How many times have you recognized someone but couldn't remember their name? We're visual, we remember appearances, but we're often fuzzy on other details relating to a person's identity. The same thing probably happens with your church in people's minds—they recognize your building when they drive past, or they remember your logo, but they might not remember your name.

WHAT A GOOD LOGO CAN DO
Your logo is a large part of your church's identity. Your church may be firmly planted in one location, but your logo doesn't have to be. Having a recognizable logo is an important element in your communication strategy. It's a visual representation of your church, and an introduction into your church's personality.

No other single element can be seen all over town like your logo can. It can be spotted on signage, business cards, newsletters, brochures, mailings, and any ads you may place. Exposure is valuable. I was watching the national news on TV when a story about advertising and auto racing came on. The sponsors for NASCAR literally review the entire race to see how many seconds the TV viewer sees their sponsor sticker on a car during the broadcast. Exposure increases familiarity, and familiarity can increase the comfort level of those you're exposed to. Fortunately, you don't have to have a huge budget to enjoy the recognition your logo can bring.

Your logo will have the greatest impact on the people that are seeing it the first few times. It may send a clear message or pose a puzzle to be figured out, but in either case your logo will create its biggest impression early in the viewing process. Its impact may diminish over time, but it's still doing its job. As people become familiar with your church, they will place new facts and information in their mental file on you. Familiarity isn't the same as trust, but gaining that history in your community is helpful in being viewed as dependable and permanent. In other words, it may create opportunities to build trust later on.

Besides being a familiar element, your logo says something about who you are as a church. Your logo can tell your prospective audience you're:

• Contemporary, traditional, or somewhere in between
• A rural, suburban, or urban church
• Highly relational
• Formal or informal
• Located near a recognizable geographical landmark
• An architectural landmark (your church, not you)

There are many other things your logo may be saying. It's the opening chapter of the story your church tells. Every church has a story, and good stories are meant to be told. People are looking for different kinds of churches, and no one church can appeal to everyone. Be who you are—tell your story. Your logo can tell something about who you are, and who you are becoming. You can leave some room for growth, but present yourself honestly.

Whether you're a traditional, contemporary, small community, or Postmodern church, don't be afraid to let that come through in your logo. We've produced some custom work over the years for a church in the Southwest that is very unique, bordering on eccentric. The church draws a huge response because their community is looking for something slightly different and are curious by the art being sent out. Quality is the key ingredient. Doing things with excellence tells people their time matters enough for you to do it right.

WHAT A LOGO WON'T DO
You may argue, but my experience is that advertising can't sell something no one is interested in, and it can't fix a bad product. Similarly, a well designed logo won't transform your church into a relevant, contemporary congregation if it's actually out of touch with today's culture. If your church isn't relational, a logo with friendly people on it won't change that reality. The job of your logo is to reinforce what already is, or at least what's in the process of happening.

Your logo also has limitations on how much of your story you can tell. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand words is still considered a short story. A good logo gives people a glimpse into what you're all about From that they may associate a positive feeling or anticipate a positive experience in future interactions with you. With all the ministries, history, worship and special events associated with your church it's tempting to try to include as much as you can in your logo. Be strong! Resist the temptation. If you don't, you'll risk people not remembering you at all.

Your logo is just one element in your communication strategy, but certainly one of the most visible. Our culture increasingly relies on pictures to convey information, which means the value of a good logo has never been higher. It also means the church has to communicate at the same quality level as business, entertainment and the media are in order to compete for your audiences attention. Quality is readily apparent and the response is immediate. Having a logo that's designed well, and faithfully tells your story not only creates a strong identity, it establishes a foundation for future communication materials.

Copyright 2002-3. Michael Kern. All rights reserved.
Please contact Information@churchlogogallery.com for permission to use all or any portion of this.