inspiration

People have asked me where I get design inspiration from, so I thought I’d answer that question here. In my humble opinion, church branding on the internet is a mixed bag (at best). Even for someone like me with a decade of design experience, I loathe having to sort through what the algorithm overlords deem helpful. All these apps and websites are designed with one goal in mind: to trap you in the doomscrolling black hole. That’s why I contain browsing for inspiration to a very small sliver of my branding process, which happens AFTER the research and strategy phases. It keeps me grounded in the specific context of the project at hand and saves me from getting sidetracked by designs made for someone else. The best Inspiration comes from reality. Here’s the thing: The people, places, and things that make up your own unique context and story are the ones that will give you the best inspiration. You might not be able to relate to my love/hate relationship with social media (mostly hate), but I hope that you will tend your brand with a healthy dose of reality.

Limitation breeds creativity. Ask any artist or creative person, and they’ll tell you that their proudest moments are when they’ve solved a problem with restrictions, limitations, or pressure. Whether it’s limited time, resources, space, color, etc. those boundaries become a unique seed in which creativity grows and blossoms. This applies to new projects and ongoing brand work (aka tending your brand). Here’s the point: Don’t be afraid to put limitations in place. Committing to a deadline, color palette, or style is actually one of the best things you can do for your brand.

I recently had the privilege of meeting Dr. Michael Reeves, Author, Professor, and President at the Union School of Theology in the UK. He had just finished speaking at an event, and I knew I had to ask him for any encouragement or advice he could give to you lovely people in the Tend Your Brand family. He was gracious enough to think my question over and offered an amazing reply. Here’s what he said: Braden: What advice or encouragement can you give to church leaders who are trying to better communicate their vision and galvanize their congregations? Dr. Reeves: I’m reminded of what Jesus said, “Out of the heart the mouth speaks.” If you don’t believe in your vision, your congregation won’t believe in it either. If you’re bored with your message, the people you speak to will sense that lack of conviction. Seek God’s guidance sincerely and ask him for the conviction and resolve to preach your message with full-throated zeal. So there you go. I don’t feel like I can say it any better than he did, so I’ll leave it there. Hopefully his wisdom was encouraging and re-centering for you. P.S. It felt too much like paparazzi at the time, so I didn’t get a photo with him (maybe I should have anyway - ha!).