Brand systems: colours, fonts and logos that belong together
A palette and a font list don't say what goes with what. A system does: in Melon Cut Guidelines, each system is a complete look - background, text and accent colours, heading and body fonts, and your logo at every size - defined once and used wherever it applies.
- colour slots in a system
- 10
- fonts: main, headings and sub-headings
- 3
- logos, from the main logo to the favicon
- 4
Brand systems, step by step
Create a system
In the Systems tab, name the look - Light, Dark, Print, Festive - and describe when to use it.
Fill the slots
Pick its colours from your palette, its fonts from your font library and its logos from your images. Most slots you leave empty fall back to the main ones.
Use it
Show the system as a block on the Usage page, or give a usage section the system as its theme.
What a system holds
A system is built from the assets already in your libraries, so it never holds a stray copy of a colour or a logo. Change a colour in the library and every system that uses it changes too.
- Background, text and accent colours
- Featured versions of each, for headers and headings
- Muted versions of each, for secondary areas and sub-headings
- An icon colour
- A main font, a heading font and a sub-heading font
- A main logo, a simplified logo, a submark and a favicon
Fallbacks that keep it simple
You do not have to fill all 10 colour slots, 3 fonts and 4 logos. Featured and muted text and accents fall back to the main ones, heading fonts fall back to the main font, and a missing logo size uses the nearest one you did provide.
One look per situation
Most brands need more than one look: light and dark, screen and print, everyday and seasonal. Give each its own system, with a usage note, the markets it applies to and guidance items that explain how to use it.
Systems shape the page
A usage section or block can take a system as its theme, so that part of your guidelines shows itself in that look. Readers see the dark version of your brand on a dark section instead of having to imagine it.
Brand systems: the details
- Colours
- 10 slots: background, text and accent, featured and muted versions, icon
- Fonts
- Main, headings and sub-headings
- Logos
- Main logo, simplified logo, submark and favicon
- Also on a system
- A usage note, markets and guidance items
- Used for
- Usage blocks and section themes
What is a brand system?
It is a named combination of a brand's colours, fonts and logos that work together - a light look and a dark look, for example - saved so everyone uses the same combination.
Do I have to fill every slot?
No. Most slots fall back to the main colour, font or logo when you leave them empty, so a simple brand can define a system with just a few choices.
What is the difference between a submark and a favicon?
A submark is a compact version of your logo for small spaces, such as a profile picture. A favicon is the smallest version, used in browser tabs. A system holds both, next to the main and simplified logos.
Works well with
- Brand guidelines Brand color palette Colour swatches with HEX, RGB and CMYK, each with Copy.
- Brand guidelines Brand typography Live type samples, font roles and downloads where allowed.
- Brand guidelines Logo download Original logo files, or converted PNG, JPEG, PDF, WebP and GIF.
- Brand guidelines Brand guidelines maker Build guidelines on the page itself, on the web or in the apps.
People also ask
- Brand guidelines What should brand guidelines include? Brand guidelines should include your logos and how to use them, your colour palette with exact codes, your fonts and type styles, the look of your imagery, and your voice and tone. Strong guidelines also hold the brand's foundation - mission, vision, values and audience - plus downloadable files, so people can act on the rules, not just read them.
- Brand guidelines How do I make AI images on-brand? Give the AI your brand, not just a prompt: your colours, fonts, photo style and the rules for your logo. Describing them in every prompt helps, but results still drift. A tool that reads your published brand guidelines does it consistently. In Melon Cut Design, add your brand's @username and every result follows its guidelines, with your real logo placed afterwards.
Put your brand at one link
Complete looks: 10 colour slots, 3 fonts and 4 logos.