Building, creating, and doing business is how many of us are called to glorify our Creator. By building businesses and influence in every sphere, we’re carrying out the dominion mandate and bringing more of creation under submission to Christ’s lordship and rule. This is true whether our work is in law, construction, medicine, or design. I love serving churches because it’s a chance for me to reflect God’s creativity and what he is already doing in each local church body to advance his kingdom. All this while pointing back to the timeless truth of the gospel. Sometimes that looks like symbolism in the logo itself, and other times it’s the overall feeling of reverence, optimism, or hospitality that you can bring out through other visual elements. My work has gained attention from secular designers from time to time, and I don’t think they quite understand what it is that I do. They don’t see how working with churches can be profitable. The truth is: it’s not the most lucrative market. I price projects at below what I believe the value is, but even then many churches aren’t willing to spend ministry dollars on branding. That’s okay with me because I’m able to pour myself even more into other projects that ARE a perfect fit. Because of this approach, I’ve gotten to have those conversations with my peers about why I continue to work with churches. I’m driven by more than just money. If this were all taken away tomorrow, I would still praise God for it. I feel invigorated and fulfilled by the work he has called me to in this season of life, but I know it is a gift and that the next thing he leads me into will result even more in my ultimate good and his ultimate glory.

Galvanize your congregation. Build trust and unity. Can branding do that? A healthy church brand actually provides a mental framework for your members to fit their knowledge and experiences into. If you’re like me, and most other humans, you need “hooks” to hang information on. Otherwise you forget it. As your congregation participates in the life of your church, they are becoming disciples of Christ. They are being taught God’s word and how to follow it. Through branding, you can give your people more hooks to hang that knowledge on. A Christ-centered brand can help them connect the dots between their shared identity and their shared purpose. In other words, you’re drawing that connection between who they are as a local church body and the ultimate reason your church exists. Let’s look at an example. One church I worked with recently was Heritage Church in Shawnee, OK. Heritage had identified five core values or purposes that they wanted their congregation to live out each week. Through this rebrand process, we turned those core values into icons, each with a color that represented part of their vision. Those core values icons integrated into their logo and helped them teach the distinctives that made Heritage unique as a local church. We also turned the icons into a pattern that they could use on everything, even down to bookmarks. The best part was, each of their core values is more memorable and “sticky”. Every design pointed back to the brand Heritage had created around their shared identity as a church body.

You’ve probably used and taught evangelism methods before. These tools make the Gospel easy to understand, remember, and share. Have you ever considered how your church brand works the same way? Evangelism tools introduce words, pictures, and frameworks to help people explain the Gospel message to someone. What are the words, pictures, and frameworks your members use to tell their friends, neighbors, and coworkers about your church? For most people, inviting someone to church is already nerve-racking enough. Part of that is your unique church identity - it’s hard to sum up on the spot! The solution is to give your congregation a framework with visuals to help them understand, remember, and share your church. Give them words to use. Give them memorable visuals. Use visuals that reflect who you are and who you want to be as a church body. These are all things branding effectively aims to do. We have a gift of eternal and unmeasurable value in the Gospel and in the fellowship we experience through the local church. Shouldn’t we be valuing that gift more highly and helping others do the same?

We recognize and agree that the Holy Spirit is the only one who can draw people near, sway their hearts, and renew their minds. We know that he uses means to do that. What are those means? They are anything from a meal, to a sermon, to podcasts, to graphic design, which ultimately communicate his Word. In light of that, we should ask how can we do those things in a way that will glorify God and be used by his Holy Spirit? It’s not an easy question to answer, but a powerful place to start is in your church brand. You already have the substance in your vision, mission, and values… the challenge is to create something of the highest quality to capture that substance, visually representing what God is doing in your local body. This is what I challenge myself with every time I sit down at the drawing board.

I recently heard a pastor make the statement, “the Gospel doesn’t need marketing and branding.” It’s a legitimate criticism. Are churches who spend time, money, and effort on their branding just trying to “market Jesus?” Here’s my response: Some are to be sure… but most are not. Christ-centered branding is about reflecting God’s character, creativity, and what he is already doing in your local church body. It’s easy to see how this is different from just trying to be winsome, seeker-sensitive, and trendy. In fact, I’m staunchly against “winsomeness” as it’s been defined by evangelical leaders in the last 10 years. Their idea of winsomeness smuggles in self-censorship and compromise. I’m also against churches trying to make Christianity seem cool and trendy by mimicking our rebellious secular culture. Christ-centered church branding doesn’t reduce or dilute the gospel message, it makes visible the unique identity of each local church. It doesn’t copy from the world, it argues that beautiful visuals and communication strategies actually belong to Christ. God is a designer, after all!

If you’ve ever thought about redesigning your church’s logo (or even just giving it a refresh), then you might’ve realized a unique challenge: The hardest part is finding a designer who won’t mess it up. To solve that, there are questions you should be asking which will save you loads of wasted time and frustration. Ask you logo designer this: Have you worked with churches before? What happens if we don’t like the logo? When we decide on the new look, how do we transition from old to new? Do you check for unintentional symbolism? Will you license fonts for us to use? Will you wait to share the project online until after we announce it? Do you use templates or pre-made designs? I can tell you these are important questions because they’re all based on real-world concerns, goals, and experiences. Anything you would add to his list?

This week we did our 2024 taxes. I mixed a protein shake, opened my laptop on our kitchen island, and braced myself. I always finish filing with a terrible taste in my mouth… and you can bet it’s not the protein shake. This year we got hit with an underpayment penalty. We hadn’t let Uncle Sam withhold as much as he needed, and he punished us for it. As much as I hate taxes, the experience wouldn’t be so bad if there were regular communications from the IRS throughout the year. I want to know in August if I’m on track to have my taxes paid in full. I want to have deductions top of mind so I remember to save documents and receipts. Here’s the point: Regular, substantive communication is key if you want to build a healthy brand. Nobody wants to be the IRS, but without communication, you increase your risk for leaving a bad taste in someone’s mouth.

Church road signs are notorious for being clever instead of clear. The thing is, people only remember a message if they understand it. Unless you’re G.K. Chesterton or Mark Twain, you’re probably confusing people with clever puns, double entendres, and wordplay. The same goes for your branding. Is it easily understood? Does it connect with a deeper meaning? Does it point to your story? Strong brands prioritize clarity.

I recently watched the movie Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch. It chronicles the genius work of Alan Turing to crack the Enigma cypher during WWII. Germany was using encrypted messages to send critical instructions to its ships and submarines via radio. The Americans could intercept the messages, but couldn’t decode them fast enough. The Germans knew that a message is useless if it can’t be understood by its recipient. When you’re crafting your vision, mission, and brand, how often do you evaluate if it will be understood by your audience? Are you putting it in language they’re familiar with? Does your logo capture something they resonate with?

Podcast logos are different from regular branding because they don’t have to work in as many contexts, at least not early on. Much of the skill in logo and identity design is making something extremely flexible. With a podcast that exists only online, you don’t need that level of flexibility. All you need is memorability. Unlike an organization or business, you probably won’t be printing, stitching, or putting your logo on top of other graphics and photos very often. This means your podcast can have a full color photo or graphic with plenty of detail. SO… follow these steps if you want a podcast logo that’s eye catching, memorable, and free. Distill the big idea Decide if it needs to match your church brand Identify who it is for and what they like Feed all that information to ChatGPT and ask it to write a Midjourney prompt that will give you a podcast logo Plug the prompt into your AI image tool of choice Refine the language in your prompt if needed Remember, all you need is memorability, so don’t be afraid to go outside the box!