# Anti-patterns > **Brand system v8.0 · Messaging guide v2.0 · Updated 2026-08-25** > Canonical source: > What not to do. The first section is hand-authored; the rest is generated from the guides. The failures below are the ones automated tools produce most reliably. The Brand Guide's DON'T cards and the Messaging Guide's banned-word lists are published separately in this file, generated straight from the guides. Do not restate those here. This section covers what a model gets wrong that a designer would not. ## Fabrication dressed as competence - **Inventing a statistic to complete a sentence.** "Over 1,200 people came to Christ" reads finished, so a model reaches for it. Numbers come from the official ministry record. When you do not have it, write `[n]` and say the field is unverified. - **Composing a testimony from patterns.** A testimony that follows the four slots perfectly but describes no actual person is a fabrication, not a template fill. The slots are a structure for a real, consented, named story. - **Paraphrasing the prophecy to fit a layout.** It is quoted exactly, in full, or it is absent. - **Inventing a Bible reference that sounds right.** Verify or omit. - **Filling a bracketed field to make a draft look complete.** The brackets in the origin story are there on purpose, pending verification. Leave them. - **Naming a city, date, or person from context.** If the record does not say it, the copy does not say it. ## Generated imagery - **Producing a photograph of a congregation, a conference, or the field.** Law VI is documentary only. A generated image of ministry is a violation even as a placeholder, even labeled as one. - **Sourcing a stock photo of hands raised in worship.** An empty slot is better than a borrowed moment. Say the slot needs real capture and list what to shoot. - **Upscaling, restyling, or "cleaning up" a field photograph.** Honest color, natural grading. The moment carries the drama. - **Generating a wordmark.** The mark is an artifact, not live text. Use the published files. ## Register collapse - **Blending the institution and the movement into one voice.** Serif records and bold sans field material are two registers. A page that mixes them reads as neither. - **Making the parent's formality decorative on initiative material.** Sub-brand work is DM Sans led. The serif appears only where the parent speaks. - **Writing an initiative as if it were a separate organization.** One house, named front doors. The endorsement line is not optional. - **Styling EVERY1 as Every1, EVERYONE, or Every One.** It is EVERY1, always, in every context. ## Palette drift - **Introducing a tint, shade, or neutral gray that is not in the token set.** A ten percent lighter Midnight is not Midnight. If a value is needed and does not exist, ask for it to be added to the guide rather than improvising it. - **Using Parchment as a gray.** It is a warm paper ground, and it is never a neutral fill. - **Treating Flame and Ember as interchangeable.** Flame is the non-text accent. Ember is fire at text size. Reaching for Flame on type is the single most common color failure. - **Reviving a retired color** because it appears in an old file, a deck, or a screenshot. Two are retired by name: `#0077AA` cyan and `#5FAD56` green. The green survives in one place only, as a form success state, and never in a brand layout. The Brand Guide stopped listing them at v5.0 because the guide states what the palette is, not what it used to be. They stay recorded here so the audit can still catch them. - **Reaching for gold.** Gold was considered for this system and excluded: Flame performs the accent role a federal palette gives to gold. An antique or metallic gold pulls the work toward commemorative and governmental design, which is the register this brand deliberately does not occupy. This was recorded in the Brand Guide through v4.5 and is kept here so the decision survives. ## Borrowed authority - **Reaching for governmental iconography.** No seals, no crests, no flags, no eagles, and no device that imitates a government office. The formality of this system comes from restraint, dated records, and signatures, not from costume. We carry authority. We do not imitate office. One scoped exception is on record at Brand Guide v5.8: the School of the Local Church's academic seal, ecclesiastical rather than governmental, used only on the School's own credentials under §11's rules. Any other seal, anywhere else in the house, is still this anti-pattern. - **Dressing a document as a legal instrument it is not.** A record carries a kicker, a dateline, and a signature because those things are true of it. Adding notary marks, reference numbers, or seals to make a page feel official is fabrication in visual form. ## Audit theater - **Reporting compliance without fetching the manifest.** If retrieval failed, the verdict is BLOCKED, not SHIP. - **Marking checks "n/a" to reach a clean score.** Every `n/a` carries a reason. - **Auditing against remembered rules.** The version line at the top of the report is a claim about which standard was applied. Make it true. - **Passing gates by not looking.** The gates are the checks most likely to be quietly skipped because they require reading the actual asset, caption, or number. ## Scope creep on the standards - **Writing messaging for something on the roadmap.** SOSKA and the EVERY1 app receive no public messaging until launch. Books, music publishing, and clothing are outside the guides entirely by ruling of August 2026. - **Inventing a catchphrase.** If a line has to be explained to be catchy, it is dead. The load-bearing phrases are already written. - **Editing a guide silently.** Every change is proposed in writing, approved by Joel and Nathan, version bumped, and recorded in the changelog. --- ## Every DON'T in the Brand Guide Generated from the guide's Do / Don't cards, in document order. | Never | Instead | | --- | --- | | Text on Midnight: never Word Blue. Too little contrast. | Text on Midnight: White or Parchment. The flagship pairing. | | Body on light grounds: never Flame. | Body on light grounds: Midnight. | | Buttons: never Flame. 3.3:1 fails AA. | Buttons: Ember fill, white text. 5.4:1, passes AA. | | Flame’s job is never a ground. Accent only, ≤10%. | Flame’s job: display numerals and small uppercase labels on Midnight. | | Fire at small sizes: never Flame and Ember side by side. Pick one. | Fire at small sizes: Ember for links and accents on light. | | Serif headline: never faux-bold. No bold exists, so go bigger instead. | Serif headline: sentence case, one italic word for emphasis. | | Caps done wrong: never the serif in all caps. | Caps done right: DM Sans labels for eyebrows, nav, and the wordmark zone. | | Body text: never the serif below 22px. | Body text: always DM Sans, with true bold and italics. | | Logo on color: never Flame. The mark cannot compete with CTAs. | Logo on imagery: photography with a Midnight scrim. | | Small and square: never the full lockup below its floor. | Small and square: the glyph, which is drawn to survive it. | | Text over footage: never Flame, never without the scrim. | Text over footage: Midnight scrim, white serif, sentence case. | ## Every banned word Generated from the Messaging Guide. ### Hype - next-level - next level - game-changer - game-changing - "God showed up and showed out" - "you won't believe" - walls of flame emojis - ALL-CAPS excitement - "something big is coming" - "you do not want to miss this" - "come expecting" **Wrong only in context.** These words are ordinary English on their own. Written as epic {event}, insane {event}, unreal {event} and so on, they are hype or jargon. Every form is listed so a checker can match it exactly. - epic night - epic service - epic weekend - epic gathering - epic meeting - epic conference - epic moment - epic experience - epic season - epic event - insane night - insane service - insane weekend - insane gathering - insane meeting - insane conference - insane moment - insane experience - insane season - insane event - unreal night - unreal service - unreal weekend - unreal gathering - unreal meeting - unreal conference - unreal moment - unreal experience - unreal season - unreal event - was epic - was insane - was unreal - so epic - so insane - absolutely insane - pretty epic Manufactured intensity. Excitement must arise from substance, or it is not excitement, it is volume. ### Corporate polish - synergy - engage stakeholders - "excited to announce" - lean in **Wrong only in context.** These words are ordinary English on their own. Written as {be} relevant, comprehensive {thing}, robust {thing} and so on, they are hype or jargon. Every form is listed so a checker can match it exactly. - be relevant - being relevant - stay relevant - staying relevant - remain relevant - remaining relevant - more relevant - most relevant - sound relevant - look relevant - comprehensive strategy - comprehensive solution - comprehensive solutions - comprehensive framework - comprehensive platform - comprehensive approach - comprehensive plan - comprehensive program - comprehensive process - comprehensive system - comprehensive discipleship - comprehensive ministry - comprehensive training - robust strategy - robust solution - robust solutions - robust framework - robust platform - robust approach - robust plan - robust program - robust process - robust system - robust discipleship - robust ministry - robust training - leverage the - leverage our - leverage your - leverage this - optimize the - optimize our - optimize your - optimize for - discipleship solutions - ministry solutions - church solutions Borrowed authority. It makes a ministry sound like a vendor and says nothing a person can act on. ### Churchy insider talk - traveling mercies - hedge of protection - "love on" - "do life together" - "press in" - "contend for breakthrough" - "a God thing" - "fresh anointing" (unexplained) - "blessed to announce" - "get plugged in" - authentic community Language that only works if you are already inside. It excludes the person we are trying to reach. ### Generic ministry filler - life-changing - powerful experience - step into your destiny - your best life - new season - shift the atmosphere - unlock your potential - make an impact - transform the world - God-sized dream **Wrong only in context.** These words are ordinary English on their own. Written as spiritual journey, faith journey, your journey and so on, they are hype or jargon. Every form is listed so a checker can match it exactly. - spiritual journey - faith journey - your journey - this journey - journey together - the journey of faith Words that describe nothing. If the sentence survives with the phrase deleted, delete it. ## Rewrites | Never this | Always this | | --- | --- | | "The world is dying while lazy Christians sit in church. Stop making excuses and do something." | "You were saved and sent. Someone in your world needs to know what Jesus has done for you. Ask the Holy Spirit who your 1 is, begin the conversation, and GO." | | "Revival is coming! Do not miss the most life-changing event your city has ever seen." | "There must be more than going through the motions. Revival To My City is calling the local church to return to her first love. Come worship, receive the Word, and make room for the Holy Spirit to awaken what has become dry or distracted. Attend Revival in [City]." | | "Not sure whether you are allowed to evangelize? Download our ministry app and learn how." | "You were saved and sent. The Great Commission belongs to EVERY1. Join believers, churches and ministries around the world who are preaching the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Accept the mission. Reach your 1. Then GO again." | | "An elite leadership intensive for serious Christians ready to reach the next level." | "You were not called to remain unsure of who you are, what Jesus has given you, or where you belong. The School of the Local Church trains believers to know their authority in Christ, build a real relationship with Jesus, and take their place in the local church. Begin Training." | | "Because you are one of our most faithful donors, we wanted to tell you about another urgent financial need." | "We remembered you in prayer today. We are asking the Lord to strengthen your faith, family, work and assignment. Here is a truth that has been helping our team remain full of faith this month, and we believe it will strengthen you too." | | "If you do not give by midnight, this opportunity may disappear. Sow today and expect your miracle." | "We are inviting partners to help provide [verified need] for [specific assignment]. The current confirmed cost is [amount], and gifts designated to this campaign will be used for [purpose]. Please pray and participate only as the Lord leads you. If you choose to give, the process is secure and simple: [link]. We will report what was received, how it was used, and the verified fruit." | | "Our campaign was a massive success with thousands of lives changed and unprecedented miracles." | "From [dates], the team served in [locations]. Attendance was [counting method]. Ministry records document [verified number] Gospel responses, [verified number] follow-up connections, and [verified number] reported healings. Testimonies still awaiting confirmation are labelled unverified. These results are reported as fruit entrusted to us, not as the measure of our spiritual success." | | "The Church is asleep, compromised and failing its generation." | "Many believers know there must be more but have become dry, distracted or weighed down. We speak truthfully about what prevents the Word from producing, while calling the Church back to her first love. The destination is never shame. It is awakening, responsibility and action." | | "The lost and unsaved need to get right with God before it is too late." | "If you do not yet know Jesus, He is not distant or unavailable. He knows you, loves you, and is inviting you to receive forgiveness, new life, and a real relationship with Him." | | Source: "when Jesus calls you you go you do not wait until everything makes sense you go". Edited to: "Spiritual progress requires embracing uncertainty and proactively pursuing your divine purpose." | Punctuation only: "When Jesus calls you, you GO. You do not wait until everything makes sense. You GO." | | "To ensure everyone feels comfortable, EVERY1 avoids disputed supernatural subjects and focuses on shared values." | "EVERY1 welcomes cooperation around the essential Gospel and the Great Commission. We are not exclusive, but we will not shy away from the Holy Spirit. Spirit-led ministry, healing, deliverance and supernatural dependence upon Him remain part of our normal environment." |