The World's Best Church Logo!!!

I’ve come across a few sites that claim to show the best logos ever created. Some are business logos, and I’ve seen a couple of sites claiming to show the best church logos. Maybe I shouldn’t complain - our logos have made it into a few books and sites featuring logos judged to be in the top of their class. I’ll admit, too, that there are logos that are favorites of mine because of a clever visual pun, hidden meaning, pleasing design, or other detail that gets a designer like me excited.

Here’s the problem I have with judging a logo as “the best.” What is it the best for? I saw a clever logo for a St. Peter’s Church. It was of a rooster - you know, when Peter denied Christ and the cock crowed. It’s been over a year since I saw the logo and I still remember it. I laughed, and it was nicely done, but is this the image you would want people to associate with your church? ‘Oh yeah, those guys go to the church that denies Christ,’ or worse yet, the unchurched person that doesn’t make the association to begin with and wonders what in the world a rooster has to do with being a Christian. I think it’s clever, but even I would deny being a member of that church – award or no award.

Context is critical. The values a logo promotes, or the emotion it evokes may work great for one church, but do nothing for yours. The best logos today probably won’t make the list in a few years. Tastes change. Your community will change, and probably your church, too. You want a logo that will have staying power, but nothing stays current forever. In design as in cutlery, nothing dulls faster than the cutting edge.

The point is this: A logo is only best if it’s best for you. If your church is EastPointe, it won’t do you any good to have a logo showing a stream. It would make perfect sense to have a logo that in some way denotes East or comes to a point. While we can admire the style or certain aspects of other logos, the most important thing is that it communicates a compelling aspect of your church or in some way tells your story. If it does that, tell everyone you know that you were smart enough to get your hands on the world’s best church logo.