Brand Book. Volume One
You’re going to die.
Here’s how we say it.
83 spreads on why MORTL exists, how it talks about death and what it looks like: the strategy, the manifesto and the style guide, written down so the brand holds as it grows. Read it here, or take the PDF.
From Stephanie
Why I’m publishing the whole thing.
My dad, Joby Horn, died of brain cancer on February 5, 2022. My mom managed his whole illness from a spiral notebook, and after he died we worked through hospice, paperwork, costs and decisions with no clear guide. MORTL is the site I wish we’d had.
A brand book is where I keep that promise honest. Every color, both typefaces, the six paths, the rules for how we talk about death and the rules for writing about suicide are written down in one place, so anyone who works on MORTL makes the same choices I’d make.
I’m sharing all of it because I want you to see the care that goes into this, and why I’m doing it. If you think we got something wrong, write to press@mortl.com.
Stephanie Werner
CEO, Founder, & Editor
What’s inside
Three books in one.
The strategy, the manifesto and the style guide. Jump to a part, or scroll the whole thing. Every spread here is a page in the PDF.
Brand Book Volume One You're going to die. Let's talk about it. 
MORTL Strategic Brand Pyramid Establish Make it unmistakable who's talking. The wordmark, one color nobody else in the category uses, and a tagline that says the word. Orient Ask the one question that matters first. Where are you right now? Then take the person to the path that fits. Deliver Put the useful thing in their hands. The checklist, their state's rules, the tools, the providers, the answers. Then let them leave. Describe Explain each thing plainly, with the number, the law and the source. Never a recommendation. Never a euphemism. the wordmark Pulse the tagline the voice the six paths free where it matters 51 state guides, 36 tools 157 stories, the Dispatch the directory plain answers prices, laws sources 
Brand Book / Table of Contents Strategy This book orients anyone who touches MORTL in the story, the context and the opportunity in making death a subject people handle instead of avoid. The cultural backdrop, the consumer insight, the brand tenets and the personality are in one place, so MORTL, its partners, and anyone who writes or designs in its name work from the same page. 1.0 Our Vision 2.0 Our Foundation 3.0 Our Essence 4.0 Our Reasons to Believe 5.0 Our Personality 
Brand Book / Table of Contents Manifesto This book is MORTL's spirit, story and brand world in one expression, for people new to the brand and people who built it. It's where the strategy and the creative meet, and it's written to be read out loud. 1.0 Our Brand World 2.0 Our Manifesto 
Brand Book / Table of Contents Style Guide This book is the first volume of MORTL's identity, look, feel and tone. It's built from the official brand assets on mortl.com/press, the site's own design rules, the Death Dispatch and the brand's social presence, and it sets the rules for every execution and channel that follows. 1.0 Logos 1.1 The wordmark 1.2 Official variants 1.3 Clearspace and size 1.4 Misuse 2.0 Typography 2.1 Typefaces 2.2 Typography in use 
Brand Book / Table of Contents 3.0 Color 3.1 Brand color ratio 3.2 Core palette 3.3 Extended palette 3.4 Color logic 3.5 Pairings 4.0 Imagery 4.1 The hero 4.2 Principles 4.3 Graphic elements 4.4 Imagery in use 5.0 The Paths 5.1 Where are you right now? 5.2 Path rules 6.0 Tone of Voice 6.1 Tonality 6.2 The rules 6.3 Writing about suicide 6.4 Say this, not that 6.5 Brand language 
Brand Book / Table of Contents 7.0 Layout & Application 7.1 Homepage anatomy 7.2 The Death Dispatch 7.3 Social composition 7.4 Directory and disclosure 7.5 The dashboard 7.6 Share visuals 8.0 Press 8.1 Boilerplate 8.2 Founder and contact 9.0 Brand Expressions 9.1 The family 9.2 The library 
Strategy Overview 
Table of Contents Our Vision Our Foundation Cultural Backdrop Consumer Insight Brand Tenets Our Essence Our Reasons to Believe Why MORTL Exists By the Numbers The Tools The Year Our Personality 
Our Vision To make the whole world ready for the one thing it won't talk about. 
Our Foundation Cultural Backdrop Consumer Insight Brand Tenets 
Our Foundation / Cultural Backdrop Death is the last subject a generation that talks about everything still won't touch. Avoidance is the default 69% of surveyed U.S. adults aged 45 and up said death is a topic people generally avoid (AARP, 2023). Planning is rare 24% of surveyed U.S. adults reported having a will in 2025 (Caring.com). The bill is real $8,300 was the 2023 national median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial (NFDA). The law is local What happens after a death is set state by state. Fifty states and Washington, DC, each with their own rules, forms and deadlines. The incumbents sell to institutions The funded players in end-of-life planning sell through insurers, employers and health systems. Nobody is talking to the person at 2am. The audience exists A generation raised online already talks about money, therapy and sex in public. Death is next, and the first brand to say it plainly gets to lead. 
Our Foundation / Consumer Insight When death shows up, people want a plain answer. What they get is a brochure. Overwhelmed at the worst moment The decisions arrive in the first days, while the person is in shock. Nobody is at their best, and the system assumes they are. No idea who to trust Every provider says they care. There's no plain way to see who's licensed, who's nearby, and what it costs. The rules change at the state line Who can sign, who gets to decide, how long you have. It's different in Colorado than in Texas, and nobody says so until it's a problem. Planning feels morbid, so it gets skipped Most people have thought about it. Few have written anything down. The task feels enormous because nobody has shown them it isn't. They want it handled Handle it once, handle it right, go live their life. Then forget the site exists until they need it again. 
Our Foundation / Brand Tenets The best friend at 2am who already read the law. Plain We say die. We say the number. We answer the question that was asked, in the words a person would use. Independent One owner. Built from primary sources. Monitored every 30 days. Sources, corrections, provider standards and the revenue model are public. Unflinching We don't soften death to sell it. The coffin is in the photo. The price is on the page. Free where it matters If someone just died, everything you need is free. Forever. No account, no ad, no upsell. The person who's dying gets Premium free, with no expiry. Useful The checklist, your state's rules, the tools, the providers, the answers. Then you leave and get on with it. 
Our Foundation Death is the last subject a generation that talks about everything still won't touch. Cultural Backdrop ▲ Consumer Insight ◀ Brand Tenets ▶ When death shows up, people want a plain answer. What they get is a brochure. The best friend at 2am who already read the law. 
Our Essence Cultural Backdrop Consumer Insight Brand Tenets ▼ Death, handled. 
Our Reasons to Believe Death, handled. MORTL covers all fifty states and Washington, DC, with a cited guide for each one. MORTL has published 157 original stories and 36 planning tools, 22 of them free, since launching on July 31, 2026. MORTL is built from primary sources: statutes, regulators and federal rules. Every claim is read against its source, and the stamp is the claim. MORTL is independent. One owner. Its sources, corrections, provider standards, revenue model and commercial relationships are public at mortl.com/sources, /editorial-policy, /provider-review-policy and /how-we-make-money. MORTL is free for the people who need it most. The Someone Just Died path never costs money, never asks for an account and never carries an ad. The person who's dying gets Premium free, always. MORTL was founded in 2026 by Stephanie Werner after her father died of brain cancer. It's built in honor of Joby Horn. 
Our Reasons to Believe / Why MORTL Exists My dad died, so I built MORTL. "I started MORTL in honor of my dad, Joby Horn, who died of brain cancer on February 5, 2022." "I created MORTL for my mom, who managed his entire illness from a spiral notebook. Every appointment. Every medication. Every bill. Every decision. Every document. Every phone call. Every next step." "It's the place I wish my family had. So I built it for you." Stephanie Werner, mortl.com/about. The launch film is titled the same way: "My dad died, so I built MORTL." Joby Horn, September 20, 1960 to February 5, 2022. Photographs as published on mortl.com/about: his portrait; walking Stephanie down the aisle; with the family on a hike. 
Our Reasons to Believe / By the Numbers 51 State guides Fifty states and Washington, DC. Statutes cited, with dated change logs. 157 Original stories Every story cites its sources, and the citations are checked before the site builds. 36 Planning tools 22 free, 14 Premium. Builders are free to use and download; Premium syncs the finished documents and shares them with family. 6 Paths One question first: where are you right now? Someone Just Died is always first and always free. $0 To access the core content All state guides, all stories and the Someone Just Died path, with no account. 30 Days between checks Every guide is monitored on a 30-day cycle. A law moves, the guide and its change log move with it. $8,300 The number we say out loud 2023 national median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial. NFDA. 1 Owner Independent. Sources, corrections, provider standards and the revenue model are public. Grief 36 Planning 31 Law & Policy 31 End-of-Life Care 29 Culture 16 Aging 8 Digital Legacy 6 Counts from mortl.com and the site's own source on October 25, 2026. The bottom row is the 157 stories by section. The numbers change; the site counts them live so the copy never drifts from the catalogue. 
Our Reasons to Believe / The Tools 36 tools. 22 of them free. Builders are free to use and download. Premium syncs the finished documents and shares them with family. The person who's dying gets every Premium tool free, permanently. The Someone Just Died path never asks for money. The catalogue at mortl.com/tools on October 25, 2026. Free and Premium are told apart by their labels and by weight, never by a color. The Weeks You Have Left Free Will Template Hub Free Living Will Builder Free Healthcare Power of Attorney Free Advance Directive Hub Free Financial Power of Attorney Free Planning Checklist Free Funeral Cost Planner Free Obituary Maker Free Write Your Own Obituary Free Funeral Program Free Eulogy Builder Free What to Say Free Thank-You Notes Free Who to Notify Tracker Free Executor Checklist Free Do I Need Probate? Free Debt Responsibility Checker Free What's This Document? Free Pet Obituary Free Pet Quality of Life Scale Free Pet Cremation Cost Free The Folder Premium Letter of Instruction Premium Legacy Letters Premium Estate Inventory & Net Worth Premium Beneficiary Audit Premium Digital Legacy Planner Premium Probate Cost & Timeline Estimator Premium Estate Tax Calculator Premium Estate Settlement Letters Premium The Executor Kit Premium Your Plan vs. The Law Premium The Move Check Premium The Rehearsal Premium On My Terms Premium 
Our Reasons to Believe / The Year MMXXVI The first year, so far June 17 Incorporated MORTL, Inc. is formed as a Delaware C corporation, in honor of Joby Horn. July 31 Launch mortl.com goes public from Denver with the 51 state guides, the paths, the tools and the launch film. August 24 The first report The MORTL Report shows AI search still recommending Cake and Lantern, both shut down. The Living Will Builder launches the same day. October 1 The data note Maryland becomes the 35th jurisdiction to allow transfer-on-death deeds. MORTL publishes the verified count and updates the guide the day the law takes effect. October 25 This book Brand Book, Volume One. The strategy, the manifesto and the style guide, written down so the brand holds as it grows. Dates from the mortl.com newsroom and company records. Not on this line: 157 stories, nine share visuals and six downloadable reports, all shipped in the same twelve weeks. 
Our Personality We are Direct We say die. We say what the law says. We say the price. If there's a plain word for it, that's the word we use. Warm The best friend at 2am. Awake, calm, and not surprised by anything you say. Funny Death is absurd and we're allowed to say so, in plain words. The joke is never on the person who's grieving. Informed Primary sources, every state, checked every 30 days. We did the reading so you don't have to. Independent One owner. No endorsements. A listing is a listing, and we say so on the page. Useful Every page ends with something you can do. If it doesn't, it isn't finished. We aren't Euphemistic Nobody passed away, was lost, or departed. They died. We use the word, every time. Pastel No lilies, no doves, no soft focus, no rosy filter. Nothing that could run on a funeral home's brochure. Advisors We inform. We never tell you what you should do, and we never practice law or sell a plan. Salespeople Nothing on the grief path is for sale. We don't recommend providers. We show you who's there. Cruel Dark humor, yes. A joke at a grieving person's expense, never. Not once. Corporate No buzzwords, no "solutions," no "journey," no metaphors. We talk like a person. 
Manifesto 
You're going to die. MORTL · MMXXVI 
So is everyone you love. 
Nobody taught you what to do about it. They taught you not to bring it up. 
Then it happens. 
A brochure with a lily on the front. And a bill for $8,300 2023 national median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial. National Funeral Directors Association. 
We're not doing that. 
We say die. 
We read the law in your state so you don't have to. AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY DC Fifty states and Washington, DC. A cited guide for each, built from primary sources and monitored every 30 days. 
If someone just died, this part is free. Forever. No account. No ad. No upsell. 
Handle it once. Handle it right. Then go live your life. 
Our Manifesto You're going to die. So is everyone you love. Nobody taught you what to do about it. They taught you not to bring it up. Then it happens, and you get a brochure with a lily on the front and a bill for $8,300. We're not doing that. We say die. We say the number. We read the law in your state so you don't have to. If someone just died, this part is free. Forever. No account. If you're planning ahead, good. Handle it once. Handle it right. Then go live your life. Made for the living. Built for the inevitable. 
Death, handled. 
Style Guide 
0 Table of Contents MORTL Style Guide Vol. 1 This book is more than a set of rules on a wordmark, colors and type. It breaks down the visual and verbal system that makes MORTL recognizable in a category that has looked the same for a hundred years. Vol. 1 walks anyone making MORTL through the official assets, the core brand elements, the imagery as it ships, the paths, the tone of voice and the layouts that carry them. The aim is to help you make work that's unmistakably MORTL without asking permission for every decision, inside a system built carefully enough to hold. 
1 Logos Introduction The wordmark is the signature on everything MORTL makes: MORTL in Cormorant Garamond Bold, with the ™ and the MMXXVI dateline. It exists as six official files, and those files are the mark. The wordmark is never typed. In a document, a design, a social tile or a generated PDF, it's one of the files on these pages, embedded at its true proportions. A text form exists only as a runtime fallback on the site when an image fails to load. Sections 1.1 The wordmark 1.2 Official variants 1.3 Clearspace and size 1.4 Misuse 
1.1 Logos: The wordmark The letters MORTL, set in Cormorant Garamond Bold, capitals, spaced by hand for the file. The spacing in the file is the spacing. Nothing is re-set from the font. The ™ Part of the mark. It sits at the cap height of the L and it ships on every variant. MORTL is a trademark of MORTL, Inc., application pending. The dateline MMXXVI between two rules, centered under the letters. It's the founding year, 2026, and it's part of the mark. The compact variants drop it; nothing else changes. The proportions 1474 × 387 with the dateline, 1474 × 305 without. Every placement keeps the ratio. A box wider than the ratio parks the mark at the left and leaves dead space, so size by height and let the width follow. 
1.2 Logos: Official variants Pulse. The primary mark, for white and light backgrounds. Pulse on Ink. Dark mode and press. Same file, dark ground. White. Dark and photographic backgrounds. Ink. Print and single-color work. The M. The favicon and app icon: the M from the wordmark, Pulse on Ink. It's the only place a single letter stands for the brand. Three screen sizes. 64 px in the footer, 42 px on the dashboard and onboarding, 28 px in the nav. Top row: with the dateline. Bottom row: compact, without. Eight approved placements, from the six official PNG files on mortl.com/press. 
1.3 Logos: Clearspace and size M M M M Clearspace The unit is M: the height of the M in the mark at the size it's placed. Keep one M clear on every side. Nothing enters the zone, including photography, type, other marks and the edge of the page. Minimum size on screen 28 px high with the dateline, the nav size. Below that, use the compact variant and never go under 20 px. Minimum size in print 10 mm high with the dateline, 7 mm compact. Proposed here; confirm on the first press proof. Size by height The files are wide. Set the height and let the width follow the file's ratio, so the mark never lands off-center in a box that's wider than it is. 
1.4 Logos: Misuse × Don't stretch or condense × Don't add shadows or effects × Don't recolor it or use off-palette color MORTL × Don't type it. The wordmark is a file, never text × Don't put it on pastel or soft-focus grounds × Don't rotate, outline or animate it If the mark needs help to be noticed, the layout is the problem. Fix the layout. Usage questions go to press@mortl.com. 
2 Typography Introduction Two faces carry the whole brand. Cormorant Garamond, bold weight only, for every headline, the wordmark and display text. Inter, regular and light, for body copy, captions, labels and UI, with semibold reserved for the small tracked eyebrows. Both are free on Google Fonts, so there's never a reason to substitute. Sections 2.1 Typefaces 2.2 Typography in use 
2.1 Typography: Typefaces Cormorant Garamond Bold : Christian Thalmann ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890,.!?#$/%& Inter Regular : Rasmus Andersson ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890,.!?#$/%& Cormorant Garamond Bold Italic : Christian Thalmann ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890,.!?#$/%& Inter Light : Rasmus Andersson ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890,.!?#$/%& Weights, and where they go Cormorant Garamond: 700 only, roman and italic. Inter: 400 for body and UI, 300 for hero subheads and captions, 600 only for the 11 px eyebrows with 0.2em tracking. No other weights ship. Inter Semibold, eyebrows only MORTL · MMXXVI Where are you right now? From the MORTL Edit The Death Dispatch 
2.2 Typography: Typography in use M Checklists, state law, provider directories, the Death Dispatch & the answers. Cormorant Garamond Bold, uppercase. The display face for the one sentence on the page that matters. Tracking is tight, leading is tighter. Capitals at this size; mixed case belongs to headlines. 
2.2 Typography: The dark hero MORTL · MMXXVI You're Going to Die. Let's Talk About It. Plain answers for overwhelmed people, state-specific law guides, and checklists for before and after a death. Someone just died I'm planning ahead The rule Every headline on an Ink hero splits in two. The opening line or lines are White. The closing phrase is Pulse italic. Every time. A single all-white headline on a dark hero is a defect. The eyebrow Inter Semibold, 11 px, 0.2em tracking, uppercase. On Ink it's set in Pulse Tint, because full Pulse at that size fails contrast on dark. The subhead Inter Light at White 80%. One or two sentences, 520 px wide at most. The buttons Primary is Pulse fill with White text. Ghost is a White outline at 60%. Pulse Deep (#B5005A) on hover. The homepage hero as it ships. The mixed-case headline with the italic turn is the one place Cormorant appears in mixed case at display size. 
2.2 Typography: Inter in use M Body · Inter Regular 18 / 1.6 Plain answers for overwhelmed people, state-specific law guides, and checklists for before and after a death. Start where you are. If someone just died, that path is free forever and you don't need an account. If you're planning ahead, you'll handle it once and handle it right. The rules for your state are already written down here, in order, with the source next to each one. Subheads and captions · Inter Light Death, in your inbox, every Sunday. Practical reporting on death, money, and grief. One owner. Built from primary sources. Monitored every 30 days. Eyebrows · Inter Semibold 11, 0.2em, uppercase What you can do on MORTL Free account Quick answers Sources · Inter Regular 13, Ash National Funeral Directors Association, 2023 General Price List Study. Retrieved October 2026. Inter does the work. Line length stays near 65 characters, sentences stay short, and the second person stays on. Bold is never used for emphasis in running text; if a phrase needs weight, it needs a shorter sentence. 
2.2 Typography: Numbers 51 state guides. Every state and Washington, DC, cited and monitored. 157 original stories on grief, aging, end-of-life care, estate law, funeral costs and death culture. 36 planning tools. 22 free, 14 Premium. $8,300 2023 national median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial. NFDA. 24% of surveyed U.S. adults reported having a will in 2025. Caring.com / YouGov. 100% of people will die. Numbers are set in Cormorant Garamond Bold, lining and tabular, with the symbol in Pulse and a Pulse rule beneath. Every number carries its source and its year. A number without a source doesn't ship. 
3 Color Introduction Five colors, and every color on every MORTL surface comes from them, including the admin console. Pulse is the accent: CTAs, highlights, the one thing on the page that matters most. Ink is text and dark backgrounds. Linen is the warm light ground. Ash is secondary text. White is reversed text and logos. Tints, shades and opacities of the five are allowed. Foreign hues are not. There is no green for done and no red for error anywhere; states get their meaning from labels and from Pulse against Ink. Sections 3.1 Brand color ratio 3.2 Core palette 3.3 Extended palette 3.4 Color logic 3.5 Pairings 
55% Ink 3.1 Color: Brand color ratio 35% Linen with White as its working surface 3.1 Color: Brand color ratio 10% Pulse The ratio holds across brand communications. Ink leads. Linen and White carry anything meant to be read for more than a minute. Pulse goes on the one thing you want the reader to see, do or buy, and on nothing else. Ash is a text color and never a surface. 
3.2 Color: Core palette Pulse Primary accent. CTAs, highlights, alerts. Ink Primary text and dark backgrounds. Linen Warm off-white backgrounds. Ash Secondary text on light backgrounds. White Reversed text and logos. HEX #D4006A RGB 212 0 106 CMYK 0 100 50 17 HEX #0A0A0A RGB 10 10 10 CMYK 0 0 0 96 HEX #F5F0E8 RGB 245 240 232 CMYK 0 2 5 4 HEX #6B6560 RGB 107 101 96 CMYK 0 6 10 58 HEX #FFFFFF RGB 255 255 255 CMYK 0 0 0 0 Names, hex and RGB values and uses as published in the press kit. CMYK values are conversions from the digital originals: match them on press against a proof and record the approved values here once they exist. 
3.3 Color: Extended palette Pulse Tint Pulse for text on Ink, and only on Ink. Full Pulse is 3.8:1 on Ink; the tint is 10.7:1. On White or Linen it reads at under 2:1, so there the text is Pulse itself. Pulse Deep Hover and pressed states on Pulse buttons. Border Hairlines, dividers and card edges on light grounds. Never for text. White 72 Subheads and captions on Ink. Ink 56 Quiet text and metadata on Linen. HEX #F2A9CC RGB 242 169 204 HEX #B5005A RGB 181 0 90 HEX #D0CAC0 RGB 208 202 192 RGBA 255 255 255 at 0.72 RGBA 10 10 10 at 0.56 Tints, shades and opacities of the core five. Never new hues. Pulse Tint lives on Ink and nowhere else; a tint label on a white or Linen card is a defect. If a design needs a color that isn't on this page or the last one, the design is wrong. 
3.4 Color: Color logic White Read The story, the article, the explanation. Anything meant to be read start to finish sits on White. Pulse outline Do The one thing to do. One per page, one per issue. If there are two, pick. Ink Numbers Statistics, prices, deadlines, counts. Numbers live on Ink with their source beneath them. Linen Talk Conversation. Reader questions, Dying to Ask, the founder's note, anything in the first person. Pulse fill Buy Premium tools and anything with a price. Pulse fill means money is involved, so the reader always knows. Established in the Death Dispatch weekly template and applied everywhere. Every color has a reason, so a reader learns the system in one issue. A Linen card means someone's talking. A Pulse fill means something costs money. 
3.5 Color: Pairings Ink on Linen 17.5:1 All sizes. The default. White on Ink 19.8:1 All sizes. The dark default. White on Pulse 5.2:1 All sizes. The only text color on Pulse. Tint on Ink 10.7:1 All sizes. Pulse text on dark, including eyebrows and labels. Pulse on Linen 4.6:1 All sizes. Links, labels and emphasis on White or Linen. Ash on Linen 5.1:1 All sizes. Captions and sources. Pulse on Ink 3.8:1 Display only: the hero's italic phrase and the wordmark. Never body copy or a label. Ink on Pulse 3.8:1 Never. Text on Pulse is White, every time, at every size. × Tint on Linen 1.6:1 Never, and never on White (1.9:1). On a light ground the text is Pulse. × Ash on Ink 3.5:1 Never. On Ink, use White 72 instead. × Contrast ratios are WCAG 2 relative luminance, computed from the hex values. Two rules carry the most weight: Pulse Tint is for Ink only, and the only text color on a Pulse ground is White. Pulse never sits on Ash, Ash never sits on Pulse, Linen and White are never paired as figure and ground, and Border is never a text color. 
4 Imagery Introduction The category's imagery is lilies, doves, a sunset, two hands holding. MORTL shows the real thing, in real light, with a real person reacting to it. Death applies to everyone, and the pictures have to show that: a mix of women and men and a mix of ethnicities across ages, on every page. No page's imagery shows only one kind of person. Sections 4.1 The hero 4.2 Principles 4.3 Graphic elements 4.4 Imagery in use 
4.1 · The hero The homepage hero. It doesn't change. A woman beside a coffin, laughing, crying and screaming at once. It's what death does to people. Owner's standing decision: the image is never swapped, and nobody proposes replacing it. It's the standard every other image on the site is held to. 
4.2 Imagery: Principles The coffin is in the photo. So is the person's face. Real reactions People as they are in the moment: laughing, crying, furious, numb, all four at once. Never posed grief. Never a model looking out a window. The object in frame Coffins, urns, death certificates, the folder of paperwork, the phone at 2am. Shown plainly, lit plainly, named plainly. Everyone Women and men. Black, white, Indian, Asian, Hispanic and more. Young, old and in between. Every page, every set of images. No funeral-home stock No lilies, doves, sunsets, candles, hands on hands, or soft focus. If it could run on a funeral home's brochure, it can't run here. True color or none Natural light and honest color. No rosy grade, no pastel filter, no haze. Black and white is always allowed. When color is added, it's Pulse, on one element. Where it happens Kitchen tables, parked cars, hospital corridors, the couch with the laptop open, the church with the coffin in it. 
4.3 Imagery: Graphic elements The Line A single horizontal rule in Pulse. It sits under headings, between sections, at the foot of the OG card, and around the one thing to do. Always horizontal, always Pulse, never thicker than 4 px. MORTL · MMXXVI The Dateline The founding year in Roman numerals. It's inside the wordmark between two rules, and it's the eyebrow above every hero. It dates the brand without a digit. Death · Money · Grief The Interpunct Separators are an interpunct, in Pulse at display size. Never a pipe, never a slash, never a bullet with a space. Page titles end "| MORTL" in the browser tab and nowhere else. 51 The M and the Number The M stands for the brand only as the favicon and app icon. The Number is a big figure in Cormorant with the line beneath and the source in Ash. It's the brand's proof, so it's set like the brand's headline. 
4.4 Imagery: In use Real rooms. Real people. Six of the 157 story images, as they ship on mortl.com. Black and white by default, in the places death happens: the chapel, the kitchen table, the bedside, the crematory. When color is used, it's Pulse, on one thing. The pink shirt at the crematory is the whole system in a photograph. Left to right, top to bottom: Black Funeral Homes; Death Cafes and Death Salons; What to Say to Someone Who Is Dying; How Much Does Cremation Cost?; Death Doulas: What They Do; Grief After Losing a Sibling. 
5 The Paths Introduction MORTL asks one question first: where are you right now? The six paths are the front door, the navigation and the promise. They appear in the same order every time, written in the first person, so the reader finds themselves in one sentence and goes. Someone Just Died is always first. It's free forever and it never carries an ad. It's the reason the company exists. Sections 5.1 Where are you right now? 5.2 Path rules 
5.1 The Paths: Where are you right now? Path 01 · Free forever Someone just died "I need to know what to do right now." Path 02 · Premium free, always I'm the one who's dying "I want things in order while I still can." Path 03 I'm planning ahead "I want to get things in order before I have to." Path 04 I'm trying to understand all of this "I am not in crisis. I want clear answers." Path 05 I'm grieving or supporting someone "I need a useful place to start." Path 06 I need a professional "Find the right kind of help in your state." The six paths as they appear on mortl.com. The label is the situation. The line beneath is what the reader is thinking. Both are written in their voice. 
5.2 The Paths: Path rules Ask where they are right now. First person, always "I'm planning ahead," never "Planning." The reader should be able to read a path out loud and have it be true. Someone Just Died goes first In every list, every menu, every email. It's free forever, it needs no account, and nothing on it is for sale. It never carries an ad, an upsell, a newsletter prompt or a download gate. The dying person's path is never hidden "I'm the one who's dying" stays in the second position. Anyone on that path gets every Premium feature free, permanently, with no expiry and no upsell. Quiet on grief Grief, pet-death, crisis and dying pages carry no newsletter popup, no gate and no promotional band. Ever. Six, in order The set and the sequence don't change by channel or campaign. If a path is ever added, it's added to the site first and to this book second. One path, one page A reader who picks a path never has to pick again. Everything the path promises is on the path. 
6 Tone of Voice Introduction MORTL talks to people on the worst day of their life and on an ordinary Tuesday when they finally decide to write a will. The voice has to work for both, and it does, because it's the same voice: the best friend at 2am who already read the law. Awake, calm, funny when it helps, and never surprised. Every word is written the way the founder writes: plain, direct, specific, confident. The test for every line is whether a sharp human would say it. Sections 6.1 Tonality 6.2 The rules 6.3 Writing about suicide 6.4 Say this, not that 6.5 Brand language 
6.1 Tone of Voice: Tonality We talk like a person. Second person, short sentences, contractions, plain words. We say die. We say the number. We treat the reader as an adult who can handle the truth and a friend who shouldn't have to go looking for it. When something is funny, we say so, in plain words. When someone is grieving, the joke waits. Direct + Kind Funny + Careful Informed + Plain The voice in six words, as three pairs. Each word keeps the other honest. 
6.2 Tone of Voice: The rules We say die Never passed away, lost, departed, gone, or at rest. Died. Dead. Death. The word is the point. Second person, contractions, short sentences You, your, you're. Don't, can't, won't, it's. One idea per sentence. Formal, contraction-free English is the most common machine tell, so it never ships. Inform, don't advise We say what the law says and what things cost. We never tell you what you should do, and we never practice law. No recommendations A listing is a listing. We never "recommend," "endorse," "trust" or "love" a provider. We show you who's there. No metaphors, no similes Say the literal thing. Dark humor is allowed only when it's clear and lands in plain language, and never at a grieving person's expense. No gags, puns or clever headlines A headline informs. If it decorates instead, it's cut. No "not X, it's Y" Delete the negated half and state the claim on its own. "It's a date," never "It's not a reset. It's a date." No em dashes Anywhere. Ever. Social captions, email, code comments in user-facing copy. Use a period, a comma or a colon. No emojis, no hashtags Not in the newsletter, not on social, not in a subject line. The words carry the tone. No hedging, no filler, no empty intensifiers No "arguably," "we believe," "it's worth noting," "at the end of the day," "gut-punch," "meaningful," "seamless," "journey." No shock profanity Not as a stand-in for edge. The founder cusses on the podcast; the copy doesn't. No pastel-funeral tone, no British phrasing No "arrangements," no "final resting place," no "whilst," no "organise." American, plain, awake. Fingerprint phrases, once each "Nobody tells you," "what actually happens," "the truth about," "no jargon," and "actually" as an intensifier. Each earns its place once across the site. Before shipping one, search for it. Banned outright "I wanted to reach out," "circle back," "leverage," "synergy," "that said," "kindly." 
6.3 Tone of Voice: Writing about suicide These rules override the voice rules wherever the two conflict. Anything MORTL publishes that touches suicide follows AFSP and WHO safe messaging exactly. Before it ships, it's audited against every line here, not only the part that was reported. Never state why someone died Not a choice, not a decision, not a diagnosis, not any single cause. A suicide is never the result of one thing. Then stop. Never speculate about state of mind What they were thinking, what they wanted anyone to feel, what a note meant. None of it. Never describe method, means or location Ever, in any detail. Say "died by suicide" Never "committed." Never a "successful" or "failed" attempt. Every page that touches suicide carries 988 The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, worded so that reaching out reads as reasonable. The pages written for suicide-loss survivors need it most. Never frame it as relief, escape, peace or a solution Including in quoted platitudes, unless the piece is naming them as things not to say. Medical aid in dying is not suicide No crisis lines on MAID content and no suicide language for it. Most states exclude MAID from the legal definition. 
6.4 Tone of Voice: Say this, not that Not that She passed away peacefully. We lost Dad last spring. He committed suicide. Your loved one's final resting place We recommend these trusted providers You should set up a trust. Probate is a beast with sharper teeth. It is acceptable to say you do not know. September is not a reset. It is a date. Say this She died. Dad died last spring. He died by suicide. The grave. The burial. The urn. Here are the providers in your state Here's what a trust does, and what it costs. Probate takes nine months in Colorado. It's okay to say you don't know. September is a date. When a reader uses a euphemism, we don't correct them. We just don't repeat it. The next sentence says died, and the conversation moves on. The probate figure is an example of the form, not a published claim. 
6.5 Tone of Voice: Brand language Handle it once. Handle it right. 6.5 Tone of Voice: Brand language Made for the living. Built for the inevitable. Brand language comes in two parts. The first half states the fact. The second half, in Pulse italic, is the turn: the promise or the reason. Set in Cormorant, in capitals, never more than nine words, and never a metaphor. 
6.5 Tone of Voice: Brand language You're going to die. Let's talk about it. Death, in your inbox. Every Sunday. Plain answers. Your state's rules. Death, handled. Then go live your life. 
7 Layout & Application Introduction This is where the elements come together. Every MORTL layout is built to be recognized at a glance and read without effort: the wordmark, the line, one color in the right place and a sentence that says the thing. Each element carries one job, so no single piece has to do the heavy lifting alone. Sections 7.1 Homepage anatomy 7.2 The Death Dispatch 7.3 Social composition 7.4 Directory and disclosure 7.5 The dashboard 7.6 Share visuals 
7.1 Layout & Application: Homepage anatomy mortl.com Someone Just Died Plan Ahead Tools State Guides Stories MORTL · MMXXVI You're Going to Die. Let's Talk About It. Plain answers for overwhelmed people, state-specific law guides, and checklists for before and after a death. Someone just died I'm planning ahead Where are you right now? Someone just died I need to know what to do right now. I'm the one who's dying I want things in order while I still can. I'm planning ahead I want to get things in order before I have to. I'm trying to understand all of this I am not in crisis. I want clear answers. I'm grieving or supporting someone I need a useful place to start. I need a professional Find the right kind of help in your state. 100% of people will die 69% say death is avoided. AARP, 2023 $8,300 median funeral. NFDA, 2023 24% have a will. Caring.com, 2025 From the MORTL Edit Practical reporting on death, money, and grief. The Death Dispatch Death, in your inbox, every Sunday. Subscribe Made for the living. Built for the inevitable. A directory listing isn't a recommendation or endorsement. © MORTL, Inc. MMXXVI. Nav The Ink wordmark with the dateline at 28 px, top left on White. Navigation is the paths plus Tools, State Guides and Stories. Hero Ink, with the hero image. Eyebrow in Pulse Tint, headline White with the closing phrase in Pulse italic, subhead in Inter Light, Pulse button and ghost button. The paths Six, in order, first person. Someone Just Died is Ink with a Pulse outline because it's the one thing to do. The others sit on Linen. Numbers Statistics on Ink, Cormorant, source and year beneath each one. Numbers never appear without a source. The Dispatch Pulse outline, because subscribing is the one thing to do on the page. The button is Pulse fill: the only solid Pulse on the homepage below the hero. Footer The White wordmark at 64 px, the brand language, the directory disclaimer and the copyright with the Roman year. On every page. 
7.2 Layout & Application: The Death Dispatch The Death Dispatch Death, in your inbox, every Sunday. Read What a death certificate costs, state by state. You'll need more copies than you think. Banks want one. The DMV wants one. The life insurer wants an original. Here's the fee in every state, and how many to order. Do This week: write down where your important papers are. One sentence. Text it to one person. Numbers 24% of surveyed U.S. adults reported having a will in 2025. Caring.com. Talk · Dying to Ask "Do I have to have a funeral at all?" No. You have to do something with the body, and your state says what counts. A funeral isn't on the list. Buy The Living Will Builder is free to build and download. Premium syncs the finished document to your plan and shares it with family. You're going to die. Let's talk about it. © MORTL, Inc. MMXXVI. Masthead Ink. The White compact wordmark, the title in Cormorant capitals, the tagline on one line. It fits on one line or it gets rewritten. Read · White The lead story. Headline in Cormorant, body in Inter. Always carries a visual: a photo, a chart or a number. Do · Pulse outline The one thing to do this week. One block, one action, one sentence. Never two. Numbers · Ink One statistic, big, with its source. The reader learns something they can repeat at dinner. Talk · Linen A reader's question and a plain answer. Dying to Ask lives here, in the newsletter and on the podcast. Buy · Pulse fill Premium tools and anything with a price. Solid Pulse tells the reader money is involved, every time, without a footnote. 
7.3 Layout & Application: Social composition You're going to die. mortl.com 24% have a will. Caring.com, 2025. mortl.com/stories/how-to-write-a-will-complete-guide We say die. mortl.com The headline is the post One sentence in Cormorant, big enough to read in a feed. On Ink it follows the hero rule: White, then Pulse italic. Three grounds, one accent Ink, Linen or Pulse. Never a gradient. Text over a photograph only with a solid field behind it. The line, the wordmark, the address A short Pulse rule, the compact wordmark file bottom left, and the story's address bottom right. A share visual always carries both. The caption Line one is a complete sentence that makes the point. A blank line between paragraphs. The link alone on the last line. No closing question, no hashtags, no emojis. Quiet stories get none Suicide, End-of-Life Care and pet-death stories get no share visual and no video. The voice is a person's Audio and video are the founder's own voice. No synthetic voice reads MORTL content. Left to right: 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16. The 1080 × 1350 copy becomes a story's social image. One publisher per channel, under @mortl_inc on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Threads and Pinterest, mortl.inc on Facebook, u/mortl_inc on Reddit and mortl-inc.bsky.social on Bluesky. 
7.4 Layout & Application: Directory and disclosure Provider Name Funeral home · Denver, Colorado · Registry phone and address verified on the provider's own site, October 2026 Burial Cremation Transport Pre-planning What they do, where they are, what they publish about price, and how to reach them. Written from the provider's own website. No adjectives from us. Visit site Call A directory listing is not a recommendation or endorsement. MORTL shows you who's there. You decide. Verified providers only A provider is listed when its registry phone and address are proven on its own website. Descriptions are written from the provider's own site, never from NPI data. Describe, never endorse No stars from us, no "trusted," no "top-rated." Reviews, if shown, are attributed to the people who wrote them. No paid-placement language until real partners exist Nothing on the site says sponsored, featured or paid placement today. When real partners exist, every paid listing is labeled, on the listing itself, in a Pulse outline. The disclaimer is always in view "A directory listing is not a recommendation or endorsement" appears on every directory page and in the site footer. The grief path is never a storefront Paid placements, once they exist, appear in Find Help and in the Buy block of the Dispatch. They never appear on the Someone Just Died path. Empty pages don't index A state or category with no verified provider stays out of search and out of the sitemap until a listing clears. Death Doula isn't a browsable category, because there's no verifiable registry. 
7.5 Layout & Application: The dashboard The free account Three lines. Everywhere. The same. 01 Keeps your checklist ticked on every device. 02 One thing to do each morning, by email, if you want it. 03 Your state's rules on the items that depend on them. One source for the lines The homepage planning section, /plan-ahead, /checklist, the download gate, the sign-up modal and the printable all read the same three lines from one file. Nobody rewrites them for a page. A real screenshot, always Beside the lines sits a phone-size screenshot of the dashboard itself, taken from a test account. When the overview changes, retake it. Never mock it up. One pill in the header On a phone the header carries one button: Create account, or My plan when signed in. Search lives in the drawer. 
7.6 Layout & Application: Share visuals One image, the whole story A story's structure as a single picture: the steps, the rights, the order. It sits inside the story and it's built to be shared. Every line on it comes from the story. Always signed The wordmark and the story's address are on every one. Someone who sees it on a feed can find the page without the caption. Rendered to every size One source, every size. The 1080 × 1350 copy becomes the story's social image, so the post and the page match. Quiet stories get none Suicide, End-of-Life Care and pet-death stories never get a share visual. Nine exist today, all on planning and law. Three of the nine share visuals as published: Probate Explained; How to Arrange a Funeral; The FTC Funeral Rule. Ink ground, White headline, Pulse italic second line, the line, the wordmark, the address. 
8 Press Introduction Everything a journalist, a partner or a vendor needs to describe MORTL correctly is on mortl.com/press: the newsroom, the boilerplate, the founder, the logo files and the contact. This section carries the parts that get quoted. The boilerplate is used as written. Custom descriptions go through press@mortl.com. Sections 8.1 Boilerplate 8.2 Founder and contact 
8.1 Press: Boilerplate Short · 50 words MORTL helps people figure out what to do before and after a death. Built for adults who don’t know where to start, it publishes plain answers, 51 cited jurisdiction guides, ordered checklists, practical tools, and provider information. Its sources and commercial relationships are public. Long · 100 words MORTL is an independent publisher that helps people figure out what to do before and after a death. Built for adults who don’t know where to start, it publishes 51 cited jurisdiction guides, original reporting on grief, aging, end-of-life care, estate law, funeral costs, and death culture, ordered checklists, practical tools, and provider information. Public guidance doesn’t require an account. Optional saved features help people organize a plan and hand selected information to family. MORTL isn’t a law firm, medical provider, funeral home, or financial institution. Its sources, corrections, provider standards, revenue model, and commercial relationships are public. Approved MORTL boilerplate, as published at mortl.com/press. Use as written. Custom descriptions go through press@mortl.com. 
8.2 Press: Founder and contact Stephanie Werner CEO, Founder, & Editor Stephanie Werner founded MORTL in 2026 after her father died of brain cancer and her family was left to work through hospice, paperwork, costs, and decisions without a clear guide. She has more than 18 years of experience leading brand, growth, and marketing across consumer and healthcare companies. She built MORTL to turn the practical realities of death into plain, sourced, useful information. She holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communication from The Ohio State University. Based in Denver, Colorado. The launch film, "My dad died, so I built MORTL," is at mortl.com/videos/my-dad-died-so-i-built-mortl. Press and media press@mortl.com General inquiries mortl.com/contact Response time Within 24 hours on business days. Mark urgent requests URGENT in the subject line. Interviews and headshots press@mortl.com Newsroom mortl.com/press, with the RSS feed at mortl.com/feed.xml Founder bio as published at mortl.com/press. Use as written. 
9 Brand Expressions Introduction The following pages show the system at work across the places MORTL lives: a link preview, a feed, an inbox, a state guide, a podcast segment, a card, and the six reports the brand has published for employers, executors and providers. The pieces are distinct, and every one of them is from the same brand. Sections 9.1 The family 9.2 The library 
9.1 Brand Expressions: The family The link preview, as it ships. Pulse wordmark on Ink, the tagline in Inter, the line at the foot. So is everyone you love. mortl.com State Guide · 06 of 51 Colorado What to do when someone dies, and how to plan ahead. Built from primary sources. Checked every 30 days. The Death Dispatch Death, in your inbox, every Sunday. Read The will your parents think they have, and the one on file. Do Ask one parent where the will is. Today. The MORTL Podcast · Segment Dying to Ask "Can I be buried in my backyard?" Explicit Stephanie Werner, MBA CEO, Founder, & Editor steph@mortl.com mortl.com · Denver, Colorado 
9.2 Brand Expressions: The library Six reports. One cover. Every downloadable report MORTL publishes wears the same cover: Ink, the White compact wordmark, who it's for in a Pulse eyebrow, the headline in Cormorant with its second line in Pulse italic, and the title, edition, read time and address at the foot. Inside, every claim traces to a primary source with a retrieval date, the method is on the page, and the limits are stated. One or two pages is never a report. Left to right, top to bottom: The Executor's First 90 Days; What a Death Costs a Company; The Manager's Year; The First Call; Bereavement Leave Law for Employers, 2026; How Families Choose a Funeral Home, Hospice, or Grief Counselor Online. 
Brand Book · Volume One MMXXVI Made for the living. Built for the inevitable. Prepared by Stephanie Werner, MBA CEO, Founder, & Editor, MORTL, Inc. Company MORTL, Inc., a Delaware C corporation 1521 Blake St STE 44587, Denver, CO 80202 mortl.com · press@mortl.com Assets Official wordmark files, favicon, hero and link card from mortl.com/press; story images, share visuals, report covers and the dashboard screenshot from the site's own source; founder photographs from mortl.com/about. Values as published in the press kit. Typefaces Cormorant Garamond by Christian Thalmann Inter by Rasmus Andersson Both under the SIL Open Font License, served by Google Fonts Sources cited AARP, 2023 · National Funeral Directors Association, 2023 · Caring.com / YouGov, 2025 Mark MORTL™ is a trademark of MORTL, Inc. U.S. trademark application pending. © MORTL, Inc. MMXXVI. All rights reserved. In honor of Joby Horn.
Take it with you
The PDF, and the files.
The PDF is the same 83 spreads with real text, so it can be searched, quoted and read aloud. The logo files, the color values and the type are on the press page.
Press and partnership questions go to press@mortl.com.
If you’re having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It’s free, confidential and open all day, every day.