Kwaku Amprako is a logo and brand identity designer, educator, and founder of Akrivi — pioneering BIDA (Brand Identity Design Automation) to empower designers to create with more speed, precision, and less stress.
How to Use Automated Templates in the Guideit Brand Guidelines Generator
Learn how to get the best results for logomarks and logotypes when generating brand guidelines with Guideit
Automation generates brand guidelines in seconds, but choosing the right template ensures they look designed, not just generated.
Guideit isn't a one-size-fits-all tool. It features "smart" templates specifically engineered for different types of logo structures. Picking the wrong one can lead to awkward empty spaces or misaligned elements.
In this quick guide, I’ll show you how to read the template icons and pick the perfect layout for your brand, whether you have a standard logo or a pure wordmark.
Decoding the Template Thumbnails
Before you click generate, look closely at the thumbnails. You’ll notice small visual cues in the corner of each template preview.
These aren't just decorations. They indicate the ideal logo structure for that specific layout. They show you where the system expects to place a symbol (Logomark) versus the brand name (Logotype).
Scenario 1: The Traditional Logo (Icon + Text)
If your brand has both a Logomark (a symbol) and a Logotype (the name), you have the most flexibility.
You can use almost any of the standard automated templates, such as "Corporate," "Tech," or "Swiss."
Why?
These layouts are built with dedicated placeholders for both elements. When the system generates pages like "Logo Construction" or "Clearspace," it will automatically populate them with the correct parts of your logo, keeping everything balanced.
Scenario 2: The Wordmark (Text Only)
If your logo is just text (like Google, FedEx, or Sony) and has no separate symbol, you need to be more selective.
For these brands, I recommend using the Signature Template, it requrires only a shorten symbol and logotype.
Why?
Standard templates expect a symbol. If you use them for a wordmark, you might end up with awkward empty gaps where the icon was supposed to go.
The Signature Template is specifically engineered for typography-based logos. It adjusts the spacing and layout to make the wordmark the hero, ensuring your guidelines look professional without any "missing" elements.
Integrating Construction & Clearspace Grids
You might notice that in every template, the Construction Grid and Clearspace pages initially look blank or have a simple placeholder.
This is intentional.
These pages are designed to work seamlessly with Gridit.
- For Clearspace: Leave the page active and use the Clearspace Grid Generator to instantly build a precise exclusion zone around your specific logo.
- For Construction: Use the Logo Grid Generator to overlay the geometric blueprint of your design directly onto the artboard.
This workflow ensures that your technical pages aren't just placeholders, they are accurate, engineered grids of your actual work.
Ready to Generate?
Selecting the right starting point is the only manual step you need to take. Once you match the template to your logo type, the automation handles the rest perfectly.
Don't guess, try these templates on your next project with Akrivi Studio.
Generate for Free with Akrivi Studio
Conclusion
Choosing the correct template is the difference between a good document and a great one. By understanding the logic behind the thumbnails, you can ensure your brand guidelines look custom-made every single time.
