How to Set Up Your Brand Book When Your Assets Live Somewhere Else
Erik Hollen shows how to set up a concise, editor-ready Brand Book in Studio using assets pulled from external sources. No external logins or 80-page documents required.
Transcript
Hey, everyone. Eric here over at market scale and got a tip for you guys today that I think is super important before you even start editing, and that is how to get those assets that you have, whether it's on your computer, in your company's brand guidelines, wherever it is, get that over to brand books for us. And I'm gonna show you guys a really nice example of a brand book that we have here at MarketScale. This is one of our podcasts that we do internally. And as you can see here, we've got actual physical PNG files. That is the number one thing to do is if you're gonna upload any logos in here, you wanna make them make sure that they are PNG. We got one dark logo, one light logo. As you can see, we don't have tons and tons of variations. I know it's tempting to wanna do that. Right? But the easiest and most manageable thing for an editor when they are ingesting a brand book is to have this simplified out for them. Have things explained well. Right? Have a have one logo or maybe two logo misuse examples. Right? Make sure to have clear instructions. Maybe you have a part in your brand guidelines where there's a specific line or two about a logo. Go ahead and do that here. Right? Think about it this way. If an editor was editing for your brand for the very first time, would it be better for them to read through something like this that's simple, easy to digest? They can quickly be able to look at it and know, okay. This is exactly what I need to do for this client to edit a video for them. Or would it be looking through an eighty page document? Right? We we wanna make this as easy and as simple, but obviously as important as your brand is. Right? So we wanna make sure that they are set up with success, and that is by making sure you actually have the files in here. Right? We don't wanna have to have them log in to, you know, some sort of server where your brand guidelines are, right, or having to guess, is this the correct font? Is this the correct font files? As you can see, we actually upload the physical font files here. Right? So if it's Arial, we make sure we have all the font files for them here. If it's Montserrat or any other font that you have. Right? If it's an Adobe font, maybe you link that here. If it's a Google font, you can link the Google font there. Right? We just don't want them having to guess and wonder. Right? If you have special instructions, this is a great place to put that. Under imagery or voice and tone, if you have certain rules in your brand guidelines about these are the types of photos we don't want or types of footage we do not want to highlight or that we do. Right? Voice and tone. You can get granular in here. Think about it this way. The more granular you are, the less ambiguity there is and the less guessing for them. Right? But the more clear and concise, the more they are likely to not need to ask questions. So try to think of it as an editor. Right? Like, if I'm editing for this client for the first time and I don't know anything about them, how can I easily be able to edit for them? Right? We even have a place for templates. So let's say you have a lower third that you already got made that the editors can use. You just zip that and upload it right here in this template section. So make sure that you guys are doing that. If you have things that you wanna share with us, go ahead in the brand book. That's a great place to do it, But just make sure it's concise and there's we can easily digest that as editors. Thank you guys for your time.
Overview
In this 4-minute training, Erik Hollen walks through the process of extracting brand assets from external locations and configuring a functional Brand Book inside Studio. The session covers logos, fonts, imagery guidelines, voice and tone rules, and reusable templates — all organized so that any editor can open the Brand Book and immediately understand what to do. The core principle throughout is simplicity: a well-built Brand Book removes ambiguity before it starts.
What Is This?
A Brand Book in Studio is a self-contained reference that gives editors everything they need to produce on-brand content — logos, fonts, visual guidelines, and tone — without requiring access to external systems or supplementary documents.
What You'll Learn
- Extract and organize brand assets from external sources for use in Studio
- Upload PNG logos in both dark and light versions for flexible editor use
- Add font files or links, including Google Fonts and system fonts like Arial and Montserrat
- Write clear imagery and voice/tone guidelines that editors can apply immediately
- Zip and upload pre-made branded templates such as lower thirds for reuse
- Structure a Brand Book so a first-time editor needs no additional context or login
Key Insights
- An editor-friendly Brand Book is concise and self-contained — it replaces the 80-page guidelines document, not supplements it
- Logos should be uploaded as PNGs in both dark and light versions so editors always have the right file for any background
- Fonts work best when actual files or direct links are provided, removing any ambiguity about which typeface to use
- Pre-built templates like lower thirds can be zipped and uploaded directly, giving editors reusable branded elements from day one
Deep Dive
When brand assets are scattered across shared drives, external brand portals, or legacy design files, editors face a recurring problem: they cannot produce consistent content without hunting down the right files or logging into systems they may not have access to. Erik Hollen's approach in this training solves that problem by consolidating everything into a single, structured Brand Book inside Studio.
The first step is extracting the right assets. For logos, that means exporting clean PNG files in two versions — one for dark backgrounds and one for light — so editors are never left trying to guess which file works where. For fonts, Erik recommends either uploading the actual font files or providing direct links, whether to a Google Fonts URL or a system font specification like Arial. This removes any ambiguity about typeface and weight.
Imagery and voice/tone guidelines should be written directly into the Brand Book in plain, actionable language. Rather than pointing editors to a separate document, the instructions should live inline — concise enough to read in under a minute and specific enough to guide real decisions. If the brand avoids stock photography of certain types, that rule belongs here. If sentence case is required in all copy, that belongs here too.
Finally, pre-made branded templates — lower thirds, title cards, or other recurring elements — can be zipped and uploaded into the Brand Book so editors can pull and reuse them without recreating assets from scratch. The result is a Brand Book that functions as a practical production tool, not a passive reference document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should logos be uploaded as PNG files in both dark and light versions?
PNG files preserve transparency, making logos easy to place on any background without a white box appearing behind them. Providing both a dark and a light version means editors always have the correct contrast option available without needing to request a new export from a designer.
What is the best way to handle fonts when building a Brand Book in Studio?
The most reliable approach is to either upload the actual font files or provide a direct link — such as a Google Fonts URL — so editors can access the exact typeface without guessing. For common system fonts like Arial, specifying the font name and weight in the guidelines is usually sufficient.
How should branded templates like lower thirds be added to the Brand Book?
Pre-made templates should be compressed into a zip file and uploaded directly into the Brand Book so editors can download and use them immediately. This ensures that recurring branded elements are consistent across productions and do not need to be rebuilt each time.
Related Topics
Editors who want to build on this foundation should explore how the Asset Library in Studio supports ongoing file management and version control for brand materials. Understanding platform navigation basics will also help teams maintain a clean, organized workspace as their Brand Book and template library grow over time.
#BrandBook #StudioWorkflow #ContentProduction #AssetManagement #BrandAssets #MarketScale #PlatformTraining #EditorWorkflow #BrandGuidelines #ContentOperations
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