ChurchMarketingSucks.com has a new article up regarding church logos (click here), referencing an article in COLLIDE Magazine. The point is that your church logo doesn’t need to suck – and they offer some resources to help you in evaluating yours.
You have one, right? Right?
Yeah, a whole lot of churches I know don’t have a logo, either. Quite often it seems that it’s only when a church is developing their church website, that they realize they need that logo. Yes, it’s a branding thing, and we don’t like to talk “branding” about a church – but the cross is a pretty good “branding” of the Church at large, no? It stands as a reminder of Christ’s resurrection, of the salvation we were given that we hold as the core of our faith. Hence, we use it as our symbol. And that’s what a logo is as well – it’s meant to convey the core concept of what you as a church are about. Not just to the public at large, but also to your church itself… a reminder of what you as a church stand for. It doesn’t need to be complicated, and probably shouldn’t be. And there are a ton of resources out there to help you get an idea for what you’d like. But this is a case where I absolutely believe you need some professional help.
I know very few churches consider hiring someone for their website, and even fewer would be up for hiring a graphic designer to do their logo. I think some of this is being practical – we’re just trying to be good stewards. I also think some of this is being cheap – we want to pretend we don’t need it, it’s not worth the money or that kid in the congregation can probably do something decent. But when it represents you to the community, on your website, on t-shirts, on bumper stickers, on your church signage, you want something that WORKS. And a professional is what you need to get that.
I absolutely advocate spending the money for professional website and logo help, as much as I would advocate having professionals do many of the major construction and repair jobs around a church plant. Maybe you’re lucky enough to have someone in the congregation who will do it pro-bono. If not, you’ll have to get out and find someone who will either do it pro-bono or at a large discount from commercial rates. Failing to find a local company, there are several firms who cater to our demographic whose websites you can find online; or, you could choose to hire a freelance designer from one of the several online freelance marketplaces.
Yes it is an expenditure, and it’s not easy (especially right now) to make that investment today. But it is absolutely worth it, considering the huge amount of exposure it will get, and the fact that you might use it for many, many years down the road. If you’d like to find out more about companies who can provide this service online, or the freelance marketplaces you could use to find bidders for the project, leave a comment and I can detail them in a new post.