creation

Okay, so the title is a little hyperbolic. But picking colors really is one of the most mysterious and notional aspects of branding. That’s why today I want to help demystify this part of a church rebrand. Demonstrating intentionality is arguably the most important part of any church rebrand, and that applies not just to color but to every design choice. If you can show a proven, meaningful process was used, it can generate tremendous buy-in and overcome objections. In this post, I’ll overview that proven, meaningful process. We’ll look at where to find good colors and how to harmonize them, ultimately creating a pleasing, God-glorifying palette. A color palette built with this process is hard to argue with! Where to Find Good Colors The short answer is: in God’s created world! I recently was listening to this podcast episode about color, painting, and art (not as boring as it sounds). The guest, Forrest Dickinson, talked about how Scottish tweed makers will go out into the countryside, capture a swatch of colors from their environment, and use those colors in their designs. What’s stopping us from doing the same thing? Find or take a photo of your church building, its surroundings, or something in your environment that fits the aesthetic you’re going for. This is going to be your reference image. How to Harmonize Your Church Colors Color is light. And much like sound, it has different wavelengths that represent different parts of a spectrum. When those wavelengths align in certain patterns, they harmonize. A great place to start is by choosing what I like to call “Core Colors.” Your core colors are the duo, trio, or quartet that glue your whole brand together. Start by choosing a light and a dark. This could be white and black if you’re going for a very bold and edgy vibe. I like to choose an off-white or pastel from the highlights in my reference image and a dark color from the shadows. Then, choose one or two more saturated colors between your light and dark in terms of brightness. These should be more vibrant and pop a little more. Type out your church name in a Word Doc or in Canva. Make the background one color and the text another color from your core color palette. Try different combinations for the text and background. Is the text readable in most of them? If not, you may want to adjust the values until they have better contrast. If you follow these steps, you’re more likely than not to come up with a pleasing, Christmas-honoring harmony of colors that will be functional in print and digital spaces! Try it for yourself.