One page brand guidelines: a free template you can copy

That is enough for a young company, and for a team that has no designer yet. Most one-page templates I found stop at logo, color, type and maybe voice. This one adds two things that stop real mistakes: facts you can use and things you never say.

Use a one page guide if:

• You have under 20 people
• You make most things yourself
• Your brand is new, or was never written down

It will not be enough if you have many products, many partners or a lot of print work. For that, read what to include in full brand guidelines.

Copy this. Replace everything in brackets. Do not add sections until someone asks for one.

[COMPANY NAME] BRAND ON ONE PAGE
Owner: [Name]    Updated: [Date]    Files: [Link]

WHO WE ARE
We help [who] do [what], so they get [result].

LOGO
Use this file: [Link]
On light backgrounds: [color version]
On dark backgrounds: [white version]
Smallest size: [X] px wide on screen
Space around it: at least the height of [one letter or shape]
Do not: stretch it, tilt it, recolor it or add effects.

COLORS
Main: [Name] HEX [#000000]
Background: [Name] HEX [#000000]
Text: [Name] HEX [#000000]
Accent: [Name] HEX [#000000] - use it for one thing per page.

FONTS
Headlines: [Font, weight]
Body text: [Font, weight]
If you do not have them: [Backup font]

IMAGES
We use: [real people, real product, real places]
We avoid: [stock handshakes, robots, glowing brains]

HOW WE WRITE
- [Checkable rule: Sentences under 20 words.]
- [Checkable rule: Numbers before adjectives.]
- [Checkable rule: Say "you", not "users".]
Words we use: [list]
Words we avoid: [list]
Right: [A real line from your best work]
Wrong: [A line that does not sound like you]

FACTS YOU CAN USE
Founded: [Year]
Customers we can name: [List]
Numbers we can use: [List with source]

NEVER SAY
[Guarantees, unreleased features, legal claims, comparisons]

ASK BEFORE YOU PUBLISH
New logo use, big claims, press: ask [Name].

Here is how a part of it looks for a made-up company, so you can see the level of detail.

NORTHWAY BRAND ON ONE PAGE
Owner: Sam    Updated: 1 Nov 2026    Files: northway.example/brand

WHO WE ARE
We help warehouse managers find stock faster, so orders ship on time.

COLORS
Main: Deep Navy HEX #12233F
Background: White HEX #FFFFFF
Text: Ink HEX #1A1A1A
Accent: Signal Orange HEX #FF6A13 - use it for one thing per page.

HOW WE WRITE
- Sentences under 20 words.
- Numbers before adjectives.
- Say "you", not "users".
Words we avoid: revolutionary, seamless, cutting-edge
Right: Find any box in 8 seconds.
Wrong: Our cutting-edge platform transforms your warehouse.

NEVER SAY
"100% accurate." "Guaranteed uptime." Anything about features not yet live.

Keep it about this short. If a line does not change what someone does, cut it.

1. Find your real logo files. Look for an SVG or a PDF. If all you have is a blurry PNG, ask for the source. See my list of logo files you should have.

2. Pull the colors from real work. Do not guess. Take the HEX codes from your website. Keep it to 4 colors at most.

3. Pick 2 fonts. Use what your site already uses, if it looks fine. Add a backup that every computer has, like Arial, for decks and email.

4. Write the "who we are" line. Use a real customer's words if you can. If it could fit any company, try again.

5. Write voice rules you can check. "Friendly" cannot be checked. "Under 20 words" can. For more on this, see brand voice guidelines.

6. List your facts. Ask sales what they tell buyers. Mark what is true today and what is coming later.

7. List your never-says. Ask whoever would get the angry call.

Do not spend 3 days on this page. Plain and readable beats pretty.

• Use one A4 page, or one 16:9 slide.
• Put visual parts on the left and words on the right.
• Show the real logo and real color blocks, not just the names.
• Save it as a live doc, not just a PDF. Copying text and HEX codes from a live doc is easy.

A guide nobody opens does nothing. So:

• Use one link. Pin it in Slack or Teams, and add it to the new hire list.
• Keep the owner's name on it. Questions need somewhere to go.
• Put the date on it. An old date tells people to check.
• Paste the voice, facts and never-say parts into your ChatGPT or Claude Project. Now your AI drafts from the same rules. Here is how to set that up for ChatGPT and for Claude.

Give the page to someone who has never seen it. Ask them to make one LinkedIn post using just this page and your files. Watch where they get stuck, and fix those lines.

Then run the same job with AI, with the page loaded. Does it invent a fact? Add the true fact to the list, and the false one to the never-say list.

You will know it is time when these start to happen:

• People ask you for the logo every week
• Every post looks a bit different
• New people make things before they read the page
• You spend your day fixing slides

A page tells people the rules. It does not make the post. That is the gap I build Brand OS Portal for. It is one online place made for your brand, where your team makes posts, banners, signatures and slides.

Jeremy Murray, Founder of KORDIN and Stack8s, said this about the work I did for him: "the guidelines are so clear our team just uses them without asking questions."

One fixed price to build it. A small monthly Care fee keeps it running. Or try the free tools on a real brand, with no email.

What should one page brand guidelines include? Logo rules, colors, fonts, image style, voice rules, approved facts and things you never say. Add an owner's name and a date.

Is one page really enough? For a small team with one product, yes, at the start. It stops being enough when you have many products, partners or people making things every week.

What file format should I use? Use a live doc or a slide that people can copy from. Export a PDF too if partners or printers need one.

What is the difference between this and a brand kit? A brand kit holds your files: logos, colors and fonts. Guidelines tell people how to use them. You need both, and this page links to the kit.

Can AI write this page for me? AI can help you draft it. But it cannot know your approved facts or what you must never promise. You have to add those. Read what AI brand guidelines generators miss.

By Vedran Obradović, Founder & Branding Specialist at Vizura Studio® in Zagreb. 250+ brands in 8 years. Updated 1 November 2026.