When Deadlines and Guidelines are Lifelines

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.

Years ago when I first started freelancing, I was clueless about project management. If you asked me then how I made sure a project got done before the deadline, I would have said “Deadline? I didn’t think to ask!” Around the time I started running brand identity projects for churches, I realized my laissez faire approach wasn’t doing me any favors. So, I started working on systems and processes that would help creative projects run smoother and finish faster. At this point I’ve spent hundreds of hours on those systems and processes, and it’s been worth every second. Creating those project systems and processes, I didn’t have to start from scratch. I borrowed the best tricks from the organizations I’ve worked for, whose project management teams were coordinating 200+ projects per year and spending millions of dollars printing and publishing content. During my 8 years as a designer and art director, I’ve developed a razor sharp sense for creative project timelines and logistics. So, here’s my advice: Get someone with creative project experience on retainer (I offer one that’s geared especially for churches), or invest in a project management tool like Notion or ClickUp. Help your church creative projects look like a well-oiled machine, rather than an oil spill.

Let’s face it, keeping church creative projects on track is hard. Any of these sound familiar…? Event materials aren’t ready by the time registration opens. Sending another late Easter billboard design to the billboard company. Putting projects on next year’s budget because you know it won’t get done this year. It’s easy to get desensitized to delays, unmet deadlines… these problems just become a part of life. But the place they lead to is deadly for church leaders. That place is uncertainty. How can you set 1 year, 2 year, and 5 year goals if you don’t know how long each goal will take? Now, I’m not saying that you can absolute certainty about how long every new website change or signage update will take.. lots of factors contribute. But, most pastors don’t even have a ballpark idea of how long something like that should take. Imagine the difference it would make to be able to know when all your big creative projects will wrap up, even if you’re off by a couple of weeks every now and then. Rather than juggling deadlines and spec sheets with vendors and feeling out of your depth taking to volunteer designers, you could be spending quality time with your family, studying your sermon prep for Sunday, or reflecting on longer term goals. I’ll write more about creative project management for churches in the future, so stay tuned if you’re interested in that!

In 2021, my wife and I moved back to our home town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma and joined the church we now call home - Hope Presbyterian Church. The church had hired a Ukrainian designer on Fiverr and got a fantastic logo design (it even won an award). But there was a problem… All they had was that logo. Their whole “brand” was limited to a gold color and a couple of webp’s. While the logo was aesthetically pleasing, it wasn’t enough to help their people “get” the mission. Each billboard, banner, and invitation card was inconsistent and time-consuming, even for the creative associate pastor. The more they tried to make their branding work in the real world, the more things got messy and out of alignment. Members with design experience were called on over and over again to come in and help “fix” designs, which always ended up being a band-aid for the real issue. What my home church went through is the result of a logo design without a true brand. They needed an easy-to-use branding toolkit with theological depth - one that would represent more than just the name of their church. A kingdom-first brand would have given their congregation ownership of the vision their leaders were casting, and would have attracted more visitors who resonated with the message they preached. And that’s why I stopped designing logos, and started developing kingdom-first brands instead.

Strip everything away, give your church a generic name, and make the logo a cross. Go black and white with your color scheme. Congrats - you have a timeless brand! I’m being a little bit sarcastic, but there’s an element of truth here. Over-simplification is usually the fastest, easiest way to a truly “timeless” look. However, it’s not the only way. And for churches, it’s almost never the best way. The history of the world is timeless by definition, but definitely not simple. God’s creative and recreative work is anything but minimalistic. The way God works is simple but deep, focused but rich with meaning. So too is the story being woven together in your ministry, whether it’s 200 years old or a brand new church plant. What is God’s perspective of your church? If you want a timeless brand identity, this is the question you have to answer. Once you start narrowing it down, your logo colors and fonts become clear and easy choices. Rather than trying to become timeless by using Helvetica and no colors in your brand guidelines, you should be looking for ways to incorporate the truth of who God says you are as a congregation. Does it take more work and intentionality? Absolutely. Is it hard? Anything worth doing is.

Your logo isn’t a brand, nor is the name of your church a brand. Your color palette, word mark, fonts, and church website aren’t your brand either. These things only serve to ASSOCIATE your church with the big idea that is your message. Make this association enough times with enough people, and NOW you have a brand. Think about it like this: Branding is the vehicle for your message. It’s the wrapper! The packaging won’t change the chemical make up of the burger, but it can still make the burger taste better, and turn a meal into an experience worth sharing. So, to answer the question how much branding does a church need, the answer is none. None? Right. If you don’t have that big idea clarified and nailed down, you can design the most beautiful identity system and logo in the world and not have a brand.

Many churches when they come to me to consider doing a rebrand say something like “We want people to see that we’re a living, active church.” What better way to show that than with motion? Video is one thing, but moving graphics combined with photos are a good middle ground that can communicate a lot more than just a static image. According to the big players in the creative industry, motion is becoming more important for all brands - not just global ones. More and more, a brand’s digital presence is expected to move, breathe, and approximate “IRL” experiences. Done right, on-brand motion graphics have a high engagement potential, without the expense of shooting and editing actual video. How do you do this well? You need to know your brand’s unique personality. P.S. This is a series of posts where I’m sharing lessons we can learn from the great design agencies of today. These are firms with a massive portfolio of incredible projects for global, billion dollar brands. Their reputation has been built on sound branding fundamentals, which means something very good for us: their approach works just as well for churches!

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!

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 came across a church in Arizona called Ironwood. I’m absolutely enamored with the elegant simplicity of their brand, so I thought I would share it here as inspiration. The idenity of this church is centered around the idea that Jesus called his followers to have a soft heart and a steel spine - a rewording of the command to “be full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). How cool is that? In their branding and church culture, they committed to have tender hearts, overflowing with love, genuinely interested in people’s stories, quick to forgive, and humble enough not to take themselves too seriously. At the same time, they aimed growing spines of steel, with bold courage, unshakeable conviction, resilience in a world that pushes back, and a reverent fear of God. The symbol they chose to represent that was the native Ironwood tree, which is a slow-growing, incredibly strong and resilient species. These trees become a haven for desert life, and things come near them for life and protection. They also designed the logo to be viewed as from God’s perspective, which was a nice touch. Finally the coolest thing about Ironwood in my opinion, is that they had an actual, 80 year-old ironwood tree transplanted to the front campus. It can be seen on their map here: This is one of those brand identities that I didn’t get to work on, but wish I had. Hopefully you can also appreciate it’s elegance and effectiveness too.

I often talk about capturing your unique vision and church identity in a brand identity. However, when people hear “brand identity” they immediately jump to thinking about the logo. Hackney Church of London is proof that a generic logo can work (and shine) when it’s part of a well-executed design system. The church worked with London-based design firm OMSE, who was clearly capable of designing a much more nuanced and complex mark, so why did they do something so plain? They explain in their case study notes: We worked with Hackney Church to design a new identity that could flex across the breadth of their activities. From formal and often sobering occasions, to joyous celebrations. {{ comp.video({ src:"/img/hackney-church-logo-by-omse.mp4" }) }} Their choice of a minimalistic approach was strategic and intentional. Maximum flexibility was the highest priority - not explanatory power. If you take the time to review their rebrand case study, you’ll see how a logo doesn’t have to capture your entire vision, vibe, or identity. It just needs to be an entrance point. In other words, the brand identity is the house, and the logo is just the cornerstone. Here’s what Armin Vit, founder of the BrandNew blog had to say about Hackney Church’s new mark: In a way, it’s almost an overly generic icon that could apply to dozens of churches around the world but not only is the execution flawless in this case it also goes hand and in hand with the overall personality and vibe of the church both in its physical presence and its range of activities. What can we learn from this? Your logo doesn’t have to be so perfectly unique that it’s entirely unmistakable. In fact, it’s quite easy to paint yourself into a corner with a rigid, inflexible brand identity (speaking from personal experiences). Instead of relying on your logo alone to do the heavy lifting, copy OMSE’s approach with Hackney Church and focus on making your branding beautifully simple.