Brand Canvas
Most SMEs don't have brand guidelines set out for their company, because, well, they have more important things to do - like looking after their customers. The Brand Canvas Template solves this problem by making it easier than ever to bring the key elements of your brand together in one place.
The Canvas will help you maintain standards in all of your marketing content by acting as a one-stop shop for your logo, fonts, colors, email signatures, document templates and, most importantly, your core value proposition.
Guide to Using the Brand Canvas Template
Simply download the template file (.docx format), fill in the fields with your company details and save as a PDF. This can then be sent to staff to ensure your business, and your brand, is consistent across all communication touchpoints.
Below are step-by-step instructions to fill out the Brand Canvas template correctly.

The first thing to do is to update the styles ribbon to your chosen fonts (Home / Styles, right click and click Modify). Then right-click each of the color boxes (Section 5) and fill each with your brand colors. To fill this out properly, you will need to choose:
- Font(s) for each header size and body text
- Color for each header size and body text
- Color for Primary, Secondary, Support and Call to Action use
We will come back to these sections later.

Once you are happy with your Headings, Body Text, colors etc., click Review / Restrict Editing. In the pane that opens check the box for '2. Editing Restrictions' and choose 'Filling in forms'. Click 'Yes, Start Enforcing Protection'. This will turn the canvas into a form, making it easy to fill out the rest.

The first field is your company name in the header - type in your company name and make the brand canvas your own! From there it is a case of following the sections 1 - 7. The first one is looking for your company boilerplate copy and the second your brand values. Simply click the text boxes and replace with your own.

The first box is for your standard logo and the second for a one-color version that can be used on media with color backgrounds. You can then indicate the ideal location for the logo on documents using Document Position.
STEP 5. FONTS & COLORS
If you completed the first step then the fonts will have auto-updated. Simply insert the details (font, color, size) in the grey text area. Same again for colors - just write over the grey text.
STEP 6. EMAIL SIGNATURE & TEMPLATES
For the signature put in your own details and your logo. (When we click 'Stop Protection' at the end you can hyperlink the logo and LinkedIn follow button to your website and LinkedIn respectively).
In Templates & Links, list all of your document templates, again you can hyperlink directly to their location on your company intranet when we're done.
STEP 7. SAVE & EXPORT
Once your happy with your Brand Canvas, click 'Stop Protection'. Then copy the email signature table to your email provider of choice. You can hyperlink your email signature and templates at this time.
Finally click File / Export / Create PDF/XPS - and voila! You're done, and your Brand Canvas is ready to go to all staff, and help to deliver slick marketing communications.