Set up brand controls for your team with Figma Buzz

Use Figma Buzz's template guidelines to create brand-controlled assets that your team can use confidently. By strategically locking brand elements and publishing templates, you can maintain visual consistency while empowering your marketing team to create assets independently.

How brand controls work in Figma Buzz

Brand controls in Figma Buzz work through template guidelines—restrictions you set on specific design elements to maintain brand consistency. When you lock objects in a template, users can only edit the elements you've designated as changeable.

Templates with guidelines appear with:

• Pink outline around the asset
• Lock icon next to the asset name
• Limited editing options in the Edit content panel

Template users can:

• Update unlocked text fields and images
• Edit content through the Edit content panel
• Remove guidelines if they need full editing access
• Swap variants of any components

1. Design your brand-controlled template

Start by creating an asset that balances brand consistency with user flexibility.

Plan your locking strategy

Before you start locking elements, consider what your team needs to edit versus what should remain consistent. The position of each layer on the asset is locked by default, so you only need to lock text and image layers that you don’t want to be edited.

For example, you likely want to lock things such as brand logos. However, you can leave body text, descriptions, images, and call-to-action text as unlocked.

Create your template asset

1. Start with a new Figma Buzz file.
2. Design your asset using Figma Buzz's creation tools or paste designs from Figma Design.
3. Name text layers descriptively to help users understand their purpose (e.g., "Event Title" instead of "Text Layer 1").
   1. Select an asset.
   2. Toggle design mode to use Figma Design tools in Buzz.
   3. From the Layers panel on the bottom left, edit layer names.

2: Lock brand elements

Apply template guidelines by locking the elements that should remain consistent across all uses of your template.

Lock objects to maintain brand standards

1. Select the object you want to lock (logo, background, etc.).
2. From the toolbar, click More.
3. Click Lock.

Repeat this process for each element you want to protect from editing.

Test your brand controls

Before publishing, verify that your locking strategy works as intended:

1. Select your asset and click Edit content.
2. Review which fields appear in the editing panel—these are the elements users will be able to change.
3. Try editing different elements to ensure locked items can't be modified.

3: Publish your brand-controlled template

Make your template available to your team by publishing it to your organization.

1. Click Share in your template file.
2. Select Publish template
3. Enter your template details:
   • Clear, descriptive name
   • Helpful description with usage guidelines
   • Representative thumbnail image
4. Click Publish.

Your template will now appear in the "From your team" section of the template picker for all team members.

Learn more about creating and publishing templates.

4: Guide your team in using brand-controlled templates

Help your team understand how to work with your brand-controlled templates effectively.

• Share the following Figma Learn resources on using Figma Buzz as a template consumer:
  • Guide to Figma Buzz
  • Explore Figma Buzz
  • Find and use Figma Buzz templates
  • Use templates with guidelines in Figma Buzz
  • Bulk create assets in Figma Buzz
  • Export assets from Figma Buzz
• You can also consider creating your own usage documentation that explains:
  • Which templates to use for different purposes
  • What content can and cannot be changed
  • Brand guidelines for images, messaging, and tone
  • Who to contact for template questions or requests

Best practices for effective brand controls

Balance control with flexibility

• Lock strategically: Focus on elements that are critical to brand consistency
• Test with real content: Ensure templates work with actual marketing content, not just placeholder text

Create comprehensive template sets

• Think in campaigns: Create related templates that work together (Instagram post + story + Facebook post)
• Consider all formats: Provide templates for different platforms and use cases your team needs
• Plan for variations: Create templates for different campaign types, seasons, or product categories

By setting up thoughtful brand controls in Figma Buzz, you can ensure your team creates consistent, professional assets while reducing the design review burden and empowering teams to work more independently.