1- What is a graphic charter?
Your company has finally been created or is about to be created and you are tackling the key issue of your image. Of course, you will need a logo. And the graphic studio you’re talking to will ask you weird questions like “And I guess you’ll need a graphic charter too? ». And then you take a worried look at your partners and you find the same dubious look… a what!!?
A graphic charter is a collection of the 10 commandments of your visual identity. It is a document that will serve as a visual reference point, a set of rules that will define how and under what conditions you will use your visual elements and in fine, the tool that will make you exist by association in people’s minds.
2- Objectives of a graphic charter
The purpose of a graphic charter is to ensure consistency and harmonization in all your communication media, whether it is a paper medium (business cards, flyers, posters, envelopes, letterheads, etc. or the classic package of a good graphic design agency), a physical medium (sign, window, tarpaulin, vehicle, presentation stand, marketing material, T-shirt, etc.), a visual identity (logo, logo, logo, etc.) or a visual identity (logo, logo, logo, etc.).), a virtual support (electronic presentation, video, multimedia, website, email, etc.) or anything else that may arise as a new graphic creation!
This concerns your company and its staff as well as your customers and suppliers. Any document that comes from your company must be identifiable at first glance.
If your graphic charter is respected, your image will always be the same whatever the medium. Look at the number of companies that have a strong graphic identity! This is the result of a good graphic charter used and respected in all their communications.
3- Components of a graphic charter
What exactly do we find in this graphic charter? We now know that it is a set of rules, but about what?
- The Logo: Your logo is the keystone of your graphic identity!
You have certainly already seen presentations or documents where a logo is stretched, distorted, tiny, unrecognizable or illegible… this is why the graphic charter will define the conditions of its use: its proportions, its minimum size and its positioning in relation to the other elements (text, titles, margins, etc.).
- Typography (font): The charter defines the rules of layout and use of typography in a document. The character and personality of one or more typographies bring meaning and can change the vision and scope of a text by allowing the creation of different levels of text while ensuring reading comfort. In addition, of course, it contributes to the overall coherence of communication both within and outside your company.
- Colours: The choice of colours must be limited to allow for better memorization and quick distinction. If you have to print your logo on a coloured surface (car, plastic folder, etc.), what is allowed and what is not will be imperatively stipulated in the graphic charter. Some colours are not desirable with your logo. The use of your graphic signs will also be specified for black and white (photocopies for example).
- Graphic elements / icons / pictograms: Some companies have a mascot or graphic elements different from their logo, for example to create an identity for each product. However, your company must always be included.
- Use of Images, illustrations, photos: Some images can be selected in the charter and using them regularly will associate them after a while with your company in a systematic way.
- Rules of insertion of these elements on each support: It is important to always keep the same proportions ratios, otherwise the graphic elements will be distorted. The rules of use should therefore be defined, such as the margins required in a document, the spaces between the logo and the text, etc.
- Graphic charter for websites: A graphic charter for a website will most often be a variation of the paper graphic charter, adapted to the specific needs of the web. It will be prior to the development of the site and will serve precisely as a guide for developers and should allow them to create a beautiful, practical and user-friendly interface.
On the web graphic charter will be defined the location of symbols such as the logo, graphic elements, key colors, fonts and above all to allow a quick identification of the company whose web graphic identity will be similar to its paper identity.
Do not neglect the importance of a graphic charter
