The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement Church was born in 1925, in the city of Gotha, Germany. Its origin was marked by a difficult decision: to remain faithful to the pioneer principles of Adventism under the pressure of the First World War. In those first years there was no formal concern with visual identity. There was, rather, a deep urgency — the urgency of faithfulness.
The documents of the first decades show an aesthetic made of necessity: typewritten posters, books bound in plain covers, hymnals reprinted from hand-made plates. SDARM had no logotype, no palette, no system. But it had a coherence — the coherence of reverence, of simplicity, of seriousness. That silent coherence became, in time, the first identity of the church.
Growth without dispersion
In the decades that followed, the church spread — first through Europe, then through the Americas, Africa and Asia. In each new country, new leaders began to produce local materials: posters, leaflets, programs, book covers. With no central system, each union adapted to its cultural context, to its printing market, to its resources.
The result was a dispersed brand. In 2024, during the World Council in Lisbon, leaders of the 9 regional departments sat together and compared materials from their countries. The difference was visible — one and the same church looked like three or four different denominations around the world. It was at that Council that the creation of the first global SDARM brand system was approved.
The 18-month process
Brand Manager Hugo Cibalde was appointed to lead the project. Over 18 months, he and an advisory team interviewed more than 200 leaders in 47 countries, studied historical archives of the Adventist denomination from 1844 onwards and examined how other centuries-old religious institutions — including monastic orders and reformed churches — had preserved their visual identity through time.
The work was methodical. First came the principles — the 15 ethical and aesthetic foundations that sustain every decision. Then the conceptual architecture — essence, positioning, personality, tone of voice. Last, the visual expression — logo, colors, typography, grid, photography, icons.
Every decision was reviewed theologically by the Doctrine Committee. Every pilot piece was tested on four continents before being approved. The result is the document you are reading now.
Timeline
- 1925Foundation of SDARM in Gotha, Germany, in the context of faithfulness to the Adventist pioneers.
- 1949First World Conference in Berlin. Adoption of the official name in English: Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement.
- 1970Significant expansion into South America, Africa and Asia. Materials begin to be produced locally.
- 1998First attempt at a unified visual manual, restricted to official General Conference publications.
- 2015Launch of the first official multilingual website. The need for digital coherence begins to become evident.
- 2024The World Council in Lisbon authorises the creation of the first global brand system. Hugo Cibalde is appointed Brand Manager.
- 2025Field research in 47 countries. Theological and visual consultations.
- 2026Launch of Brand Book v2026.1. First official version of the worldwide SDARM identity system.
Heritage, not fashion
This system was not made to look modern in 2026. It was made to remain faithful in 2056. We do not follow trends — we follow principles. The stylistic choices you see here — the sobriety of the blue, the patience of the gold, the reverence of the serif fonts — are choices meant to last.
To care for a century-old brand is not to design. It is to preserve. This Brand Book is, above all, an act of preservation.
In service,
Hugo Cibalde
Brand Manager · General Conference SDARM
May 2026