A brand guideline for social media: a consistent visual style
A social account where every post looks styled differently doesn't get remembered, even with good content. A guideline isn't a creative constraint — it's what turns recognition into something that compounds.
Why a guideline, not a full brand book
A full brand book describes every brand asset and is usually overkill for a single task — running social media. A social media guideline is a compact 5–10 page document focused only on what the person building a daily post or story actually needs.
Such a guideline can be built quickly even for a company without a full corporate identity — an already-approved logo and palette are enough to build working rules around, for one channel.
What the minimal set includes
A feed grid: a defined pattern of alternating photos, text cards and illustrations — not a rigid checkerboard, but a logic that makes the profile feel cohesive across several consecutive posts.
Text-card templates: heading placement, spacing, font size for 2–3 standard formats — a quote, an announcement, a list. Staff don't reinvent the layout each time; they pick a ready template and swap the text.
Story rules: logo or watermark position, a safe zone for text accounting for the app's own interface overlay, consistent photo colour treatment.
Colour and typography in compact form
Two or three colours from the already-approved palette and one font for card headings are enough — social media doesn't need the full breadth of palette a corporate identity carries, but it needs strict discipline applying it, precisely because of posting frequency.
Fix a single photo colour treatment — specific saturation, temperature and contrast settings. Inconsistent photo editing between posts breaks the sense of a cohesive profile faster than inconsistent text templates do.
How the guideline works in practice
Build ready templates in the editor the team actually uses, not only as a PDF describing the rules. A template that must be reassembled each time from a text description gets used less than a ready file where you just drop in new text and a photo.
Check compliance not only when the guideline is approved but again a month or two after launch — inconsistency usually accumulates gradually, as several people each drift slightly from the rules under time pressure.
Timeline and cost
A compact social media guideline with ready post and story templates: from 1,500,000 UZS, about a week, given an existing logo and palette.
Developing the guideline together with a basic corporate identity costs less than commissioning them separately, since palette and typography get decided once for every asset at the same time.