# LevSMS — Comic Storyboard & Series Bible

A set of self-explaining strips to hand a tester or post in a community chat. Each one explains LevSMS **by showing it** — a person texting a number and getting a reliable answer. **Never mention AI, bots, or "the system."** Reliability is the brand; the magic is that it just works.

This doc is the **series bible** (locked visual system) + **6 strips** + **single-panel quick-hits** + **ready-to-paste image prompts**. It feeds the broader 150-piece teaching series (memory `project_comic_series`) and pairs with `docs/AD_GENERATOR_PROMPT.md` (drop-in prompt) and `docs/MARKETING_PROMPTS.md`.

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## 0. The LevSMS visual system (LOCKED — keep consistent across every strip)

**Palette:** muted, warm, soft — dusty creams, warm grays, muted teal/olive. Low saturation everywhere **except the phone screen's answer, which GLOWS** — a warm golden "light" on the exact moment that helps. The glow is the signature; it must read the same in every panel of every strip.

**The one rule that makes it a series:** *muted world → the answer glows.* Problem panels are slightly desaturated/cool; the payoff panel is warm and lit.

**Characters (a small recurring cast, so the series feels like a world):**
- **Yanky** — yeshivish bochur, on the go, simple/kosher-style phone. (minyan, zmanim)
- **Mrs. F** — balabusta mid-routine (kids, kitchen). (Shabbos, weather)
- **Reb Dovid** — older, unhurried, learns. (daf, learning, Shabbos)
- **A traveler** — same look as Yanky but with a duffel/in a car/airport. (out-of-town ZIP)

**Lettering:** the on-phone reply is the hero text — clean, legible, larger. Captions sit *below* the panel in a quiet sans-serif. Speech/thought bubbles minimal.

**Phone:** a simple/kosher-style phone wherever possible — reinforces "any phone, no app." No other-app logos, ever.

**Close card (identical on every strip's last panel):**
> **Text (516) 585-2323**
> TIMES · ZMANIM · WEATHER · SHABBOS
> *North Woodmere. Any phone. Free.*
> *Save the number first so the reply isn't hidden in "unknown senders."*

**🔒 Accuracy rule for reusable art (hard):** never paint a value that goes stale. In any strip that will be reused, the phone shows the **format**, not a pinned fact — *"this Shabbos's candle-lighting,"* *"today's forecast,"* a stable evening Mincha *(~8:00)*. Never a specific parsha name or exact candle clock-time baked into reusable art. (One-time dated flyers may pin a value; reusable strips never do.)

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## Strip 1 — "The Minyan" (Yanky · the flagship)

**Format:** 6 panels, square or vertical. Captions below.

1. **Problem.** Yanky leaving a store / getting in a car, glances at his phone. Thought: *"What time is Mincha? Did I miss it?"* — Caption: *You need the time. Now. Not after scrolling a group chat.*
2. **Old way.** Cluttered split panel: a 200-message group chat, an app demanding "log in," a spinning loader. He squints, annoyed. — Caption: *No app. No login. No group to dig through.*
3. **The turn.** Clean. He texts one word to a number: **TIMES**. — Caption: *Just text the number. Plain words work too — "what time is mincha."*
4. **The glow (lit panel).** Reply arrives instantly; screen glows warm:
   > *NOW — next Mincha ~8:00pm*
   > *Noam Hashem 8:00 · KBH/YI/Lev 8:05 · Khal Chasidim 8:10*
   Caption: *Instant. It knows what time it is — and tells you what's next.*
5. **Payoff.** He walks into a shul, calm, on time. Soft light from the doorway. — Caption: *You make the minyan.*
6. **Close card** (locked, above).

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## Strip 2 — "Almost Shabbos" (Mrs. F)

**Beat:** the pre-Shabbos rush; she needs candle-lighting without stopping.

1. **Problem.** Mrs. F mid-kitchen, kids underfoot, sun lowering in the window. Thought: *"What time is licht bentschen — I can't stop to look it up."*
2. **The turn.** One hand still stirring, she texts: **SHABBOS**.
3. **The glow (lit).** Warm reply (show the **format**, not a pinned time):
   > *This Shabbos — candle-lighting & havdalah for your area*
   > *Parsha + Shabbos times*
   Caption: *This week's times, every week. Always current — never last week's.*
4. **Payoff.** Candles lit, calm, family at the table; the lit panel's glow becomes the candle glow. — Caption: *Lit on time. Nothing to look up.*
5. **Close card.**

*(5-panel. The candle-flame echoing the screen-glow is the art hook here.)*

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## Strip 3 — "The Kosher Phone" (Yanky · reinforces "any phone")

**Beat:** filtered phone, no browser, no apps — and it still works.

1. **Problem.** Close on a simple kosher phone — no internet icon, no app grid. Thought: *"No browser. No app. How do I even check zmanim?"*
2. **The turn.** He texts: **ZMANIM**.
3. **The glow (lit).**
   > *Today's zmanim for your area — sof zman shma, chatzos, plag, shkia, tzeis*
   Caption: *Works on any phone. It's just a text.*
4. **Payoff.** He pockets the phone, unbothered, heading to learn. — Caption: *No internet needed. No app to install.*
5. **Close card.**

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## Strip 4 — "Out of Town" (the traveler · shows the ZIP logic)

**Beat:** away from home, needs *local* times — demonstrates that any ZIP gets real answers. *(This strip doubles as the explainer for how out-of-area works.)*

1. **Problem.** Traveler with a duffel in an unfamiliar place (airport/hotel/car). Thought: *"I'm not home — what are the zmanim HERE?"*
2. **The turn.** He texts his **ZIP code** (e.g. just the 5 digits), then **ZMANIM**.
3. **The glow (lit).**
   > *Got your area. Today's zmanim & weather for where you are now.*
   Caption: *Anywhere in the US — text your ZIP, get YOUR local times. Not someone else's.*
4. **Payoff.** He's davening mincha in a strange city, on time, at peace. — Caption: *Home, or away. It travels with you.*
5. **Close card** (add a quiet line: *New area? Reply your ZIP — we'll get you set up.*)

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## Strip 5 — "Will It Rain?" (Mrs. F · weather, everyday utility)

**Beat:** weekday morning logistics — what to send the kids in.

1. **Problem.** Mrs. F at the door, kids with backpacks. Thought: *"Umbrellas? Coats? Is it going to rain on the way home?"*
2. **The turn.** She texts: **WEATHER**.
3. **The glow (lit).**
   > *Today's forecast for your area — temp, rain, what to expect*
   Caption: *Today's forecast, your area. (Show the format — never a pinned temperature.)*
4. **Payoff.** Kids out the door with the right gear; she's a step ahead. — Caption: *One less thing to figure out.*
5. **Close card.**

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## Strip 6 — "What's Today's Daf?" (Reb Dovid · the learning angle)

**Beat:** quiet, unhurried — the calm counterpart to the rush strips.

1. **Problem.** Reb Dovid sits down to learn, gemara open. Thought: *"What's today's daf? And the mishna?"*
2. **The turn.** He texts: **YOMI** (or **DAF**).
3. **The glow (lit).**
   > *Today's Daf Yomi + Mishna Yomi*
   Caption: *Today's learning, every day.*
4. **Payoff.** He's learning, content; warm light on the page (the glow moves from screen to sefer). — Caption: *Sit down and learn. The rest is handled.*
5. **Close card.**

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## Single-panel quick-hits (for fast WhatsApp/flyer drops)

Each is one image: muted scene + the glowing phone + one caption. No story arc — pure hook.

- **A.** Phone glowing with *"next Mincha ~8:00"* in a coat pocket as a guy speed-walks. Caption: *Never miss Mincha again. Text TIMES to (516) 585-2323.*
- **B.** Shabbos candles + a phone showing *"this Shabbos's times."* Caption: *Candle-lighting, every week, on time. Text SHABBOS.*
- **C.** A simple kosher phone, glowing. Caption: *No app. No internet. Just a text. (516) 585-2323.*
- **D.** A suitcase + a glowing phone showing local zmanim. Caption: *Traveling? Text your ZIP. Get YOUR times.*

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## Image-AI prompt template (paste one panel at a time)

I (Claude Code) can't render images. Paste this per panel into Gemini / DALL·E / Midjourney. **Set the on-image text yourself or with a designer** (image AIs garble Hebrew/English text — generate the *scene*, then overlay the words).

> **Brand style (prepend every prompt):** Warm, muted comic illustration, soft low-saturation palette (dusty cream, warm gray, muted olive/teal). Clean, gentle line work, frum-Jewish-community setting, modest dress. One light source: **the phone screen glows warm gold**, the brightest thing in the frame, casting soft light on the person's face/hands. No text rendered by you (leave the phone screen as a clean glowing rectangle for overlay). No app logos. Phone is a simple/basic handset where noted.
>
> **Scene (example, Strip 1 Panel 4):** A yeshivish young man on a sidewalk by a car, looking down at the warm glowing screen of a basic phone in his hand, relief on his face, early evening muted street behind him. Square composition, space at the bottom for a caption bar.

Reuse the Brand style block verbatim every time so the whole series looks like one hand.

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## Production pipeline (how a strip actually gets made)

1. **Script** (this doc) → 2. **Per-panel image prompt** (template above) → 3. **Generate scene** in an image AI, phone screen left blank/glowing → 4. **Overlay text** (caption + the on-phone words) in Canva/Keynote/a designer — this is where accuracy + Hebrew live, controlled by a human → 5. **Assemble** panels into the strip → 6. **Drop** in `outputs/` (portal) and the community chat.

**Why human-overlay the text:** image AIs can't be trusted with Hebrew or exact wording, and the accuracy rule (no stale pinned values) needs a human eye. Generate art; set words by hand.

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## Series notes
- The teaching pattern is the reusable engine for the 150-piece series (`project_comic_series`): **muted problem → one simple text → the glowing answer → a calm payoff → a one-line lesson.** Same skeleton, a different everyday problem each time (a missed bus, a forgotten yahrzeit, "is today a fast?", "rosh chodesh bentsching?").
- Recurring cast (Yanky / Mrs. F / Reb Dovid / the traveler) makes it feel like a world, not ads.
- **Voice rule, always:** a person getting reliable info by text. Never "AI," never "chatbot," never "the system."
- To spin a new one fast: open `docs/AD_GENERATOR_PROMPT.md`, give audience + angle + format.