Good News during Bad Times for Struggling Designers
By Jason Franklin, Director of Communications, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem
It’s been said that church communicators wear many hats. We’re creating engaging graphics (or at least trying), telling interesting stories (that are hopefully grammatically correct), providing IT support (did you try restarting it?), and if your job has shifted like mine during this pandemic, you’re trying to stay calm as you stare at Adobe Premiere, editing another Offertory Anthem video due in an hour. Set it all in a once organized home office, add Zoom meetings for days and a seven-month-old puppy trying to capitalize on all my time, and you, my friends, have a current snapshot of my life.
It may sound like bad times, but the good news is it’s a mess. You’re probably thinking, “messes are bad, and this guy has clearly lost it”. I probably have, but I am writing to encourage you all to embrace the mess.
As a church communicator, I believe that most parishioners don’t want to hear that everything is great, or that we have all the answers. People need to hear that we and God are with them. When things get messy, that message is life-changing. If all you can do one Sunday is a horribly pixelated live-stream with bad audio, it tells your audience that you will do whatever you can to reach them, even if it’s a struggle. As communicators, we get to remind people that we are traveling together and our journey is missional. Messy is authentic. Searching for that authenticity is what drives my aesthetic.
“As communicators, we get to remind people that we are traveling together and our journey is missional. Messy is authentic. Searching for that authenticity is what drives my aesthetic.”
Tell a Story
What does this mean for graphic design? For your own sanity, don’t be afraid to fail and take risks with your art. Consider everything you do as art. Tell a story. This is the best advice I can give. With every logo, flyer, photo, invitation, and slide, you need to understand how it is part of the church’s narrative. Definitely be comfortable enough to abandon an idea, and don’t assume the first idea is the best one, even if that means you have to tell your boss that their idea may not work.
Getting Inspiration
When you are mentally exhausted but need to get a design done, visit sites like behance.net to check out other people’s work. There’s nothing wrong with purchasing design assets from sites like Creative Market or finding some inspirational photography on Unsplash to get your creative mind working. If you are staring at a blank Photoshop PSD with no idea what to do, move over to Canva and play around with some templates to get some ideas flowing. Jump down a rabbit hole of blog posts about pens (*a real blog I follow) and 1960’s color schemes and see where it leads you.
Church as a Brand
Some people do not like to talk about church as a brand. I’ve gotten into arguments about this with coworkers. I believe that designers should always think of the church as a brand so others don’t have to. If you work for a church, your job is to explain to whoever you are targeting why your church is not like any other place on this planet. You have to be bold because that’s what the Gospel demands. So find your voice, find your church’s voice, know your audience, and look for that sweet spot where they all overlap. It will absolutely be messy, and that’s a good thing.
* Jason Franklin is a staunch supporter of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.3mm pen.