As humans, we’re hard-wired for recognition. By recognizing patterns and differences, we’re able to sort through all the information that comes at us each time. At the same time, we hope others will recognize us for who we are and what we have to offer.

As publishers, that’s where branding comes in. Building consistency around your content reinforces your brand, ensuring that readers will readily recognize your products and associate them with your vision and purpose.

But developing your brand takes time and forethought. To maximize brand impact, publishers also need to reinforce their branding at every turn. Toward that end, a brand style guide is essential.

Developing a Brand

“Branding is about building an emotional connection with your audience, which helps build trust and credibility,” says Michelle Noel, strategy director at Studio Noel. “To connect emotionally, you need a brand with a clear purpose and a dynamic suite of flexible assets to allow for your content not to become stale.”

For publishers looking to develop their brand, Noel suggests starting with a solid strategy anchored on a brand proposition—the promise on which the brand will deliver. “By defining your purpose, vision, values, and personality, this should then be the common thread that runs throughout all of your content,” she says.

To develop the brand at Cardinal Rule Press, founder Maria Dismondy hosted a team summit for creating, reviewing, and finalizing a house style and brand colors. “Our branding is simple, yet we incorporate characters from our books to add some flair,” she says. “Our logo is on all of our books—a small cardinal is on all of the spines of the books.”

At Patagonia, publisher Karla Olson notes that her company’s branding is an extension of the company’s overall aesthetic. “We will often reach out to the creative director with questions about how elements including
editorial, design, and production—of our books align with the brand guidelines,” she says.

For publishers without an existing brand, Noel suggests using stakeholder interviews, surveys, and focus groups to help with branding decisions. Accessibility is another important consideration. “We all consume content in different ways,” she says. “You want to make sure that your brand and content are as accessible as possible to reach as many people as possible. Work toward Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WACG) for digital projects, and consider elements like type choices, color contrast, logo sizing for legibility, layout, clear hierarchy, and making PDFs accessible.”

Matching Brand to Market

As an author-publisher, Shelley Adina Bates of Moonshell Books works with her cover designer to ensure that the branding of each of her series matches reader expectations. “I also run each cover past my mastermind group to make sure my instincts are on track,” Bates says. “Images, fonts, author name treatment, placement—all are consistent so the books in the series are instantly recognizable in search results.”

With his company’s focus on technology, publisher Richard Hamilton of XML Press aims for attractive, readable, and usable books. “We prioritize readability and usefulness over beautiful or trendy branding,” he says. “We use typography, logo, interior book design, most cover designs, and, to a lesser extent, voice as part of our branding.”

Tapping technology resources, the press uses a DAISY accessibility checker (daisy.org/activities/software/ace) to meet WCAG and IDPF EPUB standards for accessibility. XML’s production process also incorporates automated stylesheets. “This ensures consistency around a variety of branding elements, and it reflects our position as a technical publisher,” Hamilton says.

For her company’s catalog of photography and art books, K.Co Press publisher Stephanie Khattak says that the branding has developed over time. “We didn’t know starting out exactly where our publishing journey would take us,” she says. “But as we saw more possibility and demand for multiple books and types of books, we worked toward a visual brand that would tie everything together across the group while still allowing for creativity and approaching each book’s design with its content, goals, and customer in mind.”

The result is a brand that attends to contrast, font size, and vibrant colors. “Our branding is contemporary, modern, and bright,” she says. “We have a lot of fun with typography and don’t limit the colors or style. Our books incorporate our voice and perspective more than a specific brand palette or logo.”

The goal is for consumers to recognize a K.Co book when they see it on a shelf, Khattak says. And the effort has yielded results. “Our sales have improved since implementing a more cohesive brand,” she says. As important as branding is, she says that publishers need to allow themselves time to get it right. “Go slow and be thoughtful,” she says. “You may not have all the answers until your books are in the market, where it’s easier to get customer feedback and view the books from a customer’s perspective.”

The Style Guide

To build trust, credibility, and brand recognition, Noel recommends incorporating detailed brand guidelines into a brand style guide. “From how the logo should appear on jackets, imprints, and spines to how you photograph the book covers for social media, having guidelines helps multiple teams quickly and effectively create on-brand content,” she says.

A brand style guide should present brand information in a way that’s easy to understand, Noel says. It should also emphasize the importance of accessibility and offer guidance on how to achieve it.

Cardinal Rule Press has a brand guide for each of its imprints, specifying the colors, fonts, and other elements to be used in all social media and marketing efforts. Each imprint’s brand also coordinates in some way with the company’s overall branding. “People are now recognizing us based on our brand and logo,” Dismondy says.

To ensure consistency, Patagonia uses both a design guide and a style guide that includes alternatives to words and phrases the company wants to avoid. Khattak’s K.Co Press has an interior style guide that specifies brand guidelines for the use of fonts, headlines, and captions. The company’s book covers also have a similar look and feel, Khattak says, though they feature different fonts and colors.

Even as a one-person operation, Bates maintains a brand style guide. She describes her guide as “just a couple of sheets with the main elements laid out for my heirs, who will be running the business if I get hit by a bus.”

Assess and Refresh

Developing a brand and implementing a style guide isn’t a one-and-done effort. Periodically, publishers need to assess their brand’s impact and adjust as needed. At the start of a brand project, Noel suggests publishers set clear objectives by which their brand’s success will be measured. An increase in website traffic, social media followers, or simply internal adoption of the brand are among the ways publishers can measure impact. Surveys and interviews with target audiences may also prove helpful, she says.

At XML Press, Hamilton assesses brand effectiveness by weighting sales figures and direct feedback. “Most of our recent adjustments have been regarding accessibility, to ensure that our e-books, primarily, meet the highest possible standards,” he says.

With a smaller operation, Bates adjusts her branding based on A/B testing in her newsletter and consultations with her mastermind and author business groups. “I make adjustments if there is agreement among all three of these groups, not just for one-off comments,” she says.

Even with a well-established brand, Olson notes that her company has adjusted elements of its branding over the years. “In the beginning, we did some photo-heavy coffee table books,” she says. Now, she says, Patagonia is mindful of including “substantive text and a strong, actionable message” integrated with designs that create a cohesive reading experience.

As Khattak points out, brand adjustments don’t have to be big. “There are many very effective changes that are small and feasible,” she says. “Be comfortable with the fact that things might change, and don’t assume every change will necessitate a complete rebrand.”

Brand Results

By engaging in a brand-building process and developing a brand style guide, publishers help their readers readily recognize their books. They make it easy for readers to come back for more.

“Brand consistency is one of the most important things a publisher can do,” Olson says. “That can be consistency in content, but also in design quality and production quality. This will make the reader want to read the next book that your company publishes.”

Refresh Your Brand

What should book publishers consider before undertaking a rebranding or a brand refreshing? Michelle Noel, strategy director at Studio Noel, suggests addressing these questions and concerns:

• Is the brand well-known and loved already, or are you dealing with a brand that has become dated and lacks impact? This will help determine if you are looking for an evolution or a revolution of the brand.
• Do you have any insights into the internal and external perception of the brand?
• What are you looking to achieve with the rebrand? What are the key objectives?
• What are the key challenges you are currently facing?
• Consider the operational, legal, and financial impact of rebranding—the rollout of the new brand versus the return on investment.
• What happens if you stay the same and don’t do a rebrand? Will a competitor take more of the market share? Will you struggle to connect with your audiences?

Components of a Brand Style Guide

Not sure what to include in your brand style guide? Michelle Noel, strategy director at Studio Noel, offers these suggestions for publishers:

• The brand proposition: the promise on which the brand will deliver
• Logo
  • Logo versions and variations
  • Logo colorways
  • Exclusion zone
  • Minimum size
  • Scale and positioning
  • Imprint page
  • Half-title and title pages
  • How not to use the logo
  • Sub-brands
• Typography
  • Fonts
  • Secondary system fonts
  • Type accessibility
• Color
  • Color palette and breakdowns
  • Color accessibility
• Imagery use
  • Photography style/use
  • Graphic devices
  • Infographics and symbols
• Tone of voice
  • Verbal personality
  • Key messaging
  • Writing style (for marketing material)
• Brand in use
  • Application examples: print, social, digital campaigns, website, book covers and spines, merchandise
• Contact details for further help and access to brand assets

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