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What is a brand kit and what must it contain (the complete file list)

A brand kit is the package of files with which anyone, from the printer to the freelancer making your ads, can work correctly for your brand without asking you anything. Here is what a complete one contains, folder by folder, and what is missing from most.

by Updated 5 min readCitește în română

Brand kit, guidelines, identity: three different things

  • The visual identity is the system: the logo, the colours, the typefaces, the image style, the graphic elements. It is what was decided.
  • The brand guidelines are the document that explains the system: the rules, the spacing, the minimum sizes, what is done and what is not. It is how it is used.
  • The brand kit is the package of files: the logos in every format, the palette as colour files, the typefaces with their licences, the templates, the guidelines. It is what you hand over.

The three are often confused, and the confusion costs: a “brand kit” that is just a pretty PDF with the logo does not help the printer, and a folder of 40 files with no guidelines produces 40 interpretations.

The structure of a complete brand kit

01 Logo

Contents

Mark, name, horizontal and vertical lockup; each in colour, black, white and single brand colour

Formats

SVG, PDF, EPS, PNG (1x, 2x)

02 Colours

Contents

The palette with roles and codes

Formats

ASE (Adobe), a CSS file with variables, JSON, a one-page PDF

03 Type

Contents

The font files or the links to Google Fonts

Formats

The licences as text, mandatory

04 Templates

Contents

Social media post, story, cover, email signature, letterhead, business card, presentation

Formats

Editable files in the tool used, plus a reference PDF

05 Images

Contents

The photographic style explained, examples, the graphic elements (patterns, icons)

Formats

SVG for graphics, JPG for examples

06 Guidelines

Contents

The complete brand guidelines

Formats

PDF, plus the web version if one exists

07 Copy

Contents

Slogan, short and long description, tone of voice, words to use and to avoid

Formats

Plain text or Markdown

The files without which the kit is incomplete

  1. 01The logo as SVG and vector PDF, with the text outlined. Without a vector there is no correct print; the details are in logo file formats.
  2. 02The white version of the logo, for dark backgrounds. It is missing from half of all kits and gets improvised with an “invert” that ruins the details.
  3. 03The colour codes in all three systems: HEX, CMYK, Pantone. Decided once, not converted by every printer.
  4. 04The font licences. A kit with “free for personal use” fonts on a commercial brand is a breach you discover when someone reports you. Google Fonts (OFL licence) solve the problem for good.
  5. 05A README: who made the kit, when, which version, whom to ask. When a second version of the logo appears, without a README nobody knows which is the right one.

Design tokens: the kit for developers

If the brand has a website or an app, the kit contains one more thing designers forget and developers ask for: tokens. A CSS file with the colour, type and spacing variables (for example --color-primary, --font-heading) and a JSON with the same values, so the site uses exactly the colours from the guidelines, not an approximation read off a PDF. RHAM exports both from the palette, together with the guidelines and the logos, in one archive.

How to keep it current

  • One source: a folder in the cloud, with the version in the name (v1.2), to which you send a link, not attachments.
  • When something changes (a shade, a typeface), it changes in the kit and is announced; the old version is archived, not deleted.
  • Once a year, a check: do the files still match what is on the website and on the materials? Small differences add up.

Which rules you write in the guidelines in folder 06, chapter by chapter, is in brand guidelines; what the system the kit documents contains, in visual identity.

Frequently asked

What is the difference between a brand kit and brand guidelines?
The guidelines are the document with the rules; the kit is the package of files that contains the guidelines plus the logos, colours, typefaces and templates in working formats. Guidelines without files cannot be applied; files without guidelines are applied wrongly.
What format should a brand kit be in?
A structured folder (or a ZIP archive) with subfolders by file type, the logos as vector and raster, the colours as ASE, CSS and JSON, the typefaces with licences, the guidelines as PDF and a README. Not a single PDF.
Who needs a brand kit?
Anyone who produces something for the brand without you in the room: the printer, the ad agency, the website developer, the social media freelancer, the partner putting your logo on a poster. The more of them there are, the more time the kit saves.
How much does a brand kit cost?
At a studio it is included in the identity project (€1,200–4,000); as a separate service, for an existing brand, €300–1,000. With a tool that generates the identity, the kit is the export: RHAM produces it from the project, with logos, tokens, guidelines and materials.

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