Book of graphic standards, corporate or visual identity, respectively CI (Si Ay), if you really want to express yourself with modern, business abbreviations in English, is a document that every company that cares about itself and its presentation to clients should have.

So, it is best to say that the book of graphic standards is a set of standards and guidelines by which a company or brand visually communicates with its associates, clients and consumers.

It is very important for your business image that people remember and recognize you very easily and quickly in order to stand out from others, and a book of graphic standards may be the best help.

Visual identity - love at first sight

The importance of visual identity to large companies is best demonstrated through one of the most famous examples where “Pepsi”Set aside a million dollars for the redesign, ie a new book of graphic standards.

What should a graphic standards book contain?

• Logo (positive, negative, color and 3D)
• Coloring
• Typography
• Application of logos according to format and background
• Business card, memorandum and envelope
• Email signatures
• Social networks
• Promotional material (Diaries, notebooks, folders, pens, bags ()
• Card ID
• Uniform
• Car branding
• Business space branding
• Packaging
• Accessories

Of course, it is not necessary that each book of standards contains all these elements, and it is possible to supplement the book of standards with elements that characterize the area of ​​business.

It should be noted that the book of standards should be constantly updated and periodically redesigned individual elements according to trends and needs.

The basic parts that each book of standards should contain and that should be changed as little as possible are:

Logo

You don't even have to pay attention to how "signature" your company is and how important it is to make a good logo in the beginning. If you decide to redesign or change it later, you should not deviate much from the initial solution, because it will be very difficult for your clients to get used to it, not to mention the money spent on additional campaigns and promotions. Access to ideas is also very important. Your logo should not primarily be beautiful because tastes are different. The most important thing for a logo is that it represents you, your area of ​​business in the best way, and that, as strange as it sounds, it has a "character". To give the impression of how you wanted it to look just like that, whether your clients and associates like it or not.

In the book of graphic standards, first of all, positive, negative, color logo and 3D should be presented. It is not necessary, but it is certainly a bonus to emphasize how you came to the logo constructively and possibly draw attention to the hidden parts that you think are important to emphasize.

Coloring

Colors should be clearly defined in this section. So clearly indicate CMYK, RGB and Pantone colors. The information that your color is red, blue, orange, apricot, chestnut, rotten cherry… is certainly not enough.

So whether it is printed or displayed on the screen, you need to choose in which system your color shade will be best displayed.

It is good to note that you do not have to standardize only the colors of the logo, and if that is usually the case, but also other colors that you will often use in your company.

• CMYK (COM)cyan, magenta, yellow and black) - color printing system
• RGB(RED, green, Blue) - screen color system
• Pantone - colors that, in addition to shade and standardized mixture, can also define special characteristics such as gloss, fluorescence…

Typography

Clear definition of all fonts and typographic elements. In addition to the fonts used for the logo, the fonts used for the slogan and for all other business documents, promotional material should be defined, websites website.

It is desirable to define the font size, line spacing, style and the like where possible.

Application of logos according to format and background

In this part of the book of graphic standards, it should be defined how the logo is presented if the background is dark or light, if the background is a color that is already defined in the logo or if the format is of characteristic size. Define how only a pictogram is used (thumbnails within the logo, initials), a combination of a pictogram and a typographic part (name), as well as a combination of logos and slogans.

Also in this section you should give examples and how you should not represent your logo in any way.

In this part, it is possible to define certain patterns. The best examples are companies from the fashion industry such as "Louis Vuitton","Burberry”…

Business card, memorandum, envelope and signature for e-mail

U graphic design the trends are that the rules are less and less respected and that creativity and originality are much more valued. On the other hand, there are still parts of business communication that need to be respected. Examples are a business card, a memorandum, an envelope and an e-mail signature.

And if many try to experiment with these parts of corporate identity, we even have to admit that they do it very well, our opinion is that we should show all our professionalism here and in some way instill trust in our clients and associates. This primarily refers to the dimensions and content, because otherwise these elements do not complete their function.

Accessories

The other parts of the book of graphic standards, to go back to the story from the beginning, are honestly not necessary, but they are certainly a bonus for the visual identity of your company. When we say that, first of all, I think that it is not important to define them immediately and once. It is important to avoid the mistake that companies often make, that is, to fall into the trap of not adhering to their book of graphic standards.

Maintaining a corporate or visual identity means planned assessment and development of business image inside and outside your organization, by engaging your team in the application of standards, in order to contribute to the respect of employees by clients and associates and respect of clients and associates by your company.

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