rebrand

Last weekend, I went hiking in the Ouachita National Forest with a friend from church. It was my first time on that particular trail, but thankfully he had hiked this trail multiple times and knew it like the back of his hand, or so I thought. I started to get nervous when he stopped in his tracks and said, “I’ve never seen this bridge before.” He crossed the bridge and ventured on a little further. “I don’t remember passing through this open area.” We figured we had missed a fork in the trail, so we crossed back over the bridge and backtracked for a mile or two. No sign of a turnoff or any other indicators of another trail. We were forced to go back to the bridge again. At this point, we had hiked nearly 3.5 miles of detour, with nothing to show for it. What would have helped us avoid that unexpected pain? A guide who had brought others along that trail dozens of times. A map of the entire trail, with a “You Are Here” indicator. The reason I’m sharing this story is: My friend thought he remembered the trail, but there were critical things he had missed the first few times. Whether you’re hiking a secluded trail or rebranding, it’s smart to get expert insights and a proven roadmap before you waste time on detours and roadblocks. Thankfully, after exploring a bit more, we realized we were on the right path after all. We ended up having a great trip.

“We have a lot of recognition and nostalgia with our current branding, but it doesn’t do everything we need it to.” Sound familiar? There are times when it doesn’t make sense to fully rebrand. In fact, more often than not your more cost-effective and better option is to do what I call a “brand refresh.” Today I want to show you what that looks like. A brand refresh is updating certain elements of your visual identity to make it more versatile and appealing, without starting over from scratch. If you're fully rebranding, that means you're changing everything from your messaging to your visuals. If you're hesitant to do that, it's probably because you've built up brand equity and familiarity with your current brand. A brand refresh allows you to maintain that core imagery and style that your congregation has grown to know and love, without being stuck in a rut. Here's a common way churches could do a brand refresh: Adjust your color palette to be more digital-friendly and pick a secondary font family that is more legible at small sizes (like in your bulletin). With just a few minor changes like this you can gain a lot of flexibility for very little cost. A small adjustment like this often comes with a chance to refine certain aspects of your messaging. In the next installment, I’ll talk about ways to capitalize on that opportunity.

Messaging might be the trickiest part of brand-building, but it’s also the most important. While you want to stay consistent over time, there are ways to evaluate, tweak, and test your messaging so that it doesn’t become stale. Today, I want to look at the five steps that branding experts use for messaging refinement and apply it to a church context. By the end, you should have a good idea of how to make messaging adjustments (and if you need to at all). 1. Clarify the Core Ask yourself: “What exactly are our distinctives, and are they stated in a way people actually remember and repeat?” Here’s a practical test: Ask 5-10 people (leaders, members, new attendees) to describe the church’s mission/values in their own words. If responses vary widely or miss the mark, your messaging might lack clarity or memorability. 2. Dual-Audience Check I've written before about how church communication is unique because you have two audiences: a congregation and a community. Because of this, you need a way to evaluate your messaging with each. Congregation Filter: Does our messaging reflect the lived experience of our members? Do they feel seen and represented in our voice and values? Use quick polls, post-service questions, or a digital survey to find out. Community Filter: Would someone unfamiliar with church language understand and connect with this? Use the “Unchurched Neighbor Test”: Could someone not part of the church understand what you’re about from your website, signage, or social media? 3. Content Consistency Audit Review 3 to 5 pieces of existing content you’ve published in the past. These can be things like your website homepage, social media bio, flyer, sermon intro, or email footer. Are our distinctives clearly communicated here? Is the tone consistent and reflective of who we are? Is this memorable, clear, and people-centered… or is it vague and insider-focused? I recommend creating a simple scoring scale (1 - 5) so you can easily compare and evaluate each piece of content. 4. Decide on the Level of Tweak Needed Use this matrix to figure out how much you might need to adjust course with your church's brand messaging: 5. Small-Scale Testing It’s nerve-racking, but there’s no better way than real-world testing to know if you’ve made a meaningful change. Try your adjusted tagline, mission statement phrasing, or value summary in a few formats (social post, bulletin blurb, sermon series). Then, watch for engagement and organic adoption by your congregation. If people start using your new language on their own, you’re on the right track.

One of the things I do with every client is ask for pictures of their church building. It’s is one of the most straightforward and safest approaches to designing a logo, because you’re working with shapes and motifs which are already familiar to a congregation. When I can, I’ll actually go to the church for a visit to get a personal, up close impression and take photos for inspiration. What I’m looking for is anything that stands out as particularly iconic, or that could be simplified into a recognizable mark. Here are a few examples: Prominent stained glass windows Unique staircases Floor plan of the sanctuary Front-facing Doorways Recognizable pillars Repeating shapes like arches Interesting brick patterns These are just the places I generally look for visual inspiration in a church building. Your church might have other unique features, and I’d encourage you to make note of those too! If you’re gearing up for a rebrand at your church, I would be glad to help you gather inspiration, nail down your brand strategy, and execute the design of your new logo so that you can roll it out to your congregation seamlessly. I put my calendar up here if you want to find a time when we can talk about what God is doing in the life of your church.

It’s not always clear right away, but drawing inspiration from a church’s mission, vision, and values can make for a rich logo design with layers of hidden meaning, done right. When I get with a church to design their brand, I make a point to talk face-to-face with them about their vision, and the core purposes or values that define the culture (and theology) they’re trying to shape in their congregation. For some, it sounds esoteric, but I’ve used a process for dozens of church brands that extracts the themes and threads woven into their church distinctives. I look for any of those themes that could be represented visually, and draw from the symbols that come out of that process to add meaning and depth to the logo. With this approach, there’s a danger of trying to pack too much into one single mark. Representing your mission, vision, core values, purposes, etc. in a single logo is sometimes not possible. But that’s okay, because the purpose of a logo is to identify - not explain (yes, I’ll keep saying it). Before you go and try this yourself, keep in mind that the actual execution is hard. Compared to the other methods I’m talking about today, this is probably the most difficult to pull off. That’s why it can be helpful to hire someone who understands churches and specializes in branding. I offer this service to churches through my design agency, Restore Graphics. Go to that website, book a call, and we can chat about the vision you’re wanting to weave into your church brand.

If your church is aiming for a culture of permanence and community engagement, something unique about your city or region is a great place to get visual inspiration that can be incorporated into your brand. Many churches try to be “for the city.” But how can they show this in a more tangible way? The answer is borrowing an element of their environment that identifies them as belonging to that unique location. Maybe your city in California or Florida is known for a particular species of palm tree. Maybe your county in Kansas has the largest export of corn or wheat in the U.S. Maybe your region in the northeast is known for its fishing culture. Maybe your town has a unique layout from an aerial view You can see why research is such a critical part of the logo design and branding process. You probably won’t know about golden tidbits of inspiration like this until you do some digging. If I discover something like this while helping a church rebrand, I’ll experiment with visual motifs that fit their target aesthetic. Usually that looks like a subtle nod to the city through a color or integrated shape, but occasionally I’ll be more overt. Whether or not you end up finding a specific piece of visual inspiration that’s pure gold, there’s a good reason to do this research anyway: You’ll learn more about your city and community, making it easier to resonate with them in the other parts of your branding.

If you have a creative streak (or if you read this publication), you might occasionally notice the design choices made by your favorite brands. Think Apple, Nike, Chase Bank, etc. A majority of brand marks for the last several decades have followed a pattern when it comes to their logos: Abstract icon to the left, word mark to the right. However, nobody said you have to follow suit. In some cases, it’s perfectly appropriate to skip the abstract logo icon and go straight to a stylized word mark. This is a great approach when you have a short, unique name. That also means you’ll struggle if your church is named “First Baptist” or “Periwinkle Avenue Presbyterian Church.” Here’s a great example of a brand that leaned into their name with a strong word mark: Smirk - It’s clever, no? ;) Despite “icon-first” being the common approach to logo design in the corporate world, a well-crafted wordmark - like the one shown above - can bring a wealth of creativity and meaning to your brand, all on its own. Bonus Way: Monograms A second way to draw inspiration from your church’s name is to stylize and customize the first letter, also known as a monogram. Monograms have been around for centuries, so it makes sense that they would continue to be an effective means of identification. The monogram approach also helps with brand recognition because it stands for something very concrete: your church’s name. P.S. The tricky part about monograms is that they usually need a word mark to go with them. This puts you back at having a dualistic logo, except now the first letter of your church’s name gets repeated in the monogram and the word mark, which could be problematic.

If a church is rebranding, it usually means they’re wanting to start something new. Sometimes that looks like focusing on a younger audience or rewriting the distinctives and core values. But many times, the goal is to create separation from a previous scandal, former leadership, or mission drift. If your goal in a church rebrand is to put the past behind you, you might not consider taking logo inspiration from your history… but maybe you should! In fact, it can be totally appropriate to draw on your history for branding ideas. Here are a few reasons to consider: Your past challenges were leadership-specific Your congregation and community still resonate with the legacy of your church Your church is especially old and its history is genuinely redemptive So what does taking logo inspiration from your church history actually look like? If your church has an archive of historical artifacts and documents, dig around and see if there’s anything interesting. You'd be surprised at how many times a simple artifact or document has been the inspiration for a killer logo design. Keep your eyes peeled for things like: Stamps and seals Building illustrations or paintings License plates Hand-made items Articles of formation Items that were important to the founding members/pastor I’ve personally seen all of these in a church archive at one point or another. And at the end of the day, you’ve gathered a greater appreciation for the legacy of your congregation, even if you don’t find something to integrate into your brand. P.S. If a rebrand is intended to create separation from the your past (especially a painful one) then drawing visual inspiration from that same past can send mixed signals. Even if the intentions are good (e.g., honoring long-time members or heritage), using symbols, colors, or design language tied to a difficult era can unintentionally reinforce what you’re trying to move past.

Sometimes we need to be confronted about how bad a situation really is. It’s too easy to develop blind spots over time, and your branding isn’t an exception. Like an untended vine, it can quickly get out of control. So here are ten warning signs that you might need help reigning in that branding. You cringe when you hand out a business card or flyer Your social media pages all have a different profile picture You have to hunt for your main logo file on a regular basis There are more than 3 fonts used on any given flyer, banner, or bulletin You don’t have the original HEX codes for your core colors Outdated materials and web pages still surface every few months to haunt you You’re seeing more unofficial logos than official ones used in the wild Your staff or volunteers don’t feel equipped to make the church “look good” online Your website, wayfinding, and bulletin look they’re from three different eras You’re constantly reinventing visuals, changing styles, or revising logos because nothing sticks If several of these sound like you, it might be time to consolidate and clean up. Or, it might be that you’re transitioning, and you need to start from scratch with a new and fresh look as you start this new chapter. Either way, consider getting professional help. I work with churches specifically to solve those problems with their branding. Contact me here, and we’ll talk about what it looks like for me to help you design an identity that reflects your God-given vision and lasts for decades.

I recently had a blast interviewing pastor Alex Montaño about his church's rebrand in 2024. Here are some of the highlights from our conversation: Why trying to use Fiverr for the logo was a huge blunder (it wasn’t a skill issue) How to overcome initial resistance from elders What to do with a limited budget for “rolling out” the rebrand Watch the video to steal from his church’s rebrand approach... and crush it instead! 💪P.S. Share this with a pastor who might be interested in our conversation.

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.

Earlier this year, I took my wife on our first ever off-roading excursion and we learned an important lesson. We rented a UTV side-by-side and hit the trails of Wolf Pen Gap in Arkansas. There had been above-average rainfall in the area, and it turned out that many trails were inaccessible due to high water crossings. There was one place where we attempted to cross and almost got swept away. Not only did we get into that dangerous situation, we spent hours taking wrong turns, finding dead ends, and squinting at our map. When we did finally find some exciting spots, we only had time to explore a couple of them before the rental was due back. We came out of that experience alive (and with some good photos), but we learned this: A competent guide is worth the money. If we had hired someone to show us around, we would’ve found those good trails earlier in the day, not gotten lost, and enjoyed our time more. The thing is, unless you enjoy the adventure of discovering every dead end and perilous path for yourself, hiring an expert to guide you is going to save time, and keep you out of danger. P.S. With a rebrand, you’re not just trying to find a fun spot for recreation - you’re trying to get from point A to point B - which makes pro guidance even more critical.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you’re looking at getting new signs or updating your building, don’t miss this opportunity to update your branding as well! It’s one thing for a sign to look nice and be functional, but branding and design has the power to do much more than just help people find the nursery. Every bulletin, banner, and coffee cup is an opportunity to shape the culture of your church through intentional, vision-aligned branding that stands the test of time. If that’s your ultimate goal, then updating your signs without rebranding first would be a massive waste of time and money! Schedule a time to talk and I’ll walk you through what a brand refresh could look like, so you don’t have to re-do your signs AGAIN in a couple of years.

“All our digital and print stuff looks inconsistent, but I don’t know where to start fixing it.” “Our logo is good, but the rest of our branding is a mess!” Sound familiar? I’ve had more and more churches lately tell me this story. If that’s you, then the odds are you don’t need a full rebrand. Normally, I see rebrands working for churches who are in a pivotal moment - one that’s going to shape the identity of their congregation for a long time. Think about your church brand like a house. When you go for a full rebrand, it’s like you’re tearing that house down to the foundation and starting over from scratch. Sometimes this is the right call, especially when there are serious structural problems or the house doesn’t serve your needs. You’re changing a big part of the structure and framing out something new. Conversely, brand refreshes are for those who have a solid foundation and structure, but need a renovation. This is the chance for a church to fix leaks, re-do the kitchen, and get a new paint job. Sometimes all brand refresh calls for is just a set of brand guidelines with a few Canva templates. Other times it’s an intentional tweaking of the logo, and a redesign of everything else. The main idea behind the refresh is bringing that rogue branding into alignment. When you consider a refresh vs a rebrand, ask yourself, do we need a rebuild, or just a minor renovation?