General Conference Adopts New Brand Identity

Spectrum Website
#1

One of the surprisingly hot button topics at the Spring Meeting of the General Conference Executive Committee was the unveiling of a new Adventist branding identity. The Seventh-day Adventist symbol, which is owned by the General Conference Corporation and may only be used by official church entities, remains unchanged. The current symbol has been in use since 1997. The official font and design guidelines, however, have undergone extensive modifications.

The new sans-serif font, Noto Sans, which has been dubbed “Advent Sans” by the GC, is an open source font that will purportedly save the GC “millions of dollars.” The font was chosen specifically because it is available for free and works well in a variety of languages, thereby allowing for a unified look for all global Seventh-day Adventist churches and organizations.

Commissioned by Google, Noto Sans is currently the only universal typeface in the world and was just recently released for use. It took five years to design and covers over 800 languages. The GC says they adapted Noto Sans into “Advent Sans” by making “extensive modifications to the latin and cyrillic alphabets, and where applicable, we have made some recommendations for non-western character sets.”

A new seven-panel design grid – the “Creation Grid” – is to be used for all visual materials. The first six panels are open for the designer to use as she/he so chooses, while the seventh panel – the “Sabbath Column” – is reserved for the official symbol and a background that is “beautiful” and stands in contrast with the other six panels. The Adventist symbol is the “only non-background element that may be placed in the Sabbath column.”

Also new to the identity guidelines is the encouraged use of color. The previous identity system “restricted the coloration of the symbol and accompanying wordmarks,” but the new guidelines have no official color palette.

A new website, identity.adventist.org, was also unveiled and all in attendance were encouraged to go to the site to review the guidelines in more depth and to adopt them going forward.

GC legal counsel spoke to the committee about the importance of using the trademarked logo and design elements appropriately. To use them incorrectly is a violation of the trademark and could cause the trademark to be invalidated, cautioned Jennifer Gray, associate general counsel for the General Conference.

The discussion of trademark concerns seems timely considering the GC’s current legal battle with the Lillards, a Seventh-day Adventist couple who is being sued by the GC for selling Pathfinders gear that is emblazoned with the church’s logo.

After the new branding identity presentation, the floor was opened for questions from Executive Committee members, and several expressed concern, confusion, and frustration over the new guidelines. One commenter took issue with some of the examples used in the presentation, which included use of the new design on items including a cereal box, a veggie-meat can, and other items. The commenter reminded the audience that the working policy prohibits the name “Seventh-day Adventist” and the symbol from being used for commercial purposes. Williams Costa Jr, director of the communications department, apologized for his team’s creativity.

After expressing pleas that the Executive Committee be willing to work with the GC on this, Ted Wilson called for a vote. The vote passed, though there were several “nays” throughout the audience. Wilson noted the nays and called again for a willingness to work together to adhere to the new branding guidelines.

WATCH: Adventist Identity Guideline System Introduction

Adventist Identity Guideline System Introduction from The Adventist Church (Official) on Vimeo.

Alisa Williams is Managing Editor of SpectrumMagazine.org.

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://spectrummagazine.org/node/7964
#2

“On the Seventh day He rested”.
In my Episcopalian Book of Common Prayer on pg 350 it says "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy."
A number of times during the year we recite the 10 Commandments, and after each one say, AMEN.
I have in my library 5 books by Sunday Keeping authors on the Benefits of Sabbath, AND discuss
HOW to “keep” Sabbath.
One actually suggests that one TURN OFF all Cell Phones on that day. Take no phone calls.
No Internet activity. NO TV. Make it a TRUE day of Rest.
Another suggests having all the baking, housekeeping done the day before, so all one has to do
is “warm” up what ever tastes better hot.
Devote the day to family when completed religious service that day.
Make that a day of Relationship with God and Family.

Many OTHER Sunday churches have available to them the 10 Commandments and repeat them on a periodic basis. And a huge number of Christians are familiar with the 4th [Catholic 3rd].

SO… WHAT do we as Seventh day Adventists Have To Offer our Sunday Keeping friends???
We SDAs have a lot of Rules, Regulations. Very little in the way of offered Relationship in the
way we present OUR Sabbath.

Would appreciate comments. thank you. Steve.

#3

Steve ,Allow me to reply to you. The Sabbath is much bigger in purpose than most of us realize . The bible starts by introducing us to the Godhead, Father ,Son, and Holy Spirit. They are One . God created Adam, and he was lonely. God then created Eve , and in marriage ,the man and woman , became One .The first full day of life for Adam and Eve , was the Sabbath . They entered into communion with God and worshipped Him .The greatest meaning of the Sabbath is Oneness with God .Please read Psalms 22, 23 ,and 24 . Notice that Psalms 22 point us to the events that took place on Friday . Psalms 24 :7-10 , tell us of the events that took place Sunday morning , when Jesus went to heaven to present Himself to his Father. So between Psalms 22 and 24 (Friday and Sunday ) , there is Psalms 23 , the Sabbath Psalm .Read it in the light of Jesus being your Sabbath , and every verse speaking of rest . And notice also , " the valley of the shadow of death, " is a direct reference to Jesus resting in the tomb on the Sabbath .Why do people of other Faiths love this Psalm so much, because it is the Sabbath Psalm. Please share with your friends the beauty of the Sabbath , and their relationship with God will deepen.

#4

Rodney, if you’re inferring that the answer to Steve’s question "SO… WHAT do we as Seventh day Adventists Have To Offer our Sunday Keeping friends???" is that the Adventist Sabbath is the true Sabbath, while the “Sunday keeping” church is worshipping on the wrong day - proven by the fact that Jesus rested on the Sabbath, between Friday and Sunday (the wrong worship day). Perhaps you’re not aware that back then, there was no Friday or Sunday - only the sixth and the first day of the week , respectively. If Steve’s church were counting the days of the week starting on Monday, as the first day of the week, they would be worshipping on the seventh day - and would be as much in the right as you, starting your count on Sunday., since neither they, or we, use the Lunar calendar. It was only the Roman calendar that gave names to the days of the week. Before that - even in Jesus’ day, the first day of the week DID NOT coincide with our Sunday today; and their Sabbath was not on a Saturday.

If the only thing the Adventist church has to offer the world is a different day to worship, we are to be pitied. It’s not about the day of the week. It’s about RELATIONSHIPS - between God and us. That can not be controlled by plastering the “Sabbath” on Saturday, a day calculated by the Roman calendar.

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#5

I’m just trying to figure out if it’s coming down to the great controversy of the end times being about the mark of the beast Sunday vs Saturday Sabbath , what ARE the rules? How are you sure you are “keeping” the sabbath?

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#9

This thread seem to be way off topic. The “Sabbath” origins of the graphic “grid” (it’s not really a grid because it only describes columns and has no division in the other direction) are of passing interest, but seem to pushed by the discussion of both the designers of the new “system,” administrators that adopted it, the videos that promote/explain it, etc. If I were to tell you of the complex interwoven numeric structures of the structures of the medieval poem the “Pearl” it probably will result in little increased appreciation of the allegory of the Epic poem or your understanding of Christ parable of the Pearl of Great Price or the New Jerusalem in the poem. Ditto: Sabbath => graphic design concepts.

Unfortunately, discussion of the graphic rationale and benefits is largely absent. It is questionable if a “prefered” column structure is too open ended except for talented designers (as displayed by some very creative examples in the video).

To be commended is the use of the outstanding work already done by the South Pacific Division. Additionally, commendation is due for taking feedback from the first attempt at just modifying the existing Logo which was graphically a major step backwards.

The open source freely available font is to be commended and is likely the way of the future, especially for organizations like the church. However, I’m not completely sold on the “character” of the font is just right for the church, and it should be noted that as the font will become to have very wide and diverse usage in the future this may well become a negative, or result in producing bland associations of ubiquity or undesirable visual associations. (Well will see what the future brings.)

Keeping the “Symbol” part of the logo the same is to be praised. We can learn a lot from companies like Ford that have kept their logo the same for over a century all the while almost imperceptibly modifying it to relate to current visual trends within society.

There are other questions that deserve discussion. The previous logo was essentially a ‘centralized’ logo—with much the same height as width—emphasizing neither the horizontal or vertical. This increased it’s visual design flexibility for use in horizontal, vertical or neutral orientation layouts. The new ‘style’ format clearly opts for the banner horizontal orientation made so common by the internet. A vertical option ‘style’ could have assisted graphic designers, and even more those without a design background.

I could go on, but overall I must say as a designer, this is a great recovery from what was a disastrously bad first attempt last year.

Overall, Well done.

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#10

“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

It is much easier to wear a uniform than it is to ‘get along’
with everyone wearing a uniform.

Many of Christ’s disciples were easily recognized by their speech,
the ‘form’ of their communication. Just fresh from arguing with the 11 others
over who would be the greatest in ‘the kingdom’, Peter was thus recognized,
even as he denied Jesus 3 times.

As long as the more difficult issues that divide the hearts, the souls,
of SDAs remain unresolved, even beautiful standardized SDA forms cannot but
grieve that Holy Spirit that waited for all differences to be put away among Christ’s
disciples at Pentecost. Only when they were of ‘one accord’, of ‘one heart’,
‘homothymadon’ – ‘to rush along in unison’ – did that Heavenly Wind ‘fill the sails’
of that church ‘circle’. At least now we SDAs have a beautiful ‘sail’ in place and waiting.
And, when we all agree to pull our ‘oars’ in the same direction, that sail can ‘catch the Wind’.

Here’s an excerpt from Ellen’s Christ’s Object Lessons, chapter 7, Like Unto Leaven :

“Many educated and influential men had come to hear the Prophet of Galilee.
Some of these looked with curious interest upon the multitude that had gathered about
Christ as He taught by the sea. In this great throng all classes of society were represented.
There were the poor, the illiterate, the ragged beggar, the robber with the seal of guilt
upon his face, the maimed, the dissipated, the merchant and the man of leisure,
high and low, rich and poor, all crowding upon one another for a place to stand and
hear the words of Christ. As these cultured men gazed upon the strange assembly,
they asked themselves, Is the kingdom of God composed of such material as this?
Again the Saviour replied by a parable: {COL 95.1}

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” {COL 95.2}

"Among the Jews leaven was sometimes used as an emblem of sin.
At the time of the Passover the people were directed to remove all the leaven from their
houses as they were to put away sin from their hearts. Christ warned His disciples,
“Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1. And the apostle
Paul speaks of the “leaven of malice and wickedness.” 1 Corinthians 5:8.
But in the Saviour’s parable, leaven is used to represent the kingdom of heaven.
It illustrates the quickening, assimilating power of the grace of God. {COL 95.3}

None are so vile, none have fallen so low, as to be beyond the working of this power.
In all who will submit themselves to the Holy Spirit a new principle of life is to be
implanted; the lost image of God is to be restored in humanity. {COL 96.1}

But man cannot transform himself by the exercise of his will. He possesses no power
by which this change can be effected. The leaven–something wholly from without–
must be put into the meal before the desired change can be wrought in it.
So the grace of God must be received by the sinner before he can be fitted for the
kingdom of glory. All the culture and education which the world can give will fail of making
a degraded child of sin a child of heaven. The renewing energy must come from God.
The change can be made only by the Holy Spirit. All who would be saved, high or low,
rich or poor, must submit to the working of this power. {COL 96.2}

As the leaven, when mingled with the meal, works from within outward, so it is by
the renewing of the heart that the grace of God works to transform the life. No mere
external change is sufficient to bring us into harmony with God. There are many who
try to reform by correcting this or that bad habit, and they hope in this way to become
Christians, but they are beginning in the wrong place. Our first work is with the heart.
{COL 97.1}

A profession of faith and the possession of truth in the soul are two different things.
The mere knowledge of truth is not enough. We may possess this, but the tenor of our
thoughts may not be changed. The heart must be converted and sanctified. {COL 97.2}

The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of
obligation merely–because he is required to do so–will never enter into the joy of obedience.
He does not obey. When the requirements of God are accounted a burden because they
cut across human inclination, we may know that the life is not a Christian life.
True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness,
the love of the law of God. The essence of all righteousness is loyalty to our Redeemer.
This will lead us to do right because it is right–because right doing is pleasing to God. {COL 97.3}

The great truth of the conversion of the heart by the Holy Spirit is presented in Christ’s words
to Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above,
he can not see the kingdom of God. . . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh
and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.” John 3:3-8, margin. {COL 98.1}

Before the Second Advent of Jesus, comes the Second Advent of the Holy Spirit Who
impresses the ‘corporate logo’ of Heaven into our minds and hearts –
working from within, toward without, not vice versa – and that logo is not at all a ‘copyrighted’,
or ‘owned’ ‘format’. It is a ‘character’ free to all.

This is the yearly time of the ‘Passover’ and ‘unleavened bread’, when proud sin is symbolically removed.
Soon will come the time of Pentecost, when the good ‘leaven’ of Christ’s Humble Righteousness goes to work .
Let’s pray that the GC receives that good ‘leaven’, ASAP, drops the law suit against the Lillards
and stops seeking the assistance of the ‘State’ in handling ‘Church’ business.

Let the power of the Creators – not the power of the ‘State’ – defend the SDA church ‘logo’,
if it truly reflects the Creators’ ‘character’.
Let the GC pray to ‘the Stone cut out without hands’ for such ‘image’ protection,
not to the ‘feet of iron and clay’, not to ‘iron’ ‘state-craft’ mingled with ‘clay’ ‘priest-craft’.

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#11

From the prefatory statement: “We worship God in different ways. We all celebrate, all confess, all shout for joy, in a million different ways.” Well, then . . . .

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#13

Adventism readsRev 14 all Wrong–The final issue is not over time but Who alone is worthy of worship The Lamb or the beast?

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#14

Are the Adventists going to brand the cross of Christ. Or is it to late for that.

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#15

Probably not. The Adventist Church has avoided the cross like the plague. Although, in recent years, it has managed to make an appearance, you know…in a very small way, here and there.

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#16

The new General Conference Identity website, identity.adventist.org, that is referenced in this fascinating articlemakes an excellent case in the narrative for inclusiveness, openness, and by inference sets a positive platform for change and the ordination of women. Read these words carefully:
“These guidelines were developed to anticipate and accommodate our differences, both in the content of our materials, and the styles we design in. The core elements of the system are few, but if adopted consistently, they will have a powerful impact on the mission of the church.
These guidelines describe the core elements and principles of our identity system. They are intended to be dynamic, consisting of regular updates as we learn from members and church leadership about what works best for their respective audiences. While the new official church logo is available for download in almost a hundred languages, this initial iteration of the guidelines primarily addresses entities in majority English-speaking regions. This 2.0 version, with the new global elements, provides a strong foundation for the important task of working with division communication leaders and international designers to explore how the system can be extended or modified for local contexts.
Because language and culture are dynamic we have made sure these guidelines are not set in stone as commandments, but are also dynamic. Some regions may feel the need to adapt these principles for their specific contexts. We strongly encourage entities to think deeply about what works best for their respective audiences. However, what works best for most audiences in our increasingly mobile and interconnected world is to recognize we are all Seventh-day Adventists, so it is best to communicate clearly to avoid visual fragmentation. This means any major change or extension to these guidelines will require a global discussion and new decisions by our governing bodies.
The ultimate goal of this work is to help people know we are all Seventh-day Adventists. We ask that you join us in letting people know we are all different, but all excited about the beauty that is soon to come.”

I hope we can live up to this ideal!

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#17

Next iteration: A lamb, and a shepherd’s crook with a set of super-imposed Greek letters? Just askin’!

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#19

Much ado has been made over God’s resting on the 7th day. But if that was the sine qua non of his mission here we are no better than the Jews who meticulously “rested” on that day.

It was ONLY because he did not STAY in the tomb that Christianity was born. If Adventists are truly Christians, full recognition should be given to the one and only event that gave birth to Christianity: His rising from the tomb; without that, nothing else matters. The Resurrection has been celebrated every since then by all Christians.
(Sadly, for many years in the past it was ignored by Adventists as being “too Catholic!” Actually, Adventism has more in common with Judaism than Christianity

6 Likes
#20

As a graphic designer I find the logistics of what has been done quite fascinating along with all the work that has gone into it. But I do question a few things. Fonts can translate differently in different cultures-sans serif might mean one thing here in the U.S. but how does it translate in say Japan or Nigeria. Or for that matter a serif font. Our view or the designers view, might not be universal and maybe it can’t be. Not sure the font style was worth the effort. BUT more importantly the logo symbol itself is the the thing. That is what the eye really catches onto be it DELL or Facebook, or Coca Cola. The symbol is the thing, first and foremost. Yes the font can assist but the symbol is the thing unless the font is the symbol and then it IS the symbol. In this case we are dealing with a symbol and the font and its placement in relationship to the symbol.

I do like the SDA symbol very much, it says so much in a simple but graphic way and to me it expresses what the SDA church is about - the cross, the world, the bible and the 3 swirls over the globe. That’s enough. Story told. That’s what should be branded more. This thing with the grid only serves to overemphasize the 7 Day. I am not sure that is the main thing the world needs to know about the church IMO. And it speaks to me about a continuing need on the part of SDA leadership to impose control, unnecessary control. And of course that speaks volumes about the SDA Church’s insecurity and attitudes of inferiority, which I believe is a major motivator in how this church continues to relate to the world and other Christian faiths. (They keep trying to justify themselves to the world instead of just moving forward with what they know to be true.) The grid is a gimmick and it is clever in some respects but from the examples given in items like promos and books that 7th panel was often blank with just the SDA logo in a colored field. That speaks volumes if you take time to see. So the 7th panel is basically void, empty. Is that really what the 7th day is about? I always thought the Sabbath was supposed to INTEGRATE into the whole week and inform your life every day. Just sayin.

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#22

So Elaine, you believe in the resurrection ?

#23

Actually keeping the Sabbath, not just talking about it (or keeping the wrong one).

#24

His followers believed and that’s all that really matters. They began Christianity on this belief. What we believe has nothing to do with that fact of 2,000 years ago.

#25

Seriously, very seriously, just how many little ones died from starvation, disease, and without knowing about Jesus; and/or older folks from hopelessness and deprivation of liberty and knowing of God’s grace, while designers, legal staff, and all the others involved in this lengthy exercise that seems to infer that whatever you print or produce with the Adventist logo attached must take up 6/7ths of a page, a billboard, a bus-stop, a church noticeboard, and 1/7th for a symbol.

Please SPD (originators of the orange/black scheme which thankfully we never heard about until now) and GC staff, and whoever else was involved, get up from your computer desk, shut your office, go on a mission trip, and weep where Jesus weeps. That’s where our focus, our funds, and our footsteps should be be.

If you wonder why more and more Adventist members are doing their own ‘thing’ when it comes to mission, take a hard look at the costs involved and wasted on this ‘new brand’.

Women are told they cannot have prolapse operations, orphanages are closing, safe haven houses are being shut down, mission boats lying idle without fuel and maintenance, God-pods withheld from villagers, while our offerings and gifts/donations sit in bank accounts. This is the truth. It cannot be denied. Please - what would Jesus do? How would you explain the costs of this brand ‘amendment’ to Him?