10 Free Brand Board Template Download
Are you looking for a free brand board template download to develop a unique brand identity?
Do you envision a unique brand that truly sets you apart from the competition?
It’s not easy.
Luckily, brand boards are the perfect guide to help get you started.
Creating a brand board is quick and simple.
It helps you to create a visual style that’s original and eye-catching.
Moreover, one that communicates a fresh new look to your customers so they instantly get a feel for who you are.
Let’s take a look at some popular options for free brand board template downloads that can help bring your brand’s personality to life.
Note that all the templates recommended below are completely free to download.
So, you don’t have to worry about paying for this invaluable branding asset.
Table of Contents
What is a Brand Board?
Not to be confused with a mood board, a brand board is your brand at a glance.
This simple, visually appealing document should communicate your brand’s:
- Logo
- Color Palette
- Key Icons
- Fonts
- Patterns
- Photography Style (if applicable)
While a mood board focuses on the overall ‘vibe’ and style of imagery, a brand board should be unique to your brand alone.
It should showcase your original branding elements.
Think of it as a guide that you would give to a potential or existing customer.
A guide that will help him understand your brand’s personality, purpose, and tone.
Moreover, one that will show him how your brand is distinct from others like it.
Your brand board’s main goal is to show your visual identity and personality.
It can be as creative and fun as you like.
Why Do I Need One?
Some business owners create brand boards purely for internal use.
So that all employees and partners have a mutual understanding of the brand’s personality, purpose, and approach to customers.
Others like to use them as a guide.
One that will help potential and existing customers understand what the brand is and why they’re better than the competition.
Either way, a brand board allows you to create one coherent, visually appealing brand identity.
A brand that can be understood in a matter of seconds.
Brand boards are mostly visual and include few to no words.
Therefore, a customer or employee doesn’t even have to do much reading to get an immediate sense of your brand.
Through the use of colors, textures, patterns, logos, icons, and photography, you’re able to create an entire stand-alone brand.
A brand that’s distinctly different from your competitors in almost no time at all.
When creating communication pieces for your brand, you need only refer to your brand board.
This will ensure that every message your brand puts out into the world is according to the overall tone, purpose, and voice of the brand you’ve created.
Even better, you can change it anytime you want! I
If your brand’s look and feel are starting to feel tired or outdated, you have the power to create an entirely new brand board.
You can easily revamp your identity.
Different Types of Brand Boards & Free Templates
Thousands of results come up when you type ‘free brand board template download’ into the Pinterest search bar.
Many of the websites and blogs featured in these results will ask you to pay for their templates.
And yes, these templates may be beautiful and enticing.
But there’s no need actually to pay for a brand board template.
The truth is that there are almost as many sites, blogs, and businesses that will give you perfect and easy-to-use brand board templates for FREE.
We’ve categorized the best and simplest brand board templates we could find that are all free of charge to download, based on varying design ability levels.
Many of the below websites and blog pages that offer free brand board templates may ask you for your email address and name.
But don’t worry, you can unsubscribe from these emails whenever you like.
Canva Brand Board Templates
Amateur designers, brand marketers, and business owners who don’t have a graphic design background will thank their lucky stars for this user-friendly online platform.
If you’re new to design or want to make your brand board look beautiful without too much technical work involved, then Canva is the ultimate tool for you.
The site offers a number of free brand board template download options.
You’ll start by simply selecting the template you want to use.
Then, you’re free to completely transform it by adding your colors, copy, images, icons, and textures until it’s unique.
Canva allows you to upload your images and logos.
Alternatively, you can choose from their vast selection of stylistic icons and make them your own by changing their color and shape.
Once you’re satisfied, you can download your brand board as a PDF, PNG, or JPEG.
Then, you can save your design on your Canva profile, if you want to change it at a later stage.
Nari Creative
Nari Creative offers free customizable brand board brand kits called Pastel Aesthetic Brand Board Brand Kit.
It includes a brand board template that can be opened in Canva.
Then, you can start inserting your logo, images, colors, patterns, and fonts to make the template your own.
A similar template by Nari Creative is the Green Neutral Colors Aesthetic Brand Board Kit.
Just log in to your Canva account, and click the link of the template.
Then, it will allow you to customize and transform the template until it’s a true reflection of your own unique brand identity.
The free templates in Canva do have their limitations which you may want to be aware of.
For example, you can only download your design in certain sizes and formats.
So, your final downloaded brand board may not be as high-res as you would want it to be.
We recommend saving your brand board design as a PDF file, as this renders the best quality.
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop & InDesign Brand Board Templates
Maybe it’s not your first rodeo when it comes to digital design.
In that case, you’re probably already familiar with Adobe Suite and its various creative programs.
Programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe InDesign are a bit more technical and difficult to grasp.
Especially, if you’ve never used them.
You can certainly find video tutorials online that will show you the basics of these programs, but this may take time and patience.
They’re also not cheap to install and use, unlike Canva.
Suppose you’re not planning to make design a regular part of your daily routine or occupation in the future.
In that case, it may be worthwhile installing them, and you probably wouldn’t feel too comfortable using them anyway.
InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop Brand Board Templates
Suppose you’re a designer or illustrator by trade or as a hobbyist.
In that case, free brand board template download options created for Adobe programs such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop will make you feel most at ease.
These free brand board template download options can be opened as InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop files.
Then you can edit using each program’s tools until you’re satisfied with your design.
Using templates made for these platforms is easier to edit, too.
You don’t have to stick to the template if you don’t want to and you can change or rearrange the layout as much as you like.
Plus, Adobe programs give you more freedom with sizing, colors, and formatting.
You can choose to save your completed brand board in any format you like and in any size you choose.
Then, you can adjust the settings to make it appropriate for either digital or print purposes.
Gina Alyse’s Brand Board Template
Graphic designer and blogger Gina Alyse offers a free downloadable package of 10 branding templates for Adobe InDesign on her site.
It includes a very useful brand board template.
Towards the end of her blog article, you’ll see a yellow button that reads, ‘Yep! I want a stunning brand board!’
Click on this button, enter your details, and the templates are all yours.
You’ll find the InDesign folders in your Downloads folder, which you can then open in Adobe InDesign and get cracking.
January Made Design Templates
January Made Design provides you with a free downloadable template in the form of a Photoshop file at the end of their article.
You may be more comfortable working in Photoshop than in InDesign, depending on which program you use most often in your daily routine.
This template is quite a long one.
It provides dedicated space for imagery and icons that you may want to include as a mini-mood board for your brand.
And, good news – this site also doesn’t require you to enter your details to download the template.
You can click ‘Download Brand Board Template’ at the end of the article, and the download will begin immediately.
You can find another free brand board template that’s appropriate for Adobe Photoshop, Brand Board Layout by More Profesh.
However, you can download this free with a trial only from Adobe Stock.
Ashley Ferreira’s Free Brand Board Template
Finally, if you’re looking specifically for a template that works in Adobe Illustrator, look no further than a website designer and creative director Ashley Ferreira’s blog, Ashley Ferriera Design.
A clickable link at the bottom of Ashley’s blog article, which reads ‘Download Your Free Brand Board Template,’ will take you to a page that asks for your email address and name.
After entering your details, the Illustrator file will be emailed to you.
You can open this file in Adobe Illustrator and have your brand board ready to go in no time.
Adobe PDF Brand Board Templates
Although a PDF file isn’t directly editable, it can be used as a visual guide rather than a direct template in creating your brand board.
Alternatively, you can upload a PDF brand board template to online platforms such as Canva.
Then, you can use it as a layout guideline, placing images in grey shapes and inserting your text in the appropriate places.
The Untold Content Blog offers a free downloadable brand board template in PDF format, which they will email you.
Enter your name and email address and then click ‘Get the Template!’, and the PDF will be emailed to you in a matter of seconds.
Saira Mian’s website offers a similar download.
However, this site doesn’t ask for any of your details in exchange for her template.
If you scroll down to the conclusion of her article on brand boards, you can click on the phrase ‘click here, and her PDF template will immediately download to your device.
You can open these PDF files and use them as visual guides where your brand identity’s various elements should be placed.
You can also upload them onto an editing program and place your brand elements in the templates’ relevant places.
Unfortunately, PDF files cannot be edited, so this probably isn’t the most direct way to create your template, but it’s helpful nonetheless.
Brand Board Templates For Multiple Platforms
Some of the best brand board templates we’ve found are suitable for many editing platforms and programs.
The versatility of such templates is a huge bonus because your level of design abilities doesn’t matter.
Are you a designer by trade or a business owner learning the ropes?
Then, you can download these templates for free and use them in the program of your choice.
For example, Petchy gives you the option of downloading their brand board template as a Google Slides file, an Adobe InDesign file, or a PDF.
You can even download all three and play around with the different formats to see which one works best for you.
Plus, you don’t need to provide them with any personal information to receive any free templates.
You can click on the template you want, and it downloads or opens in your browser immediately.
The template provided by DailyDream360 is even more versatile.
It can be edited in Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator, Canva, or as a PDF!
Editing this brand board template in Canva or as a PDF is the easiest.
It suits the more amateur designers, while Adobe Illustrator would be the more complex but flexible option.
If you’ve used Microsoft PowerPoint before, then you’d probably find it easy enough to create your brand board in this program.
However, it may not be the most obvious or direct option.
You might want to put together a presentation or pitch to launch your brand’s look and feel with employees, customers, or partners once it’s finished.
In this case, PowerPoint may serve to make your presentation more captivating with the use of slide animations and sound effects.
Tips for Using a Brand Board Template Effectively
In today’s digital age, creating a strong brand identity is more important than ever before.
And a brand board template is an essential tool that can help you achieve just that.
But creating a brand board template is not enough.
It’s equally important to use it effectively to ensure consistency and coherence across all brand communications.
Here are some tips for using a brand board template effectively:
Keep It Up-To-Date
As your business evolves and grows, your brand may also change over time.
So, it’s important to keep your brand board template up-to-date to reflect any changes or updates to your brand identity.
Share It with Your Team
Your brand board template is not just for you, but also for your team.
Share it with everyone who works on your brand.
These people should include designers, marketers, and content creators.
In this way, you ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to brand guidelines.
Use It as A Reference
When creating new brand assets, always refer back to your brand board template.
This will ensure that you’re using the correct color palette, fonts, and other design elements.
This will help you maintain consistency and coherence across all brand communications.
Use It to Guide Your Creative Decisions
Your brand board template should be the foundation for all creative decisions you make for your brand.
When creating new marketing materials or designing a new product, always refer back to your brand board template.
In this way you can be assured that your design choices align with your brand identity.
Don’t Be Afraid to Evolve It
As your business grows and evolves, your brand may also need to evolve.
Don’t be afraid to make changes to your brand board template to reflect these changes.
However, always make sure that any changes align with your brand identity and values.
A brand board template is a valuable tool for creating a strong and consistent brand identity.
By following the above tips, you can ensure that your brand communications are always on-brand and consistent.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re revamping an existing brand or starting something new, you won’t regret taking the time and effort to craft a coherent, communicative brand board that encapsulates your brand identity.
Hang it up in your office, distribute it to clients and employees, or keep it for yourself to refer back to when you’re creating communication pieces and advertising.
Any one of the options for the free brand board template download we’ve shared can provide you with a great place to start.
You can also find loads of creative inspiration here.
Get creative, try different looks, and, most importantly, have fun!
For more helpful articles, do check our list below.
Tone of Voice: Brand Guidelines, Examples
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