How Do I Avoid Getting Stuck in a Rebrand?

Let’s talk about First Baptist Aurora. This was a church that once thrived but found itself dwindling in numbers and energy. That is, until Pastor Robert stepped in with a vision to create a community where high school dropouts and doctors, recovering addicts and homeschool moms, could all worship side by side. He wanted people to feel like they truly belonged. The church started to grow again, but there was a problem: their visual identity didn’t match the new life happening inside the walls. So, I partnered up to help them rebrand. Two words shaped our entire process: historic and urban. We pulled colors from the church’s own brick, molding, and stained glass to create a palette that felt timeless yet fresh. The church’s beautiful stained glass windows inspired a modern logo and sparked a key design element: the arch. We used arches everywhere, from logos and icons to social media graphics, creating a look that felt unified and deeply tied to the building’s architecture and story. The result? A brand that bridges the old and the new. Today, First Baptist Aurora has not just a growing congregation but a clear sense of identity. Visitors connect more quickly, and the leadership has tools to keep building momentum. Here's the takeaway for pastors: A good rebrand isn’t just about looking pretty! It’s about helping people see what God is doing in your ministry are and inviting them to be a part of it. P.S. You can see the full case study here, including our in-depth process and more images/video.

I recently reconnected with a distant cousin who was just starting a new role as a Worship Pastor in Texas. He had been immediately tasked with redesigning the church bulletin and some other collateral - a classic “worship-leader-becomes-graphic-designer” scenario. But he found something totally unexpected. More on that in a minute. See, my cousin had started with an audit of the church bulletin. It was bad. I’m talking 1990s clip-art, 10 different fonts, and a migraine-inducing layout. Then he looked at the rest of the campus. Signage looked different in every hallway, and anything designed had that general “patched together” kind of vibe. The pastors all knew this stuff needed a redesign. The church had a logo people had grown to love and brand equity that was worth preserving. But without clear guidelines in place, things had slipped into visual inconsistency - badly. So, I asked them a simple question: “Have you thought about brand guidelines?” Their response? “No, but now we’re interested!” Until that moment, they had been focusing on the immediate problems that were painful, but they were treating the symptoms, not the disease. I explained to them how a brand refresh often benefits churches in their exact position. When you refresh your branding and put together brand guidelines, you’re not looking to reinvent the wheel or start from scratch. Instead, the goal is to bring clarity and consistency to what you already have. This is about making sure everything from bulletins to digital media feel like it belongs to the same church family. A brand audit and fresh set of guidelines can be perfect for maintaining the identity people recognize while elevating your overall quality and professionalism of communication. Neither my cousin nor I had expected this, but the church hired me on the spot, and we’re getting to work together to unify and future-proof their church branding. True story! If that’s something you’re thinking about for your brand, book a call with me and we can talk more about how to represent the work God is doing in the life of your church.

Raise your hand if you’ve seen a designer offer their services like this: “$1,000 for 3 concepts and 2 revisions.” That seems reasonable enough - surely you can get something great out of 3 concepts and 2 revisions, right? Well, maybe. In the end it all comes down to the project’s risk tolerance. This can be a great fit you’re needing is a set of sermon series graphics or a tee shirt design, but what if the project is bigger, like a new logo or even a full rebranding? Now’s the time to evaluate your risk tolerance. Here’s the question you should be asking: How long do we plan to keep this logo? If the answer is just for a few years, then it doesn’t matter too much if the logo’s not quite a perfect fit. With a short-term, “band-aid” logo, missing the mark slightly is okay, because you get to take another shot later. However… If you’re wanting a timeless logo that will capture your vision and last for decades, then limited revisions is the wrong model to use. Removing the pressure of "this is our last round - we have to say yes," gives a church the freedom to think more objectively about what is going to best serve their congregation for the long haul. Without that freedom, you're probably going to end up over-time and over-budget. And the problem probably isn't the designer or you, it's the process you agreed to follow. This is why I price all my projects with unlimited revisions built in. I'd be delusional if I did this solely on the basis of my skills. I'm confident in my skills - don't get me wrong - but I'm WAY MORE confident in the process. My church rebrand process has been shaped by a decade of design experience and the unique projects I've worked on for churches all over North America.

Is your church logo costing you money? Yes, it’s a serious question. If you’re thinking of redesigning your visuals, you probably want to do it in a way that’s cost effective and practical. That sounds easy enough, but there are some hidden traps in a new logo that can ruin your budget if you’re not careful. These are the three unexpected mistakes that can end up costing your church more than you expected, and how to avoid them. Mistake #1 - Relying on Color If there are four, three, or even two colors that your logo absolutely needs to look right, there’s a strong chance you’ll run into issues down the road. Hats with embroidered logos or a leather patch? Can’t do it. Printing t-shirts with a limited budget? Get ready to pay extra for multiple colors. This is why it’s critical to have a single-color version of your logo that doesn’t look “weird.” While it’s nice to have a version with more than one color, a logo that relies on multiple colors will end up costing you in the long run. Mistake #2 - Ignoring Context Think about where the logo is going to live. If you have a road sign that will need to be updated with the new logo, look at its shape. Is your road sign short and wide? Don’t make the logo tall and narrow. Is your church highly active on social media? Make sure the logo fits well inside a profile picture circle. Building custom signs or making special variations of your logo after the face can easily break the budget for a smaller church, so be wary of the expensive mistake of ignoring context. Mistake #3 - Doing it Yourself The expense of a DIY logo comes mainly in the form of time and future revisions. When you’ve designed something yourself or worked on it in-house without the aid of a professional, there’s a good chance it will take a very, very long time. Not only that, but I’ve seen time and time again a lack of certainty and confidence in the new logo after a rebrand. You’ll spend years wondering things like, “What if we had used a different concept instead?” “What if it had a more dimensional look?” “This reminds me of something else and now I can’t unsee it…” Avoid these mistakes, and you’ll be well on your way to saving time and money in your church rebrand.

In every sport, industry, and field of study, there are “the greats.” Basketball has Michael Jordan, Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant. Theology has Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin and Augustine. Depending on what part of the world you’re from, branding and design industry has its own greats. In the US, there’s Motto, Clay, CGH, and Matchstic. In the UK, you might know Pentagram, Landor, and Wolff Olins. Every designers dream is to apprentice for one of these legendary firms. However, there’s something that separates the greats from the rest of us that can’t always be taught. Sometimes it helps to get insights from those who are a few steps ahead of you - insights those already crossing the finish line at world-record pace may have forgotten. For some of us, myself included, we need it explained to us like we’re five. These legendary firms at the pinnacle of achievement have better things to do than dumb down their processes for me to understand. All that said, I’ve been spending some time to research approaches used by the (somewhat) newer faces in the branding and design world - firms like Koto, How&How, and DESIGNSTUDIO. In the coming days, I’ll be sharing key insights that you can apply to your church branding today. See you in the next one!

Many of us - perhaps all of us - have “that” libertarian uncle. Mine lives in a tiny off grid house he built himself in the woods. Sometimes I think he might be smarter than all of us. Last week was a rare occasion I got to see this uncle, and he told me something I had never heard in my life about how trees grow. Not all trees, but many species we have here in North America, grow very slowly during the first phase of their life - just a few inches per year. Then later in life, the tree will shoot up at a rate of two feet or more per year. That’s only half of the story though. What you don’t see during those early years is the root system spreading far, deep, and wide. Only after establishing its root system and being presented with the right conditions will the tree begin to grow rapidly. Tending your brand is a lot like this. Building a brand is slow work, that takes steady effort over months and years. There are very few obvious indicators of progress in the early stages, and it can feel like you’re not getting anywhere. This is when most people turn to a quick, copy-and-paste logo redesign or a new initiative to get people excited. My encouragement to you is to keep up the intentional branding, invest the time and money, and wait patiently to see it bear fruit in due season.

Whether you’re beginning to pastor at a new church, or graduating to a leadership role with more authority, you can expect a laundry list of things to take care of. Progress is slow-moving and happens in tiny increments, one battle at a time. Planning can turn into a battle itself, with unknowns and budget pressures building up as the weeks on the calendar roll along by. There are things you know you need to do, but you don’t have a clear path yet, so they linger in the back of your mind, popping up to the surface every so often to cause some anxiety before getting pushed back down by more immediate concerns. A rebrand is one of those things for a lot of pastors, which causes lurking, accumulating stress even a year out. Because I’ve walked through many a church rebrand, I offer consultations with pastors who are seeing a church rebrand on the horizon but aren’t quite ready to pull the trigger. It helps them feel prepared and ready so they can focus on other things until the moment is right. If that sounds like you, I’d be happy to chat - even if you’re still a ways out and aren’t ready to make a decision. Talking to a seasoned expert and solidifying a basic strategy can make all that anxiety go away. In fact, for many church leaders, the stress gets replaced by excitement. The big rebrand or new website goes from being a fog of uncertainty to being a light at the end of the tunnel. If you want that kind of clarity, you can book a consultation straight from my calendar, and we’ll build a plan for getting you to a stress-free, successful rebrand that lasts for decades.

Every day around mid-morning, I take a bathroom break and that’s when I write these posts - gross I know, but it’s the perfect amount of time and I have no distractions (now you won’t be able to get that image out of your mind, so you’re welcome). Context aside, when I’m motivated and inspired it’s easy, but today I had some serious creative block of the “stare vacantly at a blank page and start the same sentence five times over” variety. I have a hunch this doesn’t just happen to creatives. Most of my readers are church leaders, I’ll wager that you probably experience that wall too. If so, maybe you can benefit from the two strategies I use to overcome creative block. 1. Short term strategy Exercise is my immediate strategy for overcoming it in the short term. I’ll go home after work, grab my dumbbells, and start lifting. Something about an intense workout stimulates my creativity and writing energy. However, that only works on that day, and if I can’t get a workout in, I’m in trouble. 2. Long term strategy My long term strategy to overcome creative block is to write daily. I used to think I didn’t have time for something recreational like writing, much less every day. But I realized that as long as I put it on the other side of something I enjoy more (chess puzzles), I could force myself to take 5-15 minutes and crank out a thought. Writing became a habit I was cultivating. Something you practice with regularity and discipline becomes easier and easier, and those creative block moments get fewer and farther between. Even when it takes a bit longer to get rolling, the groove is greased and the engine is still warm from yesterday. If there’s something you know you should be doing (maybe writing, maybe calling to check in on members, maybe something else) make it a small part of your daily routine and see how much you start feeling empowered when those “block” moments hit.

Raise your hand if you’ve seen a designer offer their services like this: “$1,000 for 3 concepts and 2 revisions.” That seems reasonable enough - surely you can get something great out of 3 concepts and 2 revisions, right? Well, maybe. In the end it all comes down to the project’s risk tolerance. This can be a great fit you’re needing is a set of sermon series graphics or a tee shirt design, but what if the project is bigger, like a new logo or even a full rebranding? Now’s the time to evaluate your risk tolerance. Here’s the question you should be asking: How long do we plan to keep this logo? If the answer is just for a few years, then it doesn’t matter too much if the logo’s not quite a perfect fit. With a short-term, “band-aid” logo, missing the mark slightly is okay, because you get to take another shot later. However… If you’re wanting a timeless logo that will capture your vision and last for decades, then limited revisions is the wrong model to use. Removing the pressure of "this is our last round - we have to say yes," gives a church the freedom to think more objectively about what is going to best serve their congregation for the long haul. Without that freedom, you're probably going to end up over-time and over-budget. And the problem probably isn't the designer or you, it's the process you agreed to follow. This is why I price all my projects with unlimited revisions built in. I'd be delusional if I did this solely on the basis of my skills. I'm confident in my skills - don't get me wrong - but I'm WAY MORE confident in the process. My church rebrand process has been shaped by a decade of design experience and the unique projects I've worked on for churches all over North America.

If you have a good sense of fashion or a job that requires professional attire, you may have at one point gotten a custom-fitted suit. I’ve done this myself, and it felt great to have a jacket and pants that had been tweaked to fit my measurements. But the next level up is something I’ve never done, and that’s getting a custom-tailored suit made from scratch, with full customization of every detail. Unless you’re lucky and have a very specific body-type and build, you probably won’t find an existing garment that fits you as well as a bespoke suit would. I had a friend who got this done right after college, and I remember thinking, “Boy, I buy my shirts at TJ-Maxx, but he’s a real adult.” Here’s the application: Getting a custom-tailored suit signals personal maturity. In a similar way, getting a custom-tailored visual identity signals organizational maturity. For a visual identity to be custom-tailored means each part is carefully crafted to fit your organization. The logo is designed to represent your vision. The wordmark is tweaked and hand-picked to evoke a particular feeling. The colors are harmonized to stand out in your local context. Getting a bespoke visual identity signals organizational maturity. Bonus: If you have a custom-tailored suit with a very specific look, you probably don’t have to worry about theft - It won’t fit just anyone who tries it on.

Finding a designer to hire for a project comes with unexpected and paradoxical challenges. Unless you have a personal connection to a someone specific, you’re judging your options based on a stranger’s published work. Paradoxically, you’re forced to make aesthetic judgments of their style and fit before you actually hire them to help with your aesthetics. The best designer might not be the one whose style resonates with you the most. The counterintuitive truth is, the best designer might not be the one whose style resonates with you the most. Okay, so how can you evaluate a designer more effectively? Here are a few ways off the top of my head: Success stories on similar projects Clearly defined process Familiarity with your needs Pricing The thing is, if you’re trying to just make something you like, the subjective approach works just fine. If you’re trying to make something that will solve a problem or communicate an idea to more people, objectivity is critical.