Discover tools and methods for creating brand collateral in Illustrator.
Understanding a brand guide
A brand guide outlines the rules of a brand’s identity. Think of a brand guide as a blueprint that ensures consistent branding. It encapsulates the various branding elements and how they can be used to create a clear and compelling brand experience.
Style guidelines are often a part of a brand guide and can include things like:
- Typeface formatting, and different methods of application
- Variations of the logo, including use examples
- Image rules of use and styling guides
- Color palettes
- Illustrations and icons
A brand guide can also include parameters around the brand’s voice, overall messaging direction, and much more.
The most common applications of visual brand identity include different types of print and digital collateral, such as:
- Logo
- Business card
- Letterhead
- Website
- Product packaging
- Email design
- Social media posts
A brand guide is meant to make it easy to replicate your brand’s voice through the collateral pieces you create. The guide should set out guidelines but still allow for creativity. With a brand guide in place, your collateral can be cohesive and lead with a single voice. Let’s look at some of the key tools and methods for creating brand collateral in Illustrator.
Creating brand collateral pieces with artboards
In a single document, you can create all of the collateral pieces you need by defining them with the Artboard tool. You can customize each artboard to a specific piece of collateral and easily move assets between artboards for the different pieces you’re creating.
Creating uniform colors for your collateral
Colors in brand collateral are typically saved as swatches in the Swatches panel for consistency and reuse. The Color Guide panel provides inspiration and allows you to develop custom color shades, complementary colors, and more based on a single color.
Globally edit shared content across collateral pieces
Often, your collateral can contain multiple copies of similar objects, such as graphic elements or logos. With Global Editing in Illustrator, you can easily edit all similar objects in one step.
Capture and share brand assets with libraries
Save visual identity elements, like your logo, colors, and font, to a Creative Cloud Library. With Libraries, you can organize and access your assets from all of your Adobe desktop and mobile apps. You can then share your library with your team to keep them up to date on the latest brand elements.
Quickly and easily share your brand collateral
Using the Package command, Illustrator copies the Illustrator document, any necessary fonts, linked graphics, and a package report for a smooth handoff.
You can also export each collateral piece in just the right format for the job using the Export For Screens command.
