How to Build a Brand Style Guide Inspired by Hubspot Examples

A strong brand style guide keeps every message consistent, and the best way to learn is by studying how leaders like Hubspot structure their guidelines and examples.

This how-to article walks you through building a practical style guide based on the lessons from the official Hubspot brand style guide examples found on the Hubspot marketing blog.

Why a Brand Style Guide Matters in the Hubspot Era

Modern marketing spans websites, blogs, social media, video, and sales enablement content. Without a clear standard, every channel can start to look and sound different.

A style guide solves this by documenting rules that anyone on your team can follow. Drawing from the Hubspot examples, the benefits are clear:

• Consistency: Every touchpoint looks and feels like one unified brand.
• Clarity: Designers, writers, agencies, and partners know exactly how to represent you.
• Scalability: As your team grows, onboarding becomes easier and faster.
• Trust: A coherent visual and verbal identity builds brand recognition.

Core Elements of a Hubspot-Inspired Brand Style Guide

The Hubspot brand style guide examples show that the most effective guides are both visual and verbal. At a minimum, you should document the following sections.

1. Brand Overview and Mission

Hubspot-style guides begin with a simple, human explanation of what the brand stands for. Do the same for your company.

• Mission statement: Why your organization exists.
• Vision: The future you are working toward.
• Values: The principles that shape decisions and communication.
• Personality: A few adjectives that describe your brand’s character.

Keep this part short and memorable so every contributor can internalize it quickly.

2. Logo Usage Rules

From the Hubspot examples, logo guidelines are always specific and visual. Include:

• Primary logo: Your main mark and when to use it.
• Variations: Horizontal, stacked, monochrome, and icon-only versions.
• Clear space: Minimum padding around the logo.
• Minimum size: Smallest acceptable size in print and digital.
• Incorrect usage: Don’t stretch, distort, recolor, or add shadows.

Add side-by-side “do and don’t” visuals, mirroring how Hubspot presents logo rules in its documentation.

3. Color Palette

Color is one of the most recognizable brand cues. The Hubspot style guide structure shows how to make this section actionable.

• Primary colors: Your main 1–3 brand colors with HEX, RGB, and CMYK values.
• Secondary colors: Supporting hues for backgrounds, highlights, and accents.
• Neutrals: Grays, whites, and dark tones for text and UI elements.
• Usage notes: When to use each color and recommended contrast ratios for accessibility.

Clarify which colors dominate key assets such as website headers, CTAs, and presentation templates, similar to how Hubspot breaks down its palette in context.

4. Typography System

A professional style guide, like the ones featured by Hubspot, always defines a clear font system.

• Primary typeface: For headings and prominent text.
• Secondary typeface: For body copy and long-form content.
• Web-safe backups: Alternatives when brand fonts are unavailable.
• Hierarchy: Examples of H1, H2, H3, body, and caption styles with sizes, weights, and line spacing.

Include examples from real assets such as landing pages, newsletters, or blog posts so contributors can see typography in use.

Hubspot-Inspired Voice and Tone Guidelines

Visual elements are only half the picture. The Hubspot examples emphasize brand voice and tone as a core part of every complete style guide.

5. Voice Principles

Think of brand voice as your organization’s personality in writing. To follow the Hubspot approach, describe your voice with 3–5 traits, such as:

• Helpful rather than salesy.
• Clear rather than jargon-filled.
• Friendly rather than stiff or overly formal.

For each trait, explain what it means and provide a short example that writers can emulate.

6. Tone by Context

Hubspot highlights how tone shifts depending on the situation without changing the core voice.

Create a simple table outlining tone by channel or scenario:

• Blog posts: Educational, conversational, optimistic.
• Product updates: Confident, precise, concise.
• Support content: Empathetic, reassuring, practical.
• Legal or policy pages: Clear, neutral, and accurate.

Include “before and after” examples to show how to adapt language while staying on-brand, just as Hubspot does with its own content guidelines.

7. Writing Mechanics

A thorough guide documents the mechanical details that keep content uniform:

• Preferred spelling (US vs. UK).
• Capitalization rules for product names and features.
• Formatting for dates, times, and numbers.
• Approach to emojis, slang, and abbreviations.
• Linking standards for internal and external resources.

Use short, scannable rules so writers and editors can reference them quickly.

Structuring Your Guide the Way Hubspot Does

One insight from the Hubspot brand style guide examples is that structure matters as much as the rules themselves. To make your guide usable:

• Start with an overview: Explain who the guide is for and how to use it.
• Organize by topic: Logos, colors, type, imagery, voice, and tone.
• Use visuals: Screenshots and real examples from your own assets.
• Create a quick-reference page: A one-page snapshot of the most important rules.

Consider publishing your guide as a simple internal site, just as leading brands showcased by Hubspot do, rather than a static PDF that is hard to update.

Step-by-Step: Build Your Guide with Hubspot-Inspired Best Practices

Follow these steps to assemble a practical, modern style guide.

1. Audit existing assets. Collect examples of logos, pitch decks, blog posts, email templates, and social posts currently in use.
2. Identify inconsistencies. Note differences in colors, fonts, tone, and messaging that you want to eliminate.
3. Define your brand foundation. Write clear statements for mission, vision, values, and personality.
4. Standardize visuals. Choose final logo files, establish a color palette, and define typography rules.
5. Document voice and tone. Use the Hubspot examples as inspiration to write practical, example-rich guidance.
6. Design the guide layout. Create a clean structure with navigation, headings, and links between sections.
7. Publish and share. Host the guide where everyone can access it, and walk your team through how to apply it.
8. Review regularly. Revisit the guide at least once a year to reflect product, market, or audience changes.

Using Hubspot Content to Refine Your Style Guide

The original Hubspot article on brand style guide examples is a useful reference whenever you need inspiration for layout or wording.

You can also pair your new guide with marketing and SEO strategies supported by consultants and tools. For broader optimization advice, resources such as Consultevo provide guidance on aligning brand guidelines with search performance and content workflows.

Conclusion: Build a Guide Your Team Will Actually Use

The most effective brand style guides, including those highlighted by Hubspot, are clear, visual, and easy to apply.

By documenting your brand foundation, visuals, and voice with practical examples, you give every designer, writer, and marketer the tools to produce consistent, on-brand work across every channel.

Use the structure and examples from Hubspot as a launchpad, then tailor each section to reflect what makes your brand unique and memorable.

Need Help With Hubspot?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your Hubspot , work with ConsultEvo, a team who has a decade of Hubspot experience.

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