overbranding

In the age of the internet and now of ChatGPT, our memory muscles are getting weaker and weaker. I’ve felt the effects, and I’m sure you have too. Wade Stotts had a recent episode of the Wade Show with Wade where he highlighted how short and shallow our memories really are these days. Why does that matter for effective branding? Your audience has the memory of a goldfish. If your branding consists of disjointed visuals or too much information, it’s not going to stick. And if you haven’t thought through templates, words, and images that are going to help you repeat that message, your brand message will slide into one ear and out the other (My dad said that happens because there’s nothing in between to stop it). It’s an important reminder that I’ve preached and will continue to preach: Repetition is persuasion. You cannot repeat your messaging enough. You cannot integrate your branding into enough of your church’s life. It also got me thinking: How have I handicapped my own memory for creative and branding work? How could I fix it? Those are questions I’m going to be answering this year.

When it comes to church branding and design, I’m a fan of repetition. However, there are more ways to repeat your brand than using your logo, and there are places where it would be totally wrong to use it! Way-finding isn’t necessarily one of those places, but there are some design conventions that make for better way-finding signage. Usually you don’t want to use a full logo on way-finding signage. If someone is in your building, they probably know what church they’re in - they don’t need to see your logo on every corner! Here are the do’s and don’ts that will help you find your way through way-finding sign design. Do: Use as few words as possible Show a simple arrow for most items Show a flat pictogram or icon for commonly recognized facilities, like restrooms, stairs, and exits Pick one of your brand colors for the background Pick one of your brand colors for the text Don’t: Use your church logo on every sign (Some churches will opt to put a logo icon without the word mark in the corner of all their signs.) Pick a brand color that clashes with the interior of the church (paint color, carpet color, etc) Use more than 2 colors Make the signs too small (they should be visible (not necessarily readable) from the farthest point in the room or hallway) There’s a wide spectrum of brand collateral that every church needs, with a balanced mix of “loud” and “soft” levels of branding. Way-finding signs are on the functional end of the spectrum. They’re limited on space, and should only carry the critical information for navigating a particular space.