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Working with businesses that don’t have a formal brand guide can be tricky, especially when you’re tasked with creating social media graphics, advertisements, or other designs. As designers at digital marketing agencies, we’re often balancing the need for quality visuals with clients’ limited budgets, meaning we have to get creative. Here are some practical tips for creating designs without a brand guide to ensure a consistent and professional look.
Start by identifying the fonts your clients are already using, especially on their website or other marketing materials. You don’t want your design to feel disconnected from their existing presence. A great tool for this is the Chrome extension TypeScan What Font Finder, which allows you to quickly identify fonts from any webpage. If you’re able to identify their font, of course, use it! If not, or if the font isn’t available for you to use, find something comparable, getting as close as you can to the one they are using.
That said, when it comes to social media, you can have a bit more flexibility. Feel free to add one or two supporting fonts, but remember to stay consistent and make sure the new fonts complement their existing ones. Consistency is key to maintaining a professional image, even when a brand guide is missing.
Color is a powerful tool in design, and it’s important to match your client’s color scheme as closely as possible. Use the ColorZilla Chrome extension to grab the exact color codes from their website or marketing materials. This ensures your designs feel like a natural extension of their existing branding.
If they don’t have a consistent color scheme (or worse, their color choices are chaotic), you might need to take charge. In these cases, it’s helpful to create a mini mood board or color palette you can reference for all future designs. Even just a few harmonious colors can bring consistency and professionalism to their visuals.
Whether you’re using client-supplied photos or sourcing stock images, it’s important to match the style of photos they’re already using. Consistency in photography style (color tones, lighting, and subject matter) helps to maintain a cohesive brand identity, even if one doesn’t officially exist.
If your client doesn’t have a library of images, or their photos are all over the place in terms of quality, you’ll want to set some basic guidelines. Look for stock photos that align with their target audience and overall aesthetic. Some of our favorite free stock photography sites include Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay.
For clients with no brand guidelines or inconsistent branding, it’s up to you to define a direction. This might sound daunting, but it can actually streamline your work and save you time in the long run. Start by putting together a mini mood board.
It doesn’t have to be anything overly complex. Just a basic set of guidelines will give you a solid foundation for all future designs. It will also help the client see the value in consistent branding, which could lead to a conversation about investing in a proper brand guide.
If you’re consistently encountering clients with no brand guidelines or poor-quality assets, it might be worth pitching your design services. A well-designed brand guide will pay for itself in the long run, saving both you and your client time and hassle. When a client sees the value of having a cohesive visual identity, it can open the door to more creative opportunities and better results for both parties.
These tips are meant to help you navigate the challenges of designing for clients without established brand guidelines. A bit of extra effort upfront to create consistency in fonts, colors, and visuals will make your designs stand out—and it’s a win for both you and the client!
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Have a specific service in mind or looking to share more about your project goals? Fill out the form on this page and one of our sales specialist will get back to you ASAP.