-oriented brand? If so, have you considered specifying how some of the visual assets should look? From graphs and diagrams to charts and tables, if you will be presenting it to consumers or business partners, perhaps consider tieing it somehow into your style guide to keep it all cohesive, professional and branded. Check out this manual for Truth that specifies just this. Using the signature pink and sleek graphics, this manual has exemplified how each type of visual asset should look and work, which is guaranteed to make that process a lot easier for the brand in the long run. Have a closer look over at Mash Creative.
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There are a lot of arguments about whether or not printed brand manuals are a dying art. While the argument is strong on either side, some brands have opted for digital and publically accessible versions. One example is Twitter who have made their style guide accessible to everybody. A smart move on Twitter’s part, as their brand is applied just about everywhere over the internet, and while it’s not always applied in the right way, by providing the brand rules, they have a higher chance of having it presented right. Visit Twitter’s branding website page right here.
Website Template DetectorUniversità della Svizzera Italiana has an intricate brand mark that is built on specific degrees of rotation and alignment, all of which are specified in this brand manual. Using a grid to explain the alignment of elements, each element of this brand is highlighted and given reason. This manual is also given a comprehensive introduction that outlines the fundamentals and values of the brand which keeps the brand focused. Check it out via the official Moving Brands site.
Yet another imagined brand manual for a brand ‘rethink’, this time, it’s for the airline Varig. This manual presents the rethought brand in a simple and concise way, specifying brand applications, uniforms, communications, logos, signatures, patterns, the whole nine yards. An airline has a lot of communications and branding opportunities within it, and this imagined example covers many of those bases with a beautifully designed and incredibly well thought out style guide. Have a read of it in whole via Abduzeedo.
Looking for a piece of style guide inspiration that walks the line between fun and trustworthy? Well, check out Walmart’s style guide. Walmart’s manual is colourful and dynamic while still maintaining their trustworthy and professional retailer vibe. This manual covers all the bases of Walmart’s brand and looks good while doing it – yet another example of a brand manual that practises what it preaches by using their signature colours and type within the manual itself. Download the guide to flip through at your leisure over here.
Let your information breathe. When it comes to creating your brand manual, ensure that you include plenty of examples, but not to the point where the manual becomes overcrowded. Why? In short, overcrowded pages don’t get read. Check out this manual for Yogen Früz that spaces out the examples and information over various spreads to make for a design layout that puts the focus on the content. Read the manual in full over here.
Whether you’re creating a business model, statistical report or step-by-step guide, find the perfect starting point from our range of free infographic templates. All of our infographic templates come preloaded with relevant content, so you’re never stuck staring at a blank canvas. That means it’s easy to get started and modify a template until it’s just like that picture you had in your head.
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With Venngage’s selection of over 10,000 professionally designed templates, anyone can create an infographic in under an hour. Simply choose an infographic template that catches your eye and customize it to suit your needs with our user-friendly, drag-and-drop editor. Come back weekly to explore new templates and find what you need, every time.
Though you can customize our infographic templates for any industry, they’re naturally suited to more sophisticated business communications. From timeline infographic templates to comparisons, processes and tutorials, tell an engaging story by creating your own infographics online. Do it all yourself with easily customizable, visually engaging infographic templates. And make sure the information you share is not only consumed, but retained.
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A quick-reference guide is any documentation that provides a one- or two-page set of condensed instructions on how to use a product. They can be highly detailed or very simple, depending on what’s needed.
Nearly every product requires some kind of documentation to help customers understand how to use it. Depending on the product, sometimes those user guides or product manuals can be hundreds of pages long with pages full of long blocks of text.
In other words, they can be pretty daunting, especially for new users.
Obviously, you need documentation that covers everything your product can do. But sometimes your customers just want to know something without having to wade through a ton of content to find it.
A quick-reference guide is a perfect way to provide your users with a wealth of quickly accessible information in an easy-to-digest, engaging way.
They are especially useful when a product or service has a number of different or advanced functions, but can be operated more simply, as well.
Quick-reference guides allow your users to quickly and easily find the information they need to perform a specific task or set of tasks.
For example, a few years ago, I upgraded my basic stove with a nicer, more advanced model. While the oven on the old stove was basically on or off with temperature settings, my new one came with all kinds of new features.
There was a regular Bake setting, as well as Convection Bake, Roast, Bread Proof, and more. Additionally, the new one has buttons and a digital readout while the old one was just a knob you turned to turn it on and set the temperature.
Website Template EtsyNow, I’ve baked a loaf of bread or two in my day, but let’s be honest. Most of the time when I use my oven I’m heating up pizza rolls or toasting some garlic bread, so I mostly use the regular bake setting.
Luckily, the manufacturer provided a quick-start guide (one of the most common types of quick-reference guides) to help me do basic baking. In a few short steps, I knew exactly what I needed to do to use the oven for its most basic function.
Then, when I wanted to work with the more advanced features, I could delve deeper into the full product manual.
Quick-reference guides allow your users to quickly and easily find the information they need to perform a specific task or set of tasks. They don’t replace a full user manual, but they provide a fantastic supplemental way to deliver information.
Here’s everything you need to know about making a high-quality quick-reference guide in no-time.
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