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.
I’m Building a Brand Guideline Generator in illustrator
Why Designers Need a Brand Guidelines Generator Plugin (Not Just Brand Guidelines Templates)
As a brand identity designer, I’ve created countless brand guidelines across client projects, and I’ve always dreaded that part of the delivery.
It’s repetitive, mentally draining, and hands-down the least creative stage of brand identity design.
If I’m honest, it has been one of the biggest contributors to burnout in my workflow.
After years of feeling this friction, I finally decided to take action and build a brand guidelines generator.
In this article, I’ll break down why designers should stop relying on traditional brand guidelines templates, and why a brand guidelines generator plugin, built directly inside Illustrator, creates a much faster, more accurate, and less stressful workflow.
The Pros of Brand Guidelines Templates
It’s fair to say that brand guidelines templates have saved many designers (including me) in crunch moments.
When you’re close to wrapping up a project, a pre-made template can take a big load off your plate.
Check out some free ones I created here. They are defianately the best free templates you can find online.
Here’s what templates do well:
1. They save time
If you find a template that matches your project’s style, you can skip the blank-page phase and jump straight to layout.
2. They reduce stress
Just knowing you have a structured foundation ready to plug brand assets into can relieve a lot of pressure at the end of a project.
The Cons of Brand Guidelines Templates
But as helpful as they are, brand guidelines templates also come with significant limitations, and these limitations compound over many client projects.
1. They’re costly
High-quality brand guidelines templates typically cost $20–$150+.
Most designers buy multiple templates per year (different styles, different client needs), and these costs add up fast.
2. You still have to insert everything manually
Even with a well-designed template, you still need to manually:
- place the logomark
- place the logotype
- update typography pages
- input color codes
- adjust spacing
- reformat layout elements
…and when a client asks for changes, you have to repeat the process.
This is exactly where designers feel the most friction.
3. Manual work = inconsistent results
The more manual work you do, the more likely mistakes will slip in:
duplicated icons, wrong color hex codes, misaligned sections, fonts not updated, etc.
I can’t count how many brand guidelines I’ve created where I spotted errors during final export.
Templates reduce the problem, but they don’t eliminate it.
The Real Solution: A Brand Guidelines Generator (Inside Illustrator)
The best solution isn’t just another template.
It’s a brand guidelines generator, something that:
- automatically builds your entire brand guideline system
- uses your real assets
- applies your actual color system
- uses your typography
- formats pages instantly
- eliminates repetitive layout work
- removes human error
- saves hours per project
- uses automated templates
There are online solutions like Ubrand, but many designers don’t want to switch platforms after creating a brand identity in Illustrator.
Designers want something native — not external.
You create your logo and brand identity in Adobe Illustrator.
Why should you then upload everything to a separate tool?
This is exactly why I’m building Guideit, a brand guidelines generator plugin for Adobe Illustrator.
Introducing Guideit — A Brand Guidelines Generator Plugin for Illustrator
Guideit will allow designers to:
- choose a brand guidelines template
- instantly generate a complete guidelines system
- directly inside Adobe Illustrator
- without leaving the environment they’re already designing in
This bridges the gap between:
- Templates (static, manual, time-consuming)
- Generators (automated, accurate, instant)
Guideit turns templates into automated brand guidelines templates, powered by your real assets.
Conclusion
Building brand guidelines shouldn’t drain your energy, take hours of repetitive layout work, or force you to rely on static templates that still require manual updates.
Gudieit will be designed to automate the most time-consuming part of identity design.
GuideIt is nearly ready, and I’ll be revealing it any day now.
If you want early access — and want to be among the first to generate brand guidelines automatically — join the waitlist below:
