A fit-out or construction firm puts its name on a lot of things: hoardings, site signs, hard hats, vehicles, proposals, the capability statement, the website and the posts your team shares. Different people make them at different times, often from whatever files were closest. A client who passes your site, reads your proposal and then checks your website should feel they've met the same company three times.
How the pieces drift apart
Nobody decides to break the brand. It happens through ordinary work:
- The site team orders signs from the sign maker's own template.
- Each proposal starts as a copy of the last one, and small changes pile up.
- The website was built by another agency, to rules nobody wrote down.
- New staff rebuild the logo from an email signature or a screenshot.
Each one is a small slip. Put them side by side and the firm looks less organised than it is.
Set the rules once
Write a short set of brand rules for the people who make things, rather than for the boardroom. It should cover:
- the logo files, and which version goes on dark, light and busy backgrounds;
- the smallest the logo can go, and a one-colour version for engraving, embroidery and vinyl;
- the colours, with the codes for print, screen and paint;
- two fonts at most, and where each one goes;
- what a good project photo looks like.
Keep it to a few pages, so people will open it.
Give each team files it can use
Rules help most when the files people reach for already follow them. Each team needs its own set:
- the site team: print-ready artwork for signs, hard hats and vehicles, so suppliers print yours instead of their own;
- the bid team: proposal and capability statement templates in Word, PowerPoint or InDesign, with the styles locked;
- marketing: post templates and a folder of approved photos;
- the website: built on the same rules, on a platform your team can update.
Keep it all in one shared folder and send suppliers there.
Check the pieces side by side
Once or twice a year, put it all in one place: a photo of a site sign, a hard hat, your latest proposal, the capability statement, the website on a laptop and a few recent posts. Look for the piece that doesn't match, and fix that one first.
Do the same whenever a new sign maker, printer or web developer starts work. Send them the rules with the brief.
A quick check across every piece
- Is there one current logo file, and does everyone know where it is?
- Do your site signs use the same colours as your proposals?
- Would a client know your proposal and your website came from the same firm?
- Can your team start a new proposal without rebuilding the layout?
- Does every new supplier get the rules before they start?