Branding. A term that strikes both fear and passion in the hearts of creatives everywhere  – and such exacting work! But alas, it must be done: branding influences some of the most basic daily decisions you make as a company and can be one of the most influential documents in a startup’s growth arsenal. So without further ado, let’s look at 25 brands that have absolutely nailed their branding guidelines!

1. Uber

If we were Harvey Specter and we could afford to hire our own black Lincoln driver, we totally, totally would. Turns out though, it’s rather cost prohibitive for most of us mere mortals. Enter these guys, who originally branded themselves as a “black car” limo service that you could share with your friends at taxi prices. While their positioning has evolved with time, their branding guidelines still reflect that convenient luxury; black and white, simple, streamlined. Their font style is slick, well spaced and you guessed it… black.

Catching the consistency Uber is putting down here, folks?

2. Lyft

Trying to carve a space for themselves in the Uber-dominated market, these guys nailed their brand by being everything that Uber isn’t: hot pink, and full of panache and flair. They opted for a relatable brand identity, and their style guidelines reflect that. Their color palette is bright and colorful, their chosen font has bounce and fun, and their loading graphic is a car driving around in circles. If that isn’t relatable content, I don’t know what is.

3. Airbnb

While the Airbnb experience now seems obvious and ubiquitous, it’s important to remember that these people managed the impressive feat of taking an idea that seemed unpalatable and risky, and focus on what makes it practical. They aptly tuned in to a generation that makes less money, and – if even possible – is shaped by a wanderlust even more intense than generations previous. You can see their commitment to exotic travel made attainable in every photo and location choice. Their guidelines serve as a great reminder that branding isn’t all about color and font choice. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words has become a cliché for a reason.

4. Slack

As Entrepreneur points out, Slack is trying to kill email, and they’re doing it by providing a workplace solution that toes the tricky line between being relatable and professional. Check these babies out, and feast your eyes on the kind of balletic skill you can employ to build client trust all the while maintaining your street cred as the ultimate professional.

5. Android

These guidelines read more like an ethos, and you find yourself being drawn in one interesting graphic at a time as they take you through their brand foundation, color, shape, motion… It’s like a cute boy at the bar that lures you in with a great smile, but has the shiny personality, love of comic books and epic dance moves to match.

6. LinkedIn

In a market already dominated by Facebook, Twitter and a host of other social media platforms, LinkedIn swung for the fences and hit a branding home run by establishing themselves as a social media platform for professional networking. On top of that, they provide digital downloads of their brand assets, which is a great way to ensure compliance and consistency. As a brand, it has the functionality of it’s more casual peers, but wears a pantsuit and tie – forgoing the sneakers and jeans motif that the Zuck has practically trademarked over at Facebook.

7. Instagram

Similarly to LinkedIn, Instagram launched itself into a largely captivated market, but distinguished itself by focusing on visual content like pictures, short videos etc. So – in a surprise to no one – their brand guidelines focus heavily on how to pictorially represent the company, their user interface, as well as using their logo. Say cheese!

8.  Kickstarter

These guys crushed their branding guidelines by distilling them like a finely aged whiskey into three golden rules for how to use their brand. They cut to the chase, provided clear cut directions, and on top of it, provided easy access to their brand assets. ‘Nuff said.

9. eBay

The folks at eBay did a great job of integrating their branding guidelines with their technical compatibility ones. Not only are they helping people use their product more efficiently, but they’re helping them to do it in the most brand compliant way possible. Everyone wins!

10. PayPal

These guys are responsible for some of the most comprehensive branding guidelines we’ve come across including personality, tone of voice, color palette, co-branding opportunities  – the works! We’ll let you dive right in, as they truly speak for themselves.

11. Shopify

As a company that helps the average Joe set up their own branded online shop, it only makes sense that they would have well-developed brand guidelines of their own. We love these guidelines as a simple, clear-cut example of the do’s and don’ts.

12. Wayfair

As an online retailer for all things home, Wayfair’s branding guidelines focus mostly on the same attention to detail and aesthetic they bring to their curated product selection; outlining color palettes and how various styles, colors, and tastes all come together in one place. That careful design is everything that Wayfair hopes and promises to be – and we think they deliver. See what we did there? Because….they deliver?

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