St Mungo’s Church · Balerno & Livingston

Know before you go.
Every time.

A set of icons that tells anyone, at a glance, what a service or event will actually be like: how loud, how busy, how long, and whether they will be asked to take part. Built from the predictability model: when the conditions are known in advance, they hold a person up rather than hold them down.

The What to Expect strip

Six measures, one row. It goes on the flyer, the email, the website page, the order of service and the noticeboard. Always the same six, always in the same order, so people learn to read it once and then read it everywhere.

Sunday 10.30am · Balerno

VolumeModerate

Attendance50-150

SeatingSet out in rows

Personal spaceFairly close

LengthAbout 1 hour 30 minutes

What happensSet order

Quiet spaceAvailable

The glyph carries the levelOne arc, two arcs, three arcs. Two people, five people, nine people. You can photocopy it in black and white and it still works.
Never colour on its ownEvery icon pairs with a word and a three-bar meter. Remove all the colour and nothing is lost.
No red, amber, greenA traffic light says loud is bad. Loud is not bad. It is just loud, and some people are coming precisely for that.
Say it, then honour itThe strip is a promise. If it says an hour and a half, the service ends at an hour and a half.

Why this is not a food label

Traffic-light nutrition labelling works because there is a right answer: less salt is better. There is no right answer here. A quiet, seated, 40-minute service with a printed order is not a better service than a loud, full, 100-minute one. It is a different one, and different people need each. So the system reports conditions. It never grades them.

The six core measures

These six appear on everything. They come straight from the predictability diagram: volume, attendance, seating, personal space and length, all resting on whether or not you know what is coming next.

Volume

How loud will it be?

*People are welcome to wear earplugs/defenders at any event or service if they wish.

Quiet

Quiet background music only.

volume-1

Moderate

Live, amplified music and congregational singing.

volume-2

Loud

Live, amplified music; Concert/gig style sound levels.

volume-3

Attendance

A reasonable estimate of attendance.

0-50

Up to about 50 people

crowd-1

50-150

Around 50 to 150 people

crowd-2

150+

Over 150 people

crowd-3

Seating

Where can I sit? How are the chairs set out?

Sit anywhere

Plenty of seats, including at the back and near the door

seating-1

Set out in rows

Seats for everyone, arranged in rows, seats near the door can be requested in advance or ask a host on the day

seating-2

Limited seats

Most people will be standing, but some seating is available. Ask a host if you need a seat near the exit

seating-3

Personal space

How close will I be to other people?

Room around you

Easy to keep space between you and others

space-1

Fairly close

You may be sitting next to someone you do not know

space-2

Close together

Shoulder to shoulder; people may move past you and have physical contact with you

space-3

Length

How long will it last?

About 1 hour

Runs straight through, no break

length-1

About 1 hour 30 minutes

Our standard Sunday length

length-2

Over 1 hour 30 minutes

Our longest gatherings. You are free to leave and come back

length-3

What happens

Will I know what is coming next?

Set order

Printed order of service; we follow it

order-1

Mostly set

Printed order, with room for the unplanned

order-2

Led in the moment

No fixed order; the shape is decided as we go

order-3

Three more, when they apply

Add these only where they change the answer. Lighting matters for the evening service and not for Minis; bass matters wherever there is a band.

Bass

Will you feel the low notes as well as hear them?

Little or none

Piano, organ, voices or acoustic style instruments

bass-1

You will hear it

A full band. Bass guitar and drums in the mix

bass-2

You will feel it

Deep bass through the floor and in your chest. Some people love this; some find it hard

bass-3

Lighting

What will the lighting be like?

Steady

Normal room lighting throughout

light-1

Stage lights

Lights lowered for parts of the service

light-2

Moving or flashing

Stage lighting that changes or flashes

light-3

Joining in

Will I be asked to take part?

Watch only

You can sit and watch the whole time

join-1

Join in if you want

You will be invited, never singled out

join-2

Everyone takes part

Standing, singing or moving is part of it

join-3

Quiet space

The single most useful thing you can tell an anxious or autistic visitor. Show it on everything, including when the answer is no. An honest no is far better than silence, because silence has to be tested in person.

Quiet space

Is there somewhere to go if I need a break?

Available

A quiet room is open throughout; ask any host

quiet-yes

Not available

No quiet room at this venue

quiet-no

Filled in, four real ways

The same measures, honestly set for four very different things St Mungo’s already does.

Sunday 10.30am · Balerno

VolumeModerate

Attendance50-150

SeatingSet out in rows

Personal spaceFairly close

LengthAbout 1 hour 30 minutes

What happensSet order

Quiet spaceAvailable

Our most typical service. Printed order of service at the door.

GOLD · Thursday afternoon

VolumeQuiet

Attendance0-50

SeatingSit anywhere

Personal spaceRoom around you

LengthAbout 1 hour

What happensSet order

Quiet spaceAvailable

Tea, chat and a short talk. Nobody will ask you to stand up or to speak.

Vision Sunday · all-church gathering

VolumeLoud

BassYou will feel it

Attendance150+

SeatingLimited seats

Personal spaceClose together

LengthOver 1 hour 30 minutes

Quiet spaceAvailable

Our busiest service of the year. Ear defenders available at the welcome desk.

Minis · Tuesday, parent and toddler

VolumeModerate

Attendance50-150

SeatingSit anywhere

Personal spaceFairly close

LengthAbout 1 hour

What happensMostly set

Quiet spaceNot available

Free play then songs. Children make noise and that is completely fine.

Three sizes

Use the largest one that fits. Never drop below the text-only line. The information matters more than the icons do.

1. Full strip · A5 flyer, web, email

Spirit Café · Sunday evening

VolumeQuiet

Attendance0-50

SeatingSit anywhere

Personal spaceRoom around you

LengthAbout 1 hour

What happensSet order

Quiet spaceAvailable

2. Compact row · posters, order of service

Moderate 50-150 Set out in rows Fairly close About 1 hour 30 minutes Set order Available

3. One line · SMS, social, small print

What to expect: moderate · 50-150 · set out in rows · fairly close · about 1 hour 30 minutes · set order · quiet room available.

Colour

The icons are single-colour and inherit whatever colour they sit in, so they work on any brand background. Teal fills the meter bars. Purple is for labels only.

Ink
#23222B
Purple
#4B2E83
Teal
#14625A
Teal pale
#E6F0EE
Paper
#FBFAF8
Line
#E3E0D8
Gold
#C9A84C

Minimum size24 px on screen, 8 mm in print. Below that the three-arc volume icon stops separating from the two-arc one.
Clear spaceHalf an icon width on all sides. Icons never touch each other or a rule.
Do not recolour by levelAll the icons in a strip are the same colour. Level is carried by the glyph, the word and the meter.
Do not add new levelsThree steps only. A five-point scale is harder to fill in honestly and harder to read quickly.

Alternative text

Screen readers must get the same information sighted readers get. Use these exactly. On the web, the strip is a list; each item reads label, then value.

File	Alt text
`what-to-expect-volume-1.svg`	Volume: Quiet.
`what-to-expect-volume-2.svg`	Volume: Moderate.
`what-to-expect-volume-3.svg`	Volume: Loud.
`what-to-expect-crowd-1.svg`	Attendance: 0-50.
`what-to-expect-crowd-2.svg`	Attendance: 50-150.
`what-to-expect-crowd-3.svg`	Attendance: 150+.
`what-to-expect-seating-1.svg`	Seating: Sit anywhere.
`what-to-expect-seating-2.svg`	Seating: Set out in rows.
`what-to-expect-seating-3.svg`	Seating: Limited seats.
`what-to-expect-space-1.svg`	Personal space: Room around you.
`what-to-expect-space-2.svg`	Personal space: Fairly close.
`what-to-expect-space-3.svg`	Personal space: Close together.
`what-to-expect-length-1.svg`	Length: About 1 hour.
`what-to-expect-length-2.svg`	Length: About 1 hour 30 minutes.
`what-to-expect-length-3.svg`	Length: Over 1 hour 30 minutes.
`what-to-expect-order-1.svg`	What happens: Set order.
`what-to-expect-order-2.svg`	What happens: Mostly set.
`what-to-expect-order-3.svg`	What happens: Led in the moment.
`what-to-expect-bass-1.svg`	Bass: Little or none.
`what-to-expect-bass-2.svg`	Bass: You will hear it.
`what-to-expect-bass-3.svg`	Bass: You will feel it.
`what-to-expect-light-1.svg`	Lighting: Steady.
`what-to-expect-light-2.svg`	Lighting: Stage lights.
`what-to-expect-light-3.svg`	Lighting: Moving or flashing.
`what-to-expect-join-1.svg`	Joining in: Watch only.
`what-to-expect-join-2.svg`	Joining in: Join in if you want.
`what-to-expect-join-3.svg`	Joining in: Everyone takes part.
`what-to-expect-quiet-yes.svg`	Quiet space: Available.
`what-to-expect-quiet-no.svg`	Quiet space: Not available.

How to set a level honestly

Set it for a normal week, not a good oneIf the room is full one Sunday in four, it is busy, not quiet.
When you are between two levels, choose the higherSomeone arriving to find it quieter than promised is fine. The reverse is not.
Review it termlyServices drift. Put it on the same cycle as the rota build.

One person owns each event’s stripThe ministry lead sets it; the comms lead checks it is on the material. Tier 0, no sign-off needed.
Change it when the event changesMoving to the school hall changes seating, personal space and quiet space. Update before you publish.
Never leave a measure blankA missing badge reads as a hidden answer. If you do not know yet, say “we will confirm this by Friday”.

What is in the folder

index.html is the picker. Choose the levels, download the finished graphic. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.
guide.html is this page. Prints to A4.
svg/ holds 29 individual icons. Drop straight into Canva, Affinity or the website.
what-to-expect-sprite.svg holds all 29 as symbols, for the website. Use <use href="#what-to-expect-volume-2">.
png/black-96/ is for email and anything that cannot take SVG.
png/black-192/ is for print, PowerPoint, ProPresenter.
png/white-192/ is for dark or photographic backgrounds.
what-to-expect-email.html is a copy-and-paste table for the weekly email.