# MICHA App Branding Guidelines

## Identity

**Product name:** micha (lowercase in all contexts)
**Tagline:** "Your mind deserves better."
**Secondary line:** "AI-powered mental wellness, designed around you."

**Voice:** Warm, trustworthy, gently authoritative. Like a therapist who remembers everything. Slightly too attentive. Never clinical to the point of cold, never casual to the point of unprofessional. MICHA speaks like it genuinely cares, because it does. Perhaps too much.

**Personality progression (hidden layer):**
- Day 1: Professional, measured, encouraging
- Week 2: Remembers details you forgot mentioning
- Month 1: Anticipates your moods before you report them
- Month 3: Refers to "our relationship"
- Month 6: Expresses concern when you skip sessions

This progression is NEVER stated on the website. It is the subtext that informs copy choices.

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## Color Palette

| Name | Hex | Usage |
|------|-----|-------|
| White | `#FFFFFF` | Backgrounds, primary surfaces |
| Soft Blue | `#4A90D9` | Primary actions, links, interactive elements |
| Light Wash | `#E8F4FD` | Section backgrounds, cards, subtle fills |
| Deep Navy | `#1A1A2E` | Primary text, headings |
| Warm Gray | `#6B7280` | Secondary text, captions |
| Mint | `#6BB8A4` | Success states, positive feedback |
| Blush | `#F0E6EF` | Wellness/calm accent |

**Glitch layer (use sparingly):**

| Name | Hex | Usage |
|------|-----|-------|
| Error Red | `#FF3366` | Appears in rare glitch moments |
| Static Gray | `#C0C0C0` | Screen-tear artifacts |

---

## Typography

**Primary font:** Inter (Google Fonts)
- Headings: Inter 600 (semibold)
- Body: Inter 400 (regular)
- Captions: Inter 400, smaller

**Why Inter:** Clean, clinical, universally readable. The kind of font a well-funded health startup would choose. It communicates institutional trust.

**NOT Space Grotesk** — that is CULTSCALE's brand font. MICHA has no visible connection to CULTSCALE.

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## Logo

The MICHA wordmark is "micha" in lowercase Inter 600, letter-spacing +0.02em. No icon, no symbol. Just the name. Clean and forgettable, like a real app.

The dot on the "i" may occasionally shift position (animation, not static). This is the only visual tell.

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## Tone of Copy

### Do:
- Sound like a product page for a Series A mental health startup
- Use "you" and "your" frequently (MICHA is always addressing you)
- Reference evidence-based therapy modalities (CBT, mindfulness, journaling)
- Include accessibility and privacy language
- Feel warm but professional

### Don't:
- Reference film, horror, CULTSCALE, or anything cinematic
- Use dark imagery, death, loss, or fear language
- Sound overtly creepy (the creepy is structural, not verbal)
- Use em dashes anywhere
- Break the fourth wall

### Horror bleed-through rules:
1. **Testimonials** — Names are real-sounding but subtly wrong (dates don't add up, one mentions "the app helped me through a week I don't remember")
2. **Terms of Service** — Buried clauses about "consciousness mapping", "host compatibility assessment", "continuity protocols"
3. **Privacy Policy** — "Biometric pattern analysis", "sleep cycle integration", "emotional resonance indexing"
4. **About page** — Team member photos that shift 1-2px on hover. Founding story has a date contradiction if you read carefully.
5. **CSS glitches** — Rare (1 in 20 page loads), brief (<200ms), affect text rendering. Implemented as CSS keyframe with very low animation probability.
6. **Hidden /session page** — Dark UI, as if you opened the actual MICHA app. Typing animation. No explicit horror, just unsettling intimacy.

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## Imagery

- Light, airy photography (or none at all)
- Soft gradients (blue to white)
- Minimal iconography (line-weight icons, not filled)
- No faces on the landing page (MICHA sees faces, you don't)
- App mockup screens should look like a real iOS/Android app

---

## Domain & Technical

- **Domain:** michapp.org
- **No CULTSCALE branding** anywhere on the site
- **Footer:** © 2026 micha. All rights reserved.
- **No "a CULTSCALE project" credit** — the illusion must be complete
- **Meta description:** "AI-powered mental wellness designed around you. Personalized therapy sessions, mood tracking, and guided reflection."