Users who can create guides from scratch, and administrators, will see a slightly different interface when they go to create a new guide. After selecting “Add New Guide” and the guide type, you will see the following dialog:
If no template is selected, the guide can be designed either by coding HTML / CSS, or using the WYSIWYG editor in the interface. If you select to use a template, the template design will be applied, the dialog will change to prompt you with the variable fields that are defined in the template, and the WYSIWYG editor will be disabled.
When a template is applied, you can view the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript associated with the template, but you cannot edit without disconnecting it from the template. Clicking the lock icon next to the template selection dropdown with disconnect the guide from the template. Note that in this case, the guide will remain independent from the template, and won’t be able to inherit any subsequent changes to the template design.
Templates are edited in the same interface where they are created. To edit the design of a guide, simply navigate back to the Templates section within Global Settings, and click the edit icon next to the template that you would like edit. This will re-open the design interface allowing you to make changes.
When changes are made to a template, the status of any guide that uses the template will now display “Needs Review”. Note that the guide status (disabled, draft, staging, or public) hasn’t actually changed. This is just a notification alert. If a guide is public, it will remain live. The list of templates will update to show you the number of guides that have been impacted by the change.
To review the guides, click on the “Show Guides” option, and scroll to the guide you wish to review. When you select the guide to open it, the guide menu will open with a prompt alerting you to the template change and inviting you to preview the impact of the changes on this particular guide.
The guide will open showing you a preview of the guide with the template updates applied. You can compare the changes against the old version of the guide by mousing over the “Old Version” text in the alert under "Content/Design". If you are satisfied that the template changes have not caused any issues with the guide, click the “Save” button to apply the changes. This will apply the new template changes, and return the guide to its previous status. So if the guide was public, then the changes are immediately published. Note that for public guides the old versions will continue to be shown to visitors until the changes are reviewed and approved.
Find a style guide template that you like and customize it for your brand to save time (and money) on creating your document from scratch.
Find a style guide template that you like and customize it for your brand to save time (and money) on creating your document from scratch.
When it comes to branding, we all know that consistency is key, but in order to achieve that you need a solid style guide.
This is especially true when you create a lot of branded content or work with many designers.
However—there's a problem:
Creating your guidelines can take a really long time—often long weeks or months.
That's why it's helpful to jump start your style guide creation with a great, design-ready template.
Thing about it—you have to figure out what to include, then lay out the content, design the book, write descriptions and annotations—the process can be very time consuming.
Download Free Premium VectorsUsing template to create a brand style guide.
Save yourself time and effort by customizing one of the templates from my list that fits your needs best.
Whether you’re looking for an InDesign, Photoshop, illustrator, Keynote, Powerpoint or even a GoogleSlides template—I got you covered.
Looking to creating a simple style guide or a comprehensive brand guidelines? In landscape or portrait orientation?
No matter what your preferences are, I include on my list something for everyone.
At the same time I also make sure that all templates are well designed.
Check out my list of 50+ best style guide templates to download in 2021.
I organized them into 10 categories that feature top 5 templates in each one—making it a list of 50 templates total.
PS. If you want to learn how to create a style guide—check out my YouTube video.
In the first category I feature just simple one-page templates, also called brand boards or style sheets—they will get you started with the basics.
A good brand board is an absolute must-have for any designer!