Small business brand kits
What a small business brand kit should hold, and where to keep it
The logo files, colour palette, fonts and templates a small business needs to look the same everywhere it shows up, and a simple way to keep all of it in one place.
logo · colour · type · templates
The contents
What a brand kit holds
Five parts, each simple on its own. Together they let anyone who makes something for the business, from a printer to a new hire, get the logo, colours and type right without asking.
- chip a.01 Logo files
Every version of the mark
The main logo, a stacked or horizontal variant, a small icon, and each in full colour, one colour, black and white. Vector masters as SVG or PDF, with PNG copies for screens.
- chip a.02 Colour palette
Colours written as numbers
A main colour, one or two supporting colours and the neutrals, each with its HEX and RGB value for screens and CMYK for print, so nobody has to pick a colour by eye.
- chip a.03 Fonts
A heading face and a text face
Usually two typefaces, the weights you use, a fallback for email and documents where the brand font is not installed, and where the font files and licences live.
- chip a.04 Templates
The things you make every week
Social posts, a letterhead, an invoice, a slide or two, a flyer and an email signature, set up once with the logo, colours and fonts already in place.
- chip a.05 Keeping it
One folder everyone uses
A single shared location with a clear structure, one person who owns it, and a short page of usage notes so the current version is always the one being used.
How it is written
Plain advice about brand files
Making a kit is mostly organisation rather than design. The writing here stays practical about formats, tools and cost.
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Formats named exactly
When a file type matters it is named, with what it is for: a vector master, a transparent PNG, a print PDF.
SVG, PNG, PDF, EPS -
Tools described in words
Where a logo maker or brand-kit tool comes up, it is described plainly. No star ratings, no scores, no numbered leaderboards.
no scores, no tiers -
Prices with their date
If a price is mentioned, it is the price the provider publishes, with the date it was read and any introductory rate kept separate.
ongoing price, then promotions -
Free where free is enough
A small business does not always need a paid service to hold its brand files. Where a simple folder does the job, that is said.
the plainest option first
Putting one together
Building a kit, one part at a time
A sensible order for a business that has a logo but has never gathered the rest of it into a kit.
- step i
Gather what already exists
Collect every logo file, colour reference and font you have used, from the website, old print orders and the designer who made the mark. Most of a kit is found before it is made.
- step ii
Settle the master logo and its variants
Choose the version that is the logo, then export the variants from that one master so they match. Keep the vector original alongside every PNG.
- step iii
Fix the colour values
Write down the exact values for each colour in HEX, RGB and CMYK. Check the text colours are readable against the backgrounds you plan to use.
- step iv
Choose the type pair
Pick a heading face and a text face, note the weights, and name a safe fallback for places the brand fonts cannot reach.
- step v
Build the templates, then put it all in one place
Make the few templates you will reuse, write a one-page usage note, and move everything into a single shared folder with dated versions.
One place
Keeping the kit together
A kit only works if there is one copy of it. Keep it in a single shared folder, give one person the job of updating it, and share a view-only link with everyone else.
Date each version. When the logo or a colour changes, move the old files to an archive folder rather than deleting them, so older material can still be matched.
A dedicated brand-kit tool can help a larger team. A small business with a handful of files is often well served by a plain cloud folder with a numbered structure.
Brand kit, a folder layout
- 01 Logo, masters in SVG and PDF, exports in PNG, a folder per variant
- 02 Colour, one file listing every value, HEX, RGB and CMYK
- 03 Type, font files or links, licences, and the fallback
- 04 Templates, social, documents, slides, signature
- 05 Usage notes, one page: clear space, minimum size, what not to do
- 06 Archive, retired versions, dated, kept out of the way
The questions
What a small business asks about its brand kit
- Which logo files does a small business actually need, and in which formats?
- How many colours belong in a palette, and which values should be written down?
- How do you choose fonts that work on a website, in documents and in print?
- Which templates are worth setting up first?
- Where should a brand kit live so everyone uses the current version?