Visual Identity Design & Messaging
With the passing of community leader & pastor Dr. Zachary Tims in the summer of 2011, church members and the local community were in a state of grief and uncertainty about the future of the ministry he co-founded; New Destiny Christian Center of Apopka, FL.
Church leaders wanted to establish fresh energy and create a representation of it throughout the campus and online. This project would eventually extend beyond just designing a visual identity for a church but offered creative freedom to explore deliverables the church didn’t know it needed.
Contributions
Worked in partnership with church leaders to create a visual identity and messaging to communicate the organizational transfer of leadership, due to the passing of its founder.
Craft and propose a brand message that maintains careful focus to maintain heritage, and inspire our organization to move forward together, but also not ostracize long-term congregation members.
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Design Lead/Strategist Matthew Lett
Internal Strategy: Hank Foster
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2 months
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Brand Messaging
Identity Design
Web Design
Graphic Design
Research Process
Talked to people and captured moments.
Took time to attend community events and talk to leaders to gain insight into the impact the church has provided throughout the years. Spending time talking to people helped drive a deeper connection to the design work beyond deliverables and grounded me in the need to create a message that leaders could adopt.
Assessed the state of design and its use.
Walked the campus and did an online audit to scope design opportunities to implement a rebrand. Thought about where design could be enhanced on campus, in print, and online, and how best to socialize this new design so ministry departments could implement it into the work they do.
Go broad, to go narrow
Started with ideas
Rather than planning out the brand identity message first, the better decision was to just let the creative juices flow. Ideas were presented to the creative director on the project and we chose a final logo to iterate on and build a message around.
Final Outcome
Two logos & a whole lot of design work…
The decision was made as a team to implement a primary and secondary logo for situations where interchangeability was necessary or one logo may not feel right in a chosen context. Below are some examples of how the final logos and new brand identity colors were utilized. The concept behind the brand identity became clearer as iterations of the logo drew to a close.
Visual Identity & Message
A torch and a cross; is a mixture of a representation of enlightenment, faith, and hope. The inspiration draws source from the positive historical representations of torches used in processions, athletic and religious events around the world. The Olympic Games used the lighting of torches to symbolize peace, tolerance, friendship, and the initiation of festivities. The Statue of Liberty holds a torch, lighting the way to freedom and the path of liberty.
Passing of torches within many societies represented the concept of regenerative transfer of power from one individual to another. Even though Dr. Zachary Tims is no longer with his congregation every volunteer, leader, and community member can now take hold of their purposeful role in “carrying the torch” forward towards seeing his vision come to pass.
Web design
Proposing a new website
Modernizing the website was also within the project scope and bringing more visuals into the layout to communicate the culture of the ministry. The designs below are not the final representation of the website but are only provocations to spark discussions.
From (old website)
To (web design provocation)
Reflections
Non-Profits Don’t Always See The Long Game. When working with an organization that desires to use its resources carefully, you need to take time to teach and show the value of every design decision presented for consideration.
You create the best work when you’re having fun. Because I was given full reign to just create as inspiration came the project stretched me to have to then go and research how to build the ideas I proposed. ie: the illuminated sign in the church entrance, teardrop signs in the parking lot, and learning how to work with media teams to socialize work.
Your designs won’t live forever. Today New Destiny Christian Center has been renamed and no longer utilizes the brand identity that was once created. Learn to let go and see that the work you produced represents a moment in time and that served your client well. Honor the work. But don’t build your self-esteem around your designs living in perpetuity.