Dear Church Designer…
26 May
I love you, but I can’t let you use these fonts any more. This is an intervention.
Scriptina was sooooooooo 2008. It was cool for the very first project you used it on, but it’s not cool now. Also, every nail salon in America has contemplated using it for their logo.
If you don’t think Papyrus is outdated and overused, please look up the meaning of Papyrus at Wikipedia.
Ministry Font Spotlight
OK, now I’m being serious. Please forgive me if I’ve offended you. It wasn’t my purpose, but the fact that you’re reading this far down means I piqued your interest.
You don’t have to use default fonts for everything. There are a ton of great quality fonts that are free to download. Take some time to learn to install them and use them in their appropriate place. If you are a church designer and don’t know about fonts and typography, go to Lynda.com and take their typography course, or go to Barnes and Nobles and read up on the subject.
If you don’t know the following terms, you might need to take a typography course:
- Serif
- Sans-serif
- Oblique
- Monospaced
- Kerning
- Leading
- Tracking
- Baseline
Here are some advanced structural type terms to get your feet wet:
- Counter
- Bowl
- Ligature
- Ascender
- Terminal
- Spine
- Descender
- Stem
Here are a couple Mister Nifty links to help find free alternative fonts:
Wow, really?
Most churches can’t afford high priced designers to do their flyers, postcards, websites and media shout. I get that you have no patience for people who don’t have the vast knowledge that you do, but why don’t you think for a moment about the people you are so “annoyed” with.
I don’t have any patience for impatient people. Why, instead of using your time writing articles like this, don’t you offer a free course at your church for people like me who could benefit from the knowledge obtained from being in the same room as you… Or offer some websites where fonts are offered… Or examples of “hip & happenin’” fonts?
This post was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. There is no person on the net more dedicated to helping others out in this field than I am. I’ve spent four years of my life working to build a great repository of tools for churches with no budget for tech or graphics. Please browse the rest of the site to see all the wonderful links and resources that Mister Nifty offers. I’m also updating this post with links to those fonts. I’m not annoyed with people. I was just trying to make light of a very dull subject and present it in a visually engaging way. No offense intended.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA
Awesome post!
Mellisa,
I think instead of commenting on this article or anything that you “personally” think is not correct, you should “waste” better your time looking for ways to at least improve your own skills. Please consider that this post is a general article and yes, these fonts and what used here are very old, however even nice designs can be found at a great price, unless you are another “freebie-hunter”. Either way, you should consider being a little less rude about a general article and even providing a better feedback.
I laughed my head off!
Awesome.
Ok, now that I’ve stopped laughing…
Brian, hilarious post. Any church creative will completely get this post.
Melissa, I gotta say, your statement “I don’t have patience for impatient people” implies a pretty obvious impatience on your part, no? This post was written in respectful jest from the heart of a creative minister who’s dedicated TONS of time developing resources for the church community. Lighten up a litte!
Also, regarding the whole concept of “many churches don’t have the money…”, my response is always the same. You can’t afford NOT to spend the money on quality design work. Perception is reality in your community, and whether your church has 50 members or 5000 members is irrelevant, we live in a visually stimulated consumer culture.
You wouldn’t say “many churches don’t have the money to… pay their light bill, buy chairs, paint their building, buy a keyboard, etc”, but I always hear how many churches lack the money for quality design.
Simple solution: create the funds! Before you raise funds to buy a more extravagant pulpit or floral arrangement, hire a graphic designer to create a clean, recognizable brand for your church. It will be some of the best money you could ever spend.
Research has proven over and over that in this culture, your brand is just as important as any other element.
It has been proven that low quality design work intimates to your potential members a sloppiness, hastiness, mismanagement of resources, and lack of attention to the details. And it’s proven that those potential members will question how you handle every area of your church… all by judging your design work.
Just something to think about.
Melissa,
Wow, you sound like a warm and friendly Christian. Just the kind the world needs…Oh wait, I’m thinking of another Melissa. The Melissa that posted sounds like the kinda person that sees a posting for the Lost season finale and responds by saying something like “what the world NEEDS to focus on is not the Lost finale, but the Lost people in the world.”
Relax, the post was meant to deliver Church newsletter and bulletin writers out of the early 90′s.
You can google “how to install fonts” and voila, a lesson on installing font. You can also google “free fonts” and voila-free font websites. http://www.dafont.com is a good site for “hip & happenin” fonts.
The world wide web is a wealth of design information. Look into it…Google’s website is http://www.google.com
As also being named Melissa, I have to completely disagree with the other one with the same name. I am currently a Graphic Design/Photography student. And one of the reasons that I chose this soon to be career was to help my church. So some advice to the other Melissa: search for a great volunteer “student” in your church with a passion for getting The Word out there. Won’t cost a penny and you’ll be getting some great new designs from a soon to be professional. Another perk is the take feedback well and if we aren’t sure on how to solve a visual problem we have wonderful instructors at our school we can ask for help. And one more thing. I have to agree that while the fonts up above you may not see a problem with others that you are trying to bring in have seen them again and again. Go for new and exciting. Be bold not boring. Good luck
For any church people who are offended:
This applies to ALL people who design and have no design experience. It just happens that designers who go to church see it in that environment quite often. Small businesses, entrepreneurs, schools… they all do this as well. It’s nothing personal from the author’s perspective I’m sure.
You got it John!
David, Great advice man! Thanks for sharing your perspective and experience.
This is flipp’n awesome!
Van Klimetz | ArtCola´s last blog ..FANFARLO – Harold T. Wilkins
First off, I apologize for coming across so rude. I am a secretary for a small church and I benefit a great deal from reading posts like this and others all the time. I did get offended and I am truly sorry for the way I acted. My comment about not having patience for impatient people was intended to be a form of irony, and so I hope it makes more sense now.
With that said, I just want you all to know that I have taken the advice that you have posted and am browsing “hip and happenin’” fonts in my spare time.
Thanks for this article.
Melissa,
Check out http://www.bamagazine.com/
It’s a great resource for anyone interested in improving their layouts.
Love the post man… I need to work on my page layout skills… I count this post edification of the body! Keep it up!
I personally thought this post was funny!
Haha! Love it. Melissa, I think you jumped the gun on your comment because he did list three website with really great free fonts on them.
I think it worthy to recognize that Melissa got scolded several times in this thread, and instead of getting more angry and debating every point, took the criticism and improved herself. She then concluded by acknowledging this as a good post.
I can count on 1 hand how many times I’ve seen that in the blogoshere.
Just figured she wouldn’t get as many shoutouts as rebukes.
Impressed with you Melissa
Mr. Nifty, You are like the “Christian” version of Dr. Phil. Your work with Melissa should be featured in the next Herald.
Want to play me in CornHole later?
-b.miraflor