brand-style-guide

1# Brand Style Guide
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3Document the brand system so other people can use it without ambiguity. This is the artifact that lives longest. Designers, developers, agencies, and vendors will reference it for years. Build it like a reference manual, not a presentation.
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5This skill assumes the brand identity is designed (run `brand-identity` first if not). The output of this skill is the canonical reference document.
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7---
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9## When to use
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11- Creating brand guidelines for a finished identity
12- Documenting an existing brand that has no formal guide
13- Auditing an existing style guide for gaps or inconsistencies
14- Building a brand book to hand to vendors, partners, or new team members
15- Updating a guide after a major brand evolution
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17## When NOT to use
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19- The brand identity is not yet designed (use `brand-identity`)
20- Brand voice work specifically (use `brand-voice` for the voice doc, then integrate)
21- Building UI components (use `design-standards` or `design-system`)
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23---
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25## Required inputs
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27- Finished brand identity (logo, colors, typography, imagery direction, motion principles)
28- Brand voice and tone documentation (or sufficient inputs to write a voice section)
29- Application examples that show the brand in real contexts
30- Decisions on what is mandatory vs flexible vs forbidden
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32---
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34## The framework: 8 sections
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36A complete style guide has eight sections. Most guides skip 2 or 3 of them and create downstream confusion. Build all 8 from the start.
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38### 1. Story
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