Branding & Guidelines: Control the Style Before and After Generation

This guide covers the two branding layers that are easiest to confuse:

1. Brand guidelines shape what the model generates.
2. Branding overlays and logos shape how the approved result is finished afterwards.

Keeping that distinction explicit is what makes the workflow feel intentional instead of bolted on.

What you’ll learn

• Which exact brand-system values were used in the live walkthrough
• Where the Apply brand guidelines switch appears before generation
• How the post-generation branding editor becomes the review point after preview is already approved
• How the final export reflects the approved editor treatment

Before you start

• Open Settings -> Brand
• Keep one logo file ready
• Keep one layout overlay file ready
• Open Generate in a second tab for the prompt-side comparison

01 Configure the system

Fill the brand panel with literal values instead of vague brand language

Open Settings -> Brand and save the same values used in this walkthrough.

• Turn on Enable Brand Guidelines.
• Paste this into Style Description: Clean, editorial design with generous white space. Premium SaaS aesthetic with soft gradients and refined typography. Avoid clutter, neon colors, and stock photo cliches.
• Set Color Palette to #1E1B4B, #818CF8, #F5F3FF, #F8FAFC, #0F172A, and #64748B.
• Add Tone Keywords: clean, premium, editorial, confident, refined.
• Add Avoid Elements: neon colors, stock photo cliches, cluttered layouts, and heavy drop shadows.
• Further down the panel, set Gradient Style to Mesh, keep the three gradient colors as #F5F3FF, #818CF8, and #1E1B4B, set Background Mood to Editorial, set Depth Elements to Noise texture, set Brand Motif to soft aurora gradient ribbon, set Brandmark Text to ImageLayer, and set Custom Prompt Suffix to Keep compositions clean, premium, product-led, and presentation-ready.
• Click Save Brand Guidelines.

Expected result

The organization now has a reusable brand system that changes the model input before any overlay or logo is added later.

02 Apply the rules

Turn on Apply brand guidelines before you generate

Return to Generate, stay in Image mode, and switch on Apply brand guidelines before submitting the prompt.

Create a square product announcement graphic for a new analytics feature. Keep the layout clean, premium, and easy to read.

• Keep General selected.
• Turn on Apply brand guidelines.
• Use the prompt above as the starting point for the branded walkthrough before you move into the editor.
• Click Generate.

Expected result

The raw generated image should already move closer to the saved brand system before any finishing treatment is added.

03 Finish the visual

After preview, move into the branding editor and review the approved image

Once the brand-guided image looks strong in preview, click Brand it and move into the editor.

• Review the approved image on the canvas before adding anything else.
• If you want a separate layout file, use Upload PNG / SVG under Layout overlay.
• Keep the base image readable. Extra finishing layers should frame the result, not rescue a weak composition.
• Use Back to preview if the raw generation still needs work.

Expected result

The team can inspect the approved image inside the editor and decide whether the base branded result is already strong enough to export.

04 Add the mark

Finalize the branded export once the canvas looks right

Once the branded version looks right on canvas, finalize the export from the same editor state.

• Review the canvas one last time before export.
• If your team wants an extra logo layer, add it before finalizing and confirm it visually on canvas.
• Click Finalize or Download when the approved treatment is ready to export.

Expected result

The final export carries the approved branded treatment from the editor review.

Branded sample output

This final export shows the branded treatment used for the walkthrough after the editor review above.

How brand guidelines apply to video

Video models (Veo) are far more literal about prompt text than image models. Words like “color”, “primary”, “headline”, quoted brandmark text, and hex codes can be rendered as floating captions on the generated video. To prevent that, the video pipeline assembles a sanitized brand prompt:

• Hex codes and color names (red, navy, charcoal, etc.) are stripped from Style Description, Brand Motif, Custom Suffix, Tone Keywords, and Avoid Elements before the prompt reaches Veo. Colors are conveyed only through the structured palette as abstract visual phrases (e.g. “deep cool accent”) so the model paints them without writing them.
• Typography hints are not sent to video — they only apply to image generation, where rendered text is acceptable.
• The Brandmark is image-only by default. Use the new Apply to control next to the brandmark fields to opt the wordmark into Video or Image + video. Even when opted in, the instruction is reformulated so it describes a subtle integrated wordmark instead of a literal “Place X in the corner” command.
• The user prompt itself is never sanitized. If you legitimately want text on the video (for example a “SALE 50%” promo), put that in the prompt and it will be rendered.
• When a brand logo has been extracted, the operator can additionally enable image-to-video conditioning (env BRAND_LOGO_TO_VIDEO=true) so Veo uses the logo as a visual anchor for brand identity instead of relying on prompt words.

If the dashboard shows a warning under Custom Suffix or after extraction that color terms were found, rephrase the entry to describe layout, lighting, materials, or mood instead. Color information lives in the palette only.

Best practices for customer teams

• Save one stable brand system before letting every operator improvise their own values
• Use overlays for framing and polish, not for hiding weak raw generations
• Compare brand-guided and non-guided outputs if the customer questions what the saved system is doing
• Standardize one approved logo placement rule per brand workflow

What to read next

• Getting Started for the full path from prompt to final asset
• Image Generation for the freeform controls that happen before branding
• Docs for the underlying widget configuration and event details