How to actually use your brand guidelines
A “good enough” brand might get you through early traction. But when it’s time to scale, "functional" starts feeling... flat.
Let’s be honest—if your logo, pitch deck, or product visuals still look like they were built for your MVP, you’re probably overdue for a brand checkup. And no, this doesn’t mean you need a full rebrand. But it does mean you should take 15 minutes to audit your brand assets before they quietly kill your momentum.
As a thank you…
At the bottom of this post is a link to download our Brand Asset Checklist. Enjoy!
Start with your deck. Seriously.
Your pitch deck isn’t just a formality. It’s often the first and only thing someone sees before deciding if you’re worth a meeting. Ask yourself:
Does every slide feel like it belongs to the same company?
Is your logo crisp, clear, and not awkwardly squashed in a corner?
Are your charts legible—or crammed into oblivion?
Branding should
inspire,
not just inform
Great branding doesn’t just “work”. It adds gravity. It makes your team proud to share. It makes investors pause and say, “okay, they’re serious.”
On the flip side:
Blurry logos? Red flag.
Inconsistent fonts? Distracting.
Off-brand colors? Confusing.
These things don’t scream “disqualify”—but they do chip away at credibility. And credibility is fragile.
Quick Audit Checklist
Here’s a fast, no-BS way to evaluate your brand right now:
Logo: Is it sharp, legible, and properly sized everywhere it appears?
Typography: Are your fonts consistent across decks, docs, and your site?
Color Palette: Are you using a clear, recognizable set of brand colors?
Image Quality: No pixelation. No weird crops. Keep it clean.
File Access: Can your team find your brand assets without digging through inboxes?
You don’t need fancy.
you need consistent.
You don’t need to look like a Fortune 500 company. But you do need to look like you belong in the room.
We build brands that scale with you—not ones that break every time you launch something new. And we design systems that make it easy for your team to keep things clean, on-brand, and conversion-ready.
A good brand says: “We’re figuring it out.”
A great one says: “We already have.”