BRAND IDENTITY
CHECKLIST
MODASSIC MARKETING
Table of Contents
Introduction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 04
Logos and Logotypes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 05
Typography and Font Choice - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 06
Color - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 07
Design Assets–Icons, Photos & Style - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 08
Voice and Tone - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 09
Brand Management - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10
Conclusion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11
THANKS!
Thanks for downloading this brand
identity checklist. Your brand is one of
your most valuable assets. However,
too many small to medium-sized
businesses don’t take the necessary
steps to properly define and use their
brand.
We hope this guide will help set you
on the path to properly defining and
protecting your brand.
RYAN SHORT // Founder of MODassic
BRAND IDENTITY CHECKLIST
Introduction
“A logo isn’t a brand unless it’s on a cow”. This is a great quote, and it’s very true. In creative briefs with
clients, we often hear people reference Apple’s brand identity and how much they love it. However, they
are almost never referring to the actual Apple logo. Instead, they’re referring to everything else that makes
the Apple brand great—the open and clean design of their retail stores and website, the way their product
packaging feels when you open it, the user experience of their user-interface, the photography, the type,
the commercials, etc.
Your brand is not just a logo and color
palette. It’s the visual and emotional
representation of your company. It’s
the impression you make and how you
communicate without saying a word.
Your brand identity can influence things like profit and consumer loyalty just as much as (and sometimes
more than) your actual product or service, so it needs to be strong, unified and clearly defined.
Many large consumer brands put together large brand standards documents clearly defining every detail
and rule regarding their brand. However, far too many medium and small businesses have no brand rules
or brand standards at all. You’ll see them use different shades of their brand colors, different fonts on
everything, and even use logos on inappropriate backgrounds, or logos that are stretched or skewed.
At MODassic, we believe no business is too small to take their brand identity seriously. Your brand is your
most valuable asset—define it and protect it.
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BRAND IDENTITY CHECKLIST
Logos and Logotypes Do you have the original vector
While your logo isn’t your brand, it is a major component files as well as high quality JPEGs
of brand identity. Your logo needs to reach a specific and PNGs?
audience and should be an accurate representation of
Are the logos in your approved
your brand’s personality. Shy away from using too many
brand colors?
colors and definitely don’t use gradients—they’re hard
to reproduce. Your logo needs to look good in one-color Do you have both approved and
and black and white versions. If you’d like, you can have disapproved uses for your assets?
logotypes or secondary logos and wordmarks, but keep (e.g. size and space requirements)
them cohesive. Simple is better. You should have all of
your brand assets easily accessible in various file types Do you have different versions of
(.ai, .png, .jpeg, etc.). your logos? (e.g. one-color, two-
color, black and white)
Have you set any rules for
using your logo? (e.g. spacing
requirements, etc.)
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BRAND IDENTITY CHECKLIST
Typography and Font Choice
Are the fonts you’re using
defined and consistent? Do you Are you licensed to use your fonts
use one font for your website both on and offline?
but another for any print work
you do? Does your font choice Have you defined a headline font?
reflect the message you wish to
communicate? For example, does Will your headlines be all
your font scream “festive” when you really should be giving uppercase or in title case?
off a more professional vibe? Analyze your font choice and
make sure that it is a) consistent across all mediums, and
Have you defined what font you
b) appropriate for your business. It’s recommended that you
will use for body copy?
select fonts that can be used both on and offline to keep
everything consistent.
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BRAND IDENTITY CHECKLIST
Color
Using too many colors will only confuse consumers. A Do you know your both the CMYK
good rule of thumb is to stick to 1 to 3 main colors and 2 and RGB values of your colors?
to 3 secondary colors. Take note of what different colors
communicate—you don’t want to use a shade of blue where Do you know the hexadecimal
you really should be using red. In addition, you can designate codes for your colors?
certain colors for use as call-to-actions (for example, orange
could always and only be used for buttons) and use other
Do you know what your Pantone
certain colors to indicate different product divisions or
(or PMS) color values are?
sectors of your company.
Have you defined roles for any
Just as important as selecting brand color is defining the accent colors? (e.g. headlines only,
specific color compositions in CMYK, RGB, hexadecimal for buttons, etc.)
code and Pantone. Because colors on the web are created
with an RGB color space, there are certain shades that
simply can’t be reproduced in a CMYK printing process.
Therefore, that it is an important thing to consider when
selecting colors, and it’s important for established brands
to know what those colors are in the different color spaces.
Your colors should look the same online as they do in print.
Want to learn more about
color? Check out our guide
to color blog post here
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BRAND IDENTITY CHECKLIST
Design Assets—Icons, Photos & Style
The graphic style of all of your assets should
be the same. If you create graphics for social Are icons and brand assets in the
media, they should match the feel of your same three-dimensional space?
logo and fonts. UI elements on your website,
such as buttons and menus, should also be Do you have a clear picture of
cohesive with the rest of your identity. You want everything to on-brand versus off-brand photos?
“match” and send a unified message to your consumers, so
it’s important for all graphic elements to feel like they reside
in the same 3D space. For example, you don’t want some
icons to be three-dimensional while other icons are flat. In
addition, this could include things like product
packaging, letterhead, and email signatures.
Anything that has a graphic element to it
should be reviewed.
Also keep in mind photographs. An
“on-brand” photo can be hard to define, but
you should have a general idea of how you
want any photo assets to look. Are they
all black and white? Do they show faces?
Are they static, or are they dynamic? Are
they lifestyle shots versus cliche stock
photos? One of our clients, Better Homes
and Gardens Real Estate, does a good job
of showing on and off-brand photos in their
brand identity guide as shown to the right.
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BRAND IDENTITY CHECKLIST
Voice and Tone
Your brand also has a voice, and that
Is your voice first-person or
voice should be the same across all
third-person?
platforms. Whether it’s a press release,
social media post, email, or physical
Is the tone of your communication
mailing, your communication should all
friendly? Sarcastic? Serious?
sound like you. This may require training
Professional?
employees on your voice, but it’s necessary for a cohesive
identity. Below are a few examples from Skype & MailChimp.
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BRAND IDENTITY CHECKLIST
Brand Management
You don’t always need a dedicated,
full-time brand manager, but Does someone at your
someone at your company should company function as a brand
function as a brand guardian—the manager?
gatekeeper for all of your brand
assets. This person will be in charge Do you have a brand identity
of keeping your branding consistent guide in both PDF and online
and will keep track of all of your formats?
brand assets.
Do all employees understand
To do this successfully, everyone at your company should be that there are specific fonts,
aware of the brand standards, understand the importance colors and brand rules that
of following them, and have easy access to your brand
need to be followed?
standards and brand assets. Most of the time brand
standards are violated because someone didn’t have the
logo file or font they needed and it was quicker to just do
something on their own than track down the proper rules
and assets. To solve this, create a brand identity guide in
both a PDF and online version so that it is easily accessible
by all employees and so that it can be easily shared with
vendors.
At MODassic, we create a PDF brand guideline document for
clients that they can share with employees and vendors. In
addition we have developed a custom brand ID plugin that
houses all of our clients brand rules and assets online so
they are readily accessible.
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BRAND IDENTITY CHECKLIST
Conclusion
Your brand is what sets you apart from other companies. It’s not just your logo or the colors you use—it’s
how all of your assets work together to communicate your brand’s personality. A cohesive brand identity
is the cornerstone of your marketing, and can greatly impact your success as a business. In this ebook,
we talked through the essential elements of a brand identity and how to achieve brand consistency
throughout print, digital, and video media. We also discussed the importance of having someone manage
your brand and its various assets.
By now, you should be well-equipped to achieve
a consistent brand identity. If you have questions
or are interested in seeing how working with an
agency can help you unify your brand elements
and create an ROI driven marketing strategy, give
MODassic a call at 214-295-5165 or visit us at
modassicmarketing.com.
CONSULTING PROJECT BASED FULL SERVICE
We work with clients upfront We work with clients on We work with other clients on
to develop a comprehensive one-off projects, from an ongoing, full service basis
marketing strategy playbook rebranding to web design as their marketing department
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