Branding · Brand guidelines

Brand guidelines your team can follow

Our brand guidelines design turns your brand into clear rules: how to use the logo, colors, type, photos and tone of voice, with templates for everyday work. Hotel brand guidelines add standards for every outlet, sign and menu, so the whole property feels like one brand.

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What guidelines change

A brand that looks right in every hand

Guidelines turn good intentions into a shared standard. This is what changes when everyone works from the same rules.

One recognizable brand
Your website, social posts, signs and print look and sound like the same business, whoever made them.
Faster work, fewer corrections
Designers, printers and new staff find the answer in the guide instead of asking, so material is made and approved faster.
Easier briefs for suppliers
Send one guide to any agency, printer or freelancer and get work back that fits your brand.
One voice in every language
Tone-of-voice rules with real examples help everyone write the same way, in English, Vietnamese, Dutch, Arabic, German or Russian.
Templates ready to use
Social posts, presentations, letterheads and menus your team can update without waiting for a designer.
Standards for every hotel outlet
Rules for the hotel and its restaurant, bar and spa, from signage to F&B menus, so guests feel one stay from arrival to checkout.

Brand guidelines, explained

What goes into good guidelines

What are brand guidelines?

Brand guidelines are a practical guide to using your brand: your logo, colors, type, photos and tone of voice, with examples of what to do and what to avoid. Our brand guidelines design service turns the decisions behind your brand into pages anyone can follow, from a new employee to your printer or a new agency.

Without written rules, every new flyer or post involves a little guesswork. With them, your brand looks the same whoever makes the material.

What should brand guidelines include?

A useful guide is short enough to read and complete enough to answer everyday questions. It usually covers:

Logo use: versions, minimum sizes, clear space and what to avoid. See logo design for how we design the logo itself.
Colors: exact values for screen and print, and how much of each to use. Our own palette is on the branding page.
Typography: typefaces, sizes and styles for headings, text and captions.
Photography and icons: the style, light and subjects that fit your brand.
Tone of voice: how you write and speak, with examples in every language you use. Our article on building a tone of voice in 7 steps shows how this works.
Templates: social posts, presentations, letterheads, email signatures and menus.

What do hotel brand guidelines cover?

Hotel brand guidelines, often called hotel brand standards, cover the whole property, not only the logo. A hotel has many places where guests meet the brand, and many people who create material for it: owners, the management company, sales, F&B and front office teams, and outside suppliers.

On top of the standard sections, hotel brand guidelines include:

Outlet brands. Rules for the restaurant, bar, spa and meeting rooms, so each can have its own character and still belong to the hotel.
Signage and wayfinding. Logo placement, sizes, materials and directions, from the entrance to the room numbers.
F&B menus. Menu templates your team can update when dishes or prices change.
Guest touchpoints. Room folders, in-room cards, key cards, guest emails and messages.
Online presence. Photo and text rules for the website, OTA listings and social media, so guests recognize the hotel wherever they book.

Because we also work on hospitality marketing for hotels, we write these standards with daily operations in mind.

Why do brand guidelines matter for a growing business?

Because a brand grows in more hands than yours. Each new employee, location, supplier or channel is a new chance for small differences to creep in. Guidelines keep your brand recognizable, make briefing quicker and reduce rounds of corrections.

They also make you easier to trust. A business that looks and sounds the same everywhere comes across as reliable. Read more in building a brand that sticks and the hidden depths of corporate identity.

How do you make sure guidelines are used?

We write for the people who will use them. That means plain language, real examples, and templates for the things your team makes every week. We keep the guide as short as it can be and go through it with your team when we hand it over.

When something new comes up, such as a new outlet, a new market or a new channel, the guide can grow with it. If your brand needs new photos or a website in the same style, our content and web design teams work from the same guide.

Building your guide

From scattered files to one guide

We start from what you already have and keep what works.

¹
Audit
We collect what you use today, from logo files and fonts to menus, signs and posts, and note what works and where things differ.
²
Decide the rules
Together we settle the open questions: which logo versions, which colors, which typefaces, which photo style and which voice.
³
Write and design the guide
Clear pages with examples of right and wrong, written so a new employee or supplier understands them without help.
⁴
Templates and handover
We build templates for the items you make most and go through the guide with your team in a 1–2 hour handover session, online or in person, with a recording and the final files.

Guideline questions

What teams and hotels ask us

Answers in a few lines. For anything else, ask our AI assistant or book a free call.

Four people talking around a table in a modern office

What is included in brand guidelines design?

Brand guidelines design covers the rules for your logo, colors, typography, photography, icons and tone of voice, with examples of correct and incorrect use. We add templates for everyday items such as social posts, presentations and letterheads, so the guide gets used rather than filed away.

What are hotel brand guidelines?

Hotel brand guidelines, also called hotel brand standards, describe how a whole property presents itself: the hotel brand and its outlets, such as the restaurant, bar and spa. They cover signage, F&B menus, room collateral, guest messages and photo style, so owners, operators and staff all present the same hotel.

How much do brand guidelines cost?

It depends on how much exists already and how many items and outlets the guide must cover. A short guide for a small business costs less than full hotel brand standards. You get a fixed quote after a free 45-minute call.

How long does it take to create brand guidelines?

Most of the time goes into decisions, so we prepare clear options for each open question to keep things moving. A short guide usually takes 3–4 weeks; standards for a hotel with several outlets take 6–10 weeks.

What is the difference between a brand book and brand guidelines?

Often there is none: both names are used for the same document. Some teams use brand book for the inspiring part, such as story, values and voice, and guidelines for the practical rules. We combine both in one guide.

Can you create guidelines for an existing brand?

Yes. Many projects start with a brand that works well but was never written down. We document what you have, settle the open questions and fill the gaps, without changing what customers already recognize.

Can a hotel restaurant or spa have its own look?

Yes, and it often should. We design outlet brands with their own name, color or mark that share the hotel’s type, tone and standards, so guests feel they are in the same place.

Do brand guidelines cover signage and F&B menus?

For hotels and restaurants, they should. We set rules for logo placement, sizes and materials on signs, and create menu templates your F&B team can update when dishes or prices change. We can also coordinate production with your sign makers and printers.

In which format do we receive our brand guidelines?

You receive the guide as a PDF, plus editable templates in Figma and Canva for the items you make most. You own the final files and may use them anywhere.

Can you write brand guidelines in Vietnamese, Dutch, Arabic, German or Russian?

Yes. We work in English, Vietnamese, Dutch, Arabic, German and Russian. Tone-of-voice rules are written separately for each language, because a voice does not translate word for word.

Testimonials

What our clients say about us

“Atelier ATTENTION has been our trusted marketing partner for 5 years. They help us plan and execute our marketing strategies, including our website, which has significantly increased our market share.”