Design your Brand Book so your team stays aligned
Most brand drift starts quietly with one-off file tweaks. This guide shows how to set up an active Brand Book in Gesso that catches subtle inconsistencies before they become costly rework.
Your Brand Book gives Gesso a clear set of choices to check against: color, type, voice, mark, and rules. Set those choices once, then use Against the work to find places where active documents have drifted.
You can open the Brand Book from the shell or workspace menu. The book belongs to the organization you are viewing, so check the workspace name before you edit it.
Set up the five parts of your Brand Book
- Select Set up to open the Brand Book wizard. You can leave and return without starting over.
- Add named colors in Color. Use names that explain the job, such as
background,ink, oraccent, instead of names such asblue 2. - Add the exact font faces you use in Type, then assign roles such as
Display,Title, andBody. - Write short voice guidance in Voice. Add preferred language and words to avoid when those distinctions will help another person write.
- Upload the main PNG or JPEG mark in Mark so the team has one shared reference.
- Add measurable expectations in Rules, including minimum readable size and clear space where those checks apply.
- Finish the wizard and return to the Brand Book overview.
If the organization already has design work in Gesso, use Propose from work in Color or Type. Review what Gesso finds before accepting it. Existing use is evidence, but it does not automatically make every value a brand rule.
Check current documents against the book
- Open Against the work.
- Select Check now.
- Review the findings for color, type, copy, minimum size, and clear space. Gesso only reports checks it can measure from the document.
- Open an individual finding to see which document needs attention.
- Apply a direct fix when the suggested change is right, or open the source document when the layout needs a human decision.
Run this check before you create a large campaign set. It is easier to correct the source than to repair every output later. The source-first campaign guide shows how to carry those decisions into a multi-format project.
Brand Book checklist
- Color names explain how each color should be used.
- Display, title, and body roles use the correct font faces.
- Voice guidance is short enough to use while writing.
- The current mark is uploaded once and easy to find.
- Minimum-size and clear-space rules match real production needs.
- Against the work has been run before the next handoff.
Pro tips
- Start with the rules people need every week. Add edge cases when they become real.
- Review proposed colors and type before adding them to the book.
- Update the Brand Book when a decision changes, then rerun the check.
For social work, pair these rules with campaign safe zones so correct brand choices also survive platform overlays and crops.
Common questions
Yes. Every configuration change is saved automatically as you progress through each section. You can leave the wizard and return at any time.
See how Gesso keeps design editable
Explore the editable, local-first canvas the Brand Book keeps in sync.