Brand Kits & Governance – The Playbook for Consistent Identity

Build a living brand kit: tokens, asset libraries, usage rules, and governance process to avoid “design drift.” Templates for handoff and cross-team ownership.

Ashley E Shiver

November 21, 2025

5–8 minutes

You’ve got a logo, maybe a favorite font, and a color you love. Then the summer volunteer poster looks different from the holiday email, the new intern posts an off-brand Instagram story, and your merch printer emails you that the file “doesn’t print right.” Welcome to what I call “design drift”: small inconsistencies that slowly erode credibility.

A brand kit and a tiny governance playbook are the antidote — not because they’re fancy, but because they make consistent decisions obvious and easy. For everyday entrepreneurs, foundations, and solo founders, a lightweight brand kit does three things: it saves time, reduces ad-hoc creative costs, and protects hard-won trust with customers and donors.

This piece gives you a story-first approach, a practical token table you can copy, a contractor handoff checklist, and a governance calendar you’ll actually use. No jargon. No agencies required.

Why a brand kit matters (in plain terms)

Imagine your brand as a house. The logo is the front door; colors are the paint; typography is the furniture. If everyone decorates differently, visitors don’t know what kind of home they’re in. A brand kit is the instruction manual for that house — the single place people go when they need to know what’s allowed and what’s not.

A living brand kit reduces friction. Instead of answering the same questions (“Which shade of blue is the website using?”), you share one link. Instead of rebuilding an asset from scratch, a volunteer can pull a template. The result: fewer last-minute design scrambles, fewer bad prints, and more energy to spend on program work or product development.

The brand token table (copy this and fill it)

Start here. This is the tiny, useful heart of your kit. Put it into a Google Doc, Figma file, or Canva Brand Kit so it’s always editable.

Brand tokens — minimum viable set

Color tokens

Primary: Brand-Beige — HEX #E9E1D7 — Use: hero background, primary buttons
Accent: Brand-Teal — HEX #0FAF9F — Use: CTAs, links, highlights
Neutral 1: Off-White — HEX #F7F5F2 — Use: backgrounds
Neutral 2: Charcoal — HEX #1F2933 — Use: body copy, icons

Type tokens

Headline: Playfair Display — Weight: 700 — Use: H1, hero headlines (web & print)
Body: Inter — Weight: 400 — Use: body text, captions (web-safe fallback: system sans)
Accent: Monospace — Use: code blocks, price tags

Spacing & scale tokens (example)

Base unit U = 8px
Small gap: 1U (8px) — between icon + label
Medium gap: 2U (16px) — between text blocks
Large gap: 4U (32px) — section spacing

Imagery token (style)

Hero photos: natural light, candid moments, shallow depth; warm tone.
Product shots: clean white background, 3 angles, 3000px width.
Social mood: behind-the-scenes, community-first, minimal copy overlay.

Tone token (micro-guideline)

Voice: warm, direct, slightly playful, never slangy.
Dos: “We’re grateful,” “Here’s how to help.”
Don’ts: “Spare the jargon,” “No hard sells in donor comms.”

Save this token table as brand_tokens_v1 and add to your shared folder.

One-page brand kit: what to include (the must-haves)

If you can only create one asset, make it this one-pager. Save it as PDF + Figma/Canva template.

Top of the page: Brand one-liner + three adjectives (e.g., Warm. Practical. Elevated.)

Sections:

Logo usage — primary/secondary/icon and two “never do this” examples.
Color swatches — with HEX / RGB / CMYK notes.
Type — fonts and suggested sizes (H1, H2, body, caption).
Imagery — 3 sample images + short caption for style cues.
Microcopy — 3 example subject lines, 3 CTA examples.
File locations — where to find master files (Figma link, Drive folder, Canva).
Quick contact — who to ping for approvals (name + email).

Keep it one page so people actually read it.

Contractor handoff checklist (the practical hand-holding)

When you hire a freelancer or onboard a volunteer, send them this checklist. It saves hours of back-and-forth.

Before starting:

Share the one-page brand kit (PDF).
Share the moodboard or Pinterest/Canva board (visual context).
Give a concrete brief: size, format, deadline, and a single success metric (e.g., “usable for Instagram square and printed postcard”).
Provide links to master files and fonts (Figma project, Drive folder).
List do/don’t items (copy directly from the kit).

Deliverables you should request:

Vector logo files (.ai or .svg) + PNGs @1x and @2x
Finished layout exported as PDF (print-ready for offline) and JPG/PNG for web
Source working file (Figma or Canva link with editable layers)
Short notes on color usage and spacing (1–2 lines)
A one-sentence acceptance criteria (e.g., “matches brand tone and legibility at 300dpi for print”)

Payment & rights:

Clarify usage rights: “I retain unlimited use for web, print, and social — designer retains portfolio rights.”
Ask for font license proof if a commercial font was purchased.

Governance calendar — small, repeatable schedule

A governance calendar keeps the brand kit alive. Put these items in your operations calendar and assign owners.

Monthly

Quick asset audit (owner checks front page of website, top 3 socials, and active campaign banners).

Quarterly

Brand review meeting (30 minutes) — review new assets, approve one new template, check any reported brand drift.

Biannual

Templates refresh — update 2-3 Canva/Figma templates (seasonal swap: holidays, donor drives).

Annual

Full brand health check (1 hour) — update token file, refresh hero photography plan, confirm font licenses, and renew any paid assets.

Who owns this? For small teams, make it the operations lead or marketing volunteer. Put the calendar events on repeat and block the time.

Quick tech options for small teams

Canva Brand Kit: excellent for non-designers — upload logos, set fonts and colors, create templates.
Figma: best when you collaborate with freelancers or want a living component library.
Google Drive / Dropbox: simple file serving for fast teams; combine with versioned naming conventions.
Brand portals (Frontify/Bynder): heavyweight; don’t use unless you manage many brands or have larger budgets.
Automations: use Zapier to collect assets into a “new-asset” folder for monthly audits. Small wins.

Do / Don’t cheat sheet (for quick enforcement)

Do: use the stamp icon for Instagram avatars.

Don’t: stretch the logo horizontally.

Do: use primary color for CTAs on the website.

Don’t: place the logo over busy photography without a contrast block.

Stick these four bullets in the header of your shared brand folder so they’re visible immediately.

Final practical template: one-page brand governance starter

Copy this into a doc and share with your team.

Brand Governance Starter (one page)

Owner: [Name & email]
Shared folder: [link]
Brand kit (PDF): [link]
Weekly check: first Monday of month — asset audit (10 min)
Quarterly review: first Monday of quarter — approvals + template update (30 min)
Template library: [Figma / Canva link]
Emergency contact (printer / platform issues): [Name & phone]
Usage rights log: [font & asset licenses link]

Closing: governance is kindness to future-you

A brand kit isn’t bureaucracy. It’s an act of care that spares your future self and volunteers from endless clarification emails. Start with the token table, create the one-page kit, and automate two governance checks into your calendar. This tiny structure will stop hundreds of small fires and keep your organization looking like it knows what it stands for.

Want help building yours? Join the LiLA Entrepreneurs virtual community to workshop your one-pager with other founders, or book LiLA Studios to build a ready-to-use Brand Kit + Contractor Handoff in a single sprint. We’ll hand you Figma templates, Canva versions, and a governance calendar you can drop into your operations.

LiLA Studios