How Brand Owners Can Create Their Own Killer Brand Book Using A Notion Template

Are you a brand owner looking for a way to bring consistency and clarity to your brand? A brand book is an essential tool for any business that wants to ensure that its brand is properly represented and remains consistent across all channels. In this blog, we'll discuss how brand owners can create their own killer brand book using a Notion template. You'll gain an understanding of the value of having a brand guidelines, how to create your own from scratch, or by using a brand book Notion template (I've created one here).

What's a brand book?

A brand book is a document that outlines the core components of your brand identity, such as its mission, vision, values, voice, visual identity, logo usage, typography, and more. Having a brand book will help ensure that all communications across all channels represent the same message and feel - from the website and social media, to advertisements, packaging, and any other marketing materials.

Companies should share brand books with employees and other stakeholders such as PR agencies or product developers. Doing so will ensure that everyone involved in representing the company's brand remains on the same page, delivering consistent voice, messaging and visuals.

What are the benefits of storing a brand book on Notion?

Notion is a great tool for storing and sharing your brand book with any relevant stakeholders in your business. Notion provides an easy way to create an organised and centralised space that keeps everyone on the same page. It also helps streamline communication so all parties involved can access relevant information quickly and accurately. Moreover, you can update documents in real-time as well as add comments or ask questions directly within the platform. All of this makes Notion an ideal tool for storing, managing and communicating company branding efforts. You can set up a free Notion account to get started here.

How do you structure a brand book?

I've studied and created countless brand books in my time, which is why I've built the ultimate brand book structure in the Notion template for businesses to use here. There are many other sites where you can find Notion templates, such as Etsy or Template Road. Before you head there, we suggest you follow the guide below!

Using the brand book Notion template

The "about" section of your brand book

The about section of a brand book is an important part of your Notion setup. It's where you can provide an overview of the company behind your brand, giving people a better understanding of what you do and who you are. You can include details like when the business was established, key members of the team, the unique selling point of your business, key features of your product/service and more. All of this helps to give readers a glimpse into the heart and soul of your company - its personality, culture and history - so they can connect with it in a meaningful way.

Outlining your mission and vision in your Notion brand book

Next up, you'll want to have a good think about your business's mission and vision.

Your mission statement defines your business goals and objectives. It should excite both your customers and employees, because it's the statement under which your business lives by and gives everyone a clear message of what the business is looking to achieve. For example:

"Our mission is to empower brand owners with the knowledge and tools needed to create their own killer brand book using a Notion template. We strive to provide clarity and consistency in order to ensure your business's brand is represented properly across all channels."

Ok maybe that's not my company mission, but it's definitely the mission statement of this blog 😉

The vision is the long-term impact that you want to make with your mission. It will be both inspirational and aspirational, clearly showing what the businesses ambitions are, and the real purpose of your brand. Have a think about why your products/services are so important, what makes your business unique and how you'd like your business to be described.

Our vision is to create a unique and inspiring guide that empowers brand owners to reach their full potential. We want our brand to be seen as the go-to resource for those looking to improve their marketing through innovative, creative templates.

Creating your bank of logos in your brand book Notion template

This is where you provide a bank of logo designs to choose from so that you can keep consistent branding across all your marketing materials. Your bank of logos should include sketches and colour variations to ensure every aspect of your logo looks professional and reflects your business's values.

This is where you can also provide guidelines on how not to use your business logo. For example, using a grey variation of your logo on a black background might not let it stand out, so you will want to tell people to use the white version instead.

Uploading your fonts in the typography section

Generally a brand will have 2-3 fonts used in headers, sub-headings, bodies of text, website buttons... you get the picture. In your brand book Notion template, use any links where product designers or marketing employees can go to download the font onto their laptops, and make sure you have the right licenses in place to use the typographies.

Uploading your colour palette into your brand book Notion template

A brand's colour palette is an integral part of creating a cohesive and consistent look for your business. It helps to bring personality and character to your brand, as well as give it recognition. When picking colours for your brand, it is important to keep in mind how they will make people feel when looking at them. Different hues can evoke different emotions, so be sure to choose wisely! Make sure to have a few accent colours that you use sparingly, as having too many can be overwhelming. Having a solid colour palette in place ensures that all branding materials match, giving a unified look and experience no matter what product or service the customer may be interacting with.

The brand book Notion template gives you an easy place to upload all of your colours, including their various colour codes, so that you can easily share them to your staff, designers or other stakeholders.

Thinking about your editorial identity in the Notion template

A brand's editorial identity should reflect the unique personality of its colour palette but in written form. It outlines the companies tone of voice, spelling preferences, bullet-point usage and more. We've included some handy points you should think about in the template.

Writing in any business should be clear and concise, avoiding overly complex words or jargon so that it is accessible to all readers regardless of their reading level. The Notion template can provide an easy way to stay organised with your content pieces and branding materials, ensuring that everything looks cohesive when published. When crafting content for your brand, take into consideration how each piece fits in with the overall voice of your business and ties back to the core message you are trying to convey.

Branding your visual identity

The visual identity section of your brand book will be predominately used by your marketing team: Whether it's outlining templates to use for social media, UX and UI considerations when building a website, or even instructions around the feel of any photography you source or commission.

This is the section of your brand book where you will pull together everything you have outlined above, and put it into practice with some real-world examples and templates. For inspiration on how to create your visual identity, head over to platforms such as Dribbble.com.

Creating a media kit to share externally

A media kit is an essential tool for any brand, organisation or business that wants to share information with its audience. It serves as a comprehensive collection of materials designed to inform and promote the brand externally. A well-crafted media kit will include all relevant information about the company, including its history, mission statement, contact details, images, and any other relevant resources. By providing this valuable content in one place, it helps potential customers, press outlets, and partners understand the purpose and values behind your organisation.

Notion will keep your brand looking professional and accessible. With it, you won't have to worry about exporting files or untidy emails - just send out a link and voila!

Need help building your brand strategy?

Maybe you want a pair of eyes to give your brand a refresh, or maybe you want to throw it in the bin and start again... Check out how I help businesses with their brand here.

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