7 Best Steps For Developing An Effective Church Logo

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission from purchased products at no additional cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

Whether you’re hoping to update, overhaul, or completely redesign your church logo, this blog post is for you. Maybe you don’t even have a church logo. Don’t worry, this blog post is for you too. I’m starting at the beginning with why branding and logos matter, how branding can help identify and strengthen your uniqueness as a small church, and how to avoid the most common mistakes small churches make. Keep reading to read about:

Why branding is important and even goes beyond what everyone sees on the outside.
How to avoid the mistakes most small churches make when it comes to branding.
Ideas to find graphic designers in your budget and who to hire for your logo design.
7 steps any small church can follow to imagine and create a church logo that’s right for them.

Why Do We Care About This?

If ministry is all about relationships, why do we care about our church logo, our branding, or our website? This is how people find us and is often people’s first impression of us. God created us to be influenced by color and design. Our senses pick up on stimuli constantly, and it affects us. I would much rather do things that draw people to my church than repulse them.

Logos and branding do matter! They communicate things about your church. If done well, they communicate who you are and what you’re like, and they bring the right people in to visit. If done poorly, they can be a waste of time and resources. They could also communicate things that aren’t true about your church.

If your logo or the branding on your website doesn’t match who you are as a church, it’s not going to be effective. If your current logo or branding is nonexistent or was never intentionally done to reflect much of anything, it could be affecting a lot more than your website. The bottom line is, you don’t need a logo, however, you might want one.

What Are Logos And Branding?

If custom logo design and branding are new to your church, I want to dive deeper into what they are. A great church logo is a symbol that accurately represents your church. It could be a combination of images, texts, or shapes. They are simple. A logo might be a part of your branding. However, branding is the bigger umbrella that communicates who you are. It also represents your values, focus, priorities, and tone.

Branding can include colors on your website, the shapes on your website, your church sign, or even the way your website is set up. Branding is important because not only does it reflect who we are, but it influences who we become while creating a lasting impression on others. It keeps us focused in the same direction. It’s a reminder of what we value and who we are.

Big churches often spend time and money on branding. However, small churches rarely spend time and money on branding because it slips down on our priority list. Contrary to this, I think branding matters because the intentional process of thoughtful branding tends to get us thinking purposely about who God has uniquely called us to be and serve.

To do this, you don’t have to spend a ton of money, get a degree in marketing, or hire a branding expert. I want to share a few easy tips that will put some intention behind your process, as well as 7 clear steps to develop a unique logo that reflects who you are, communicates well, and draws people in.

Why It’s Worth Developing A Well-Designed Logo

Your logo is a visual representation of you, and it might be the only thing a person sees before they visit your church. Keep in mind that logos should be semi-permanent. You don’t want to change your logo and brand too often. This means that it’s a big deal, and requires a little time and intentionality to do it right. Logos also have the potential to draw people in because of the color choice and design. They evoke feelings and emotions. If people feel like they fit, there’s more of a chance to connect.

Because logos are important, you want to avoid the biggest mistakes that small churches can make. Some of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen happen when small churches ignore branding and logos because they don’t know how to do it well. Big mistakes are also made when they jump into creating a logo without a team. Small churches often move too fast and don’t ask the right questions. They mistakenly believe that more money will get them better quality.

I want to explain to you why these are mistakes. You shouldn’t ignore it if you can do something significant with a little intention. Doing this project alone is dangerous because a logo speaks of and for your whole church. When one person in a small church takes on the project alone, the logo ends up reflecting that one person, rather than their church as a community. Please, don’t move too fast because logos matter! It is also important to ask the right questions to get better results. The question that should be asked is “How can I do it well?” Lastly, so many graphic designers will work with you and charge you a lot less for a great project.

7 Steps To Create A New Church Logo That Represents Your Church

1. Create A Team With A Timeline

This should be a project-based team that comes with a short-term commitment. Don’t give this project to an existing team to be in charge of. Instead, pull together some great people, and set a project deadline for a few months. You don’t want this to take a year, or you’ll lose your momentum, but it’s also not something that’s going to happen in a few weeks. So, be realistic and set a goal for 3-4 months. This allows you enough space to think and enough time to research and come up with the right concept.

For your team, I suggest that you get around 4-6 people. This is enough people for some different perspectives, but not so many that you have too many opinions. Try to include people who have different perspectives, but who also represent the demographics in your church. Of course, the pastor needs to weigh in, but they don’t necessarily need to be a part of the whole discussion or research. The people on the team should have a good understanding of the church and an agreement on its vision and future direction. I want to point out that this is not the place to include someone challenging or argumentative. However, it’s a great place to include diversity!

2. Ask The Right Questions And Get Input

The right questions to start with have nothing to do with the logo itself. You need to consider whether or not your church has a motto or tagline. If so, is it reflective of you now? What is the personality of your church? Is there anything that you have to include in your church logo? The answers to these questions will influence colors, shapes, graphics, and more. Make it a point to answer these questions as you are and who you are becoming, not as you want to be.

The process of asking these questions may go beyond the team. You may want to talk together as a team, and give everyone a week to ask a few others in the church about what they think too! This entire process could take a few weeks. You are talking as a group, spending individual time on it, talking to others about it, and coming back together to get a full understanding of who you are as a church.

3. Start Collecting Church Logos That You Like

Do some research. Send each team member on a mission to look at examples on the internet. Take a look at churches in your area, or even churches on the other side of the world. Take inventory of what logos you like and why. Then, come back together as a team. Talk about all of it and see if there are some common denominators that your team shares. Find out which of the best church logo images reflect parts of who you are as a church.

Try narrowing it down to a handful of selections. Maybe you like a few church logo images and the colors of another. At this point, you should have your pastor look at what your favorites are, and see what their opinion is. You’ll also want to consider the different styles of church logos in your town or area. Remember, you want to look different, because you are different.

4. Research Designer

Consider bringing in a designer from outside your church, especially if they’re a beginner. While you may have talent within your church, not everyone is going to like the new logo. It can be a stressful project that has the potential to hurt people’s feelings. You might be wondering, “Where else can I find a designer that I can afford?”

Ask around. Ask our Facebook community! If you’ve found a few logos that you like, call them up and ask them to create one for you. You can even check out Fiverr. Fiverr is a marketplace of freelancers who provide digital services. You can find people from an amateur to a professional level, charging a little to a lot for a project like this.

5. Come Up With A Budget

After you’ve researched your options, decide on your budget. Typically I would have made this the first or second step in a project. However, because so many people are unfamiliar with graphic design, I intentionally put this step after you’ve done some research.

Now that you have checked out your options, and have a good understanding of what you might need to pay to get the product that you want, you can come up with a budget and know how much you want to spend.

6. Hire A Graphic Designer And Go Through The Process

If you’ve never worked with a graphic designer, here are a few things to know. The first design they give you is not going to be great, and that’s good. It might be a simple design, but that’s good too. Most designers expect to do three rounds with you. They expect to give you the first draft of ideas, and they expect to receive feedback from you. Don’t feel bad if you need to make corrections or even if you don’t like it at all, just fix it. This could take a few weeks. If you have a designer who doesn’t want your input, don’t use them. They should want to make you happy.

It’s also your responsibility to communicate well so that the designer knows what you’re looking for. The early questions you worked through will help you with this. Share the logos you like and don’t like with them. You don’t want to waste their time, so try to give them as much input as you can.

7. Celebrate It

You went through all of that intentional work, so please celebrate it. You did a great job! Of course, you’ll want to put it on your website. Some churches will put it on a coffee mug or a pen. However, I want to suggest a few other ideas that are a bit cheaper and might make better gifts. Make stickers and tote bags. Put your perfect church logo on a pop socket or a screen cleaner. If you’re going to put time, energy, and money into it, you want people to see it.

Consider Rebranding A Little

Are you ready for some branding or rebranding? Of course, how you love people is so much more important than having a great logo. Remember, the Bible doesn’t say that people will know we are Christian by our logos. So, keep the priorities in line. However, if you have the time and capacity for some branding, and you’ve got a few people who are excited about the process, this can be a fun piece of ministry.

Just remember, our senses are constantly taking in information. Colors, shapes, and word choice do matter. We are emotional, intellectual, and spiritual beings. God created us intricately, and that is so amazing!

3 Best Tithing Apps And How To Use Them

Canva: A Practical Guide Through What It Is And How To Use It