A brand style guide is a business must-have to maintain brand consistency across various platforms or assets. Most companies or organizations seek the help of professional graphic design services or agencies to create their brand style guides as part of their graphic design packages or projects. If you’re doing graphic design work yourself, you should also know what goes into a brand style guide. And if you plan on doing it yourself, downloading a branding guide template can get you started without too much hassle. But where to find one, you might ask? Here are our top picks!
1. Canva
As one of the most popular graphic design software apps, it’s no surprise that Canva offers branding guideline templates. The app provides multiple options for users, such as static and motion branding guidelines. Plus, they also offer free and premium templates. You can expect beautifully designed templates from professional designers. Plus, an advantage of Canva over others on this list is you can immediately edit the branding guide template without leaving the app!
Pricing:
- Free
- Canva Pro – $12.99/mo
- Canva for Teams – $14.99/mo
2. Venngage
One great alternative to Canva is Venngage. Although this site is well-known for infographics, Venngage has branched out to offer presentations, posters, and graphs. Venngage offers one-page design templates, which is a good option when you need a layout that is different from your current template. Additionally, the app offers branding templates with few pages. This is excellent if you want to keep your branding simple.
Pricing:
- Free
- Premium – $19/mo
- Business – $149/mo
- Enterprise – Custom
3. Freepik
Here’s another place to find branding guide templates. What’s great about Freepik is you get a preview of the branding guide templates before downloading them. This way, you have an idea of what’s inside these templates and edit them once you download them. Additionally, you can download different photo files like:
- JPG
- PNG
- AI
- EPS
- SVG
Pricing:
- Essential – 8€
- Premium – 16€
- Premium+ – 36€
4. Envato
Many graphic designers go to Envato for professional-looking templates created by their peers. That said, you can find branding guide templates that suit your identity. Most branding guide templates are like books or manuals. Plus, you can expect that the basic sections of any brand style guide are added to your preferred branding guide template. Unfortunately, unlike some options here, you need to purchase a template before using one.
Pricing:
- Individual – $16.50/mo
- Team – $37.25/mo
- Enterprise – Contact sales
5. Creative Market
Here’s a popular alternative to Envato. Creative Market is another place to get killer branding guide templates! Unfortunately, you can’t find free options here. However, the marketplace has thousands of templates to choose from! You can find brand guide templates for as low as $9. Plus, there are variations, such as a brand book or presentation.
Pricing: It depends.
6. Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is another marketplace to consider when getting a branding guide template. You can select from various template styles and designs. However, some branding guide templates are limited to a software. For instance, one file can be used only in InDesign, while another can be used in Photoshop. Like some others on this list, you need to purchase a brand guide template to download and edit it. Plus, it’s a credit-based system, allowing you to pay-per-credit or via a subscription.
Pricing:
- Starts at 5 credits – from $49.95
- 10 assets – $29.99/mo
- 40 assets – from $79.99/mo
- 750 assets – from $199.99/mo
7. Creative Soup
Creative Soup is a site dedicated to showcasing the branding guidelines templates from professional graphic designers. Depending on your needs, you can find bundles, presentations, and guidelines. Unlike other sites here, Creative Soup doesn’t offer much. However, it’s worth looking at due to the variety of designs available.
Pricing: varies but starts at $22
8. Gumroad
You can check Gumroad for branding guide templates. Gumroad has fewer options to offer like Creative Soup. However, you can rely on professionally designed templates created by seasoned graphic designers. You can find templates to use on Notion or Canva. Plus, you can find editable files, which can be used in various graphic design apps.
Pricing: varies but starts at $5
9. Behance
Another place to look for a branding guide template is Behance. Although Behance is a graphic design portfolio site, some graphic designers offer their take on this document when you search for branding guide templates. You can download some branding assets for free, while some charge for the template. Additionally, you can reach out to designers if you need a customized brand template.
Pricing: varies; some are free, paid options start at $20
10. Notion
One surprising place to find a branding guide template is in Notion. The productivity app stores your brand style guide inside the app to align your brand internally. It’s unlike the others on this list but worth considering. You can use your Notion brand to organize your brand style guide before publishing one to release to the public.
Pricing:
- Free
- Plus – $12/seat/mo
- Business – $18/seat/mo
- Enterprise – Contact sales
What is Typically in a Brand Guide?
If you’re creating your own brand style guide and using a branding guide template, here’s what you need to include:
- Logo – dimensions, color, usage, do’s and dont’s
- Typography – sizes, fonts, and styles
- Color
- Photography
- Illustrations
- Iconography
Get a Brand Style Guide and More from Penji
Branding guide templates are a great starting point to know how your brand style guide should look for your business. Just like any part of your business, your brand style guide should also be unique to your brand. Templates won’t do your branding justice, no matter how many edits you make to your preferred template.
That’s why many brands partner with renowned agencies or professional graphic design services to create their brand style guides. Penji is a premier graphic design service to work with. We create graphic design, web design, and illustrations. Many agencies and brands trust Penji for graphic design work. And if you want to work with one of the leading graphic design services, watch a demo video to see the Penji difference!
