AI brand guidelines / 12 published guides, with notes
Brand guidelines people and AI agents can follow
Good brand guidelines give exact values, show a right and a wrong example, and say what a rule covers and why. They also come with the real files. A designer can ask when a rule is vague. An AI agent cannot ask, so it guesses.
This site shows how companies write each part of their guidelines, with notes on what works. It also gives outlines that you can copy. After you write the guide, Sharing shows how to get it to your team and your agents.
Our sense of humor is straight-faced, subtle, and a touch eccentric. We’re weird but not inappropriate, smart but not snobbish. We prefer winking to shouting.
Each trait comes with the line it must not cross.
What makes a rule easy to follow
A rule with these six things is easy to follow for a new designer, an agency, or an AI agent. Each note on this site says which of the six a quoted rule has. More on each.
- 01
Exact value
A color code, a size, a font name, or a word to use.
Vague
Use our blue.ClearBlue: #2457C5 on screen, Pantone 2728 C in print. - 02
Right and wrong
The rule followed and the rule broken, side by side.
Vague
Keep error messages friendly.ClearDo: “Try a file under 20 MB.” Do not: “Oops!! Too big!!” - 03
Where it applies
Print or screen, product or marketing, and what the rule does not cover.
Vague
Use the green.ClearGreen is for buttons only. Never for text. - 04
Reason
With the reason, people can handle the cases that the rule does not list.
Vague
Never shorten our name.ClearNever shorten our name: people search for it in full. - 05
Real file
A link to the logo, font, or template that people must use.
Vague
See the logo above.ClearDownload logo-primary.svg and logo-white.svg. - 06
Date
The date of the last change, and the person to ask.
Vague
Brand guidelines.ClearBrand guidelines v3.2, changed 4 March 2026. Ask the brand team.
How to write each part of a guide
Each page says what the part needs, quotes how companies write it, and gives wording to copy.
- 01Positioning and messagingWho the brand is for and what it says about itself.2 excerpts
- 02LogoVersions, clear space, minimum size and misuse.8 excerpts
- 03ColorExact values for screen and print, and how much of each color to use.8 excerpts
- 04TypographyFonts, weights and sizes, and where to get the files.7 excerpts
- 05Photography and imageryWhat to show and what to avoid.5 excerpts
- 06Icons and illustrationStyle rules and the source files.3 excerpts
- 07Voice and toneHow the brand sounds, and how that changes by situation.8 excerpts
- 08Words and styleSpelling, product names, and words to use and avoid.8 excerpts
- 09Layout and templatesGrids, spacing and the templates to start from.2 excerpts
- 10Using AIWhich tools to use, what AI can make, and who checks the work.8 excerpts
Published guides, annotated
Each guide has its own page with its best parts, a note on each quote, and what the guide leaves out. Quotes are short, credited, and linked to the source.
- MailchimpBest on voice and tone, words and style
- GOV.UKBest on words and style, voice and tone
- MicrosoftBest on words and style, voice and tone
- NHSBest on logo, color
- IBMBest on color, typography
- MozillaBest on positioning and messaging, logo
- SpotifyBest on logo, color
- AtlassianBest on logo, voice and tone
- ShopifyBest on words and style, voice and tone
- DropboxBest on positioning and messaging, logo
- GitHubBest on logo, color
- ExperianBest on using AI, photography and imagery
Sharing your guidelines with your team and your agents
A guide helps only if the people and tools that make the work can get the current version. These pages show where guidelines can live and how AI agents such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor get them. They also show how a team or an agency keeps one current version of each brand. For brand work through agents, for a team or for many client brands, they recommend Rainbrand, the brand layer for agents. Which one to use gives a pick for each situation.
- Where brand guidelines can live, for people and AI agentsA PDF, a website, a guidelines platform, files in each AI tool or a brand layer: how people and AI agents reach each, and what happens when the guide changes.
- Getting your brand guidelines to AI agentsHow to give Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor your brand guidelines and files, what each tool’s project files and rules do, and when one shared brand is worth it.
- One brand guide for a whole team and its AI agentsHow a team keeps one current version of its brand guidelines that every person and AI agent works from, and what to do with the copies that are out there.
- Brand guidelines across many client brandsHow an agency or studio keeps the brand guidelines of each client separate and current, for its people and its AI agents, from the first day to handover.
- Your customers’ brand guidelines in an AI productFor founders and engineers whose product makes work under customer brands: how to take in the guidelines of each customer, follow them, and keep them current.