From the Evangelism/Communications Committee

We are pleased to share with you the results of about two months of work of the evangelism/ communications committee, assisted by a professional graphic designer: a new logo for the Church of Our Redeemer.

Here is some information about why we took on this project and how we arrived at this particular logo.

Why did we do this?

Recently, our committee has been working hard at using our website, Facebook page, flyers, announcements, and other online and print materials to spread the good news about Redeemer. We found it challenging to keep a consistent look with no guidelines about colors or typefaces. We realized that the visual way we do communications is very important in presenting the church to potential new members. With the vestry’s support and approval, we hired a graphic designer to help us update the look of all our print and online materials. The designer strongly suggested starting with a logo, as that would help inform all the other design decisions. 

How will this be used?

The new logo will be the basis of a style guide that will help Peggy Kelly, our parish administrator, and others keep a consistent look for our website, announcements, and everything else. It will make it easier for Peggy and volunteers to publicize church events since our graphic designer will give us design templates that we can use for flyers, Facebook posts, etc. The new logo will be used on all our print and online materials. 

How did we get to this particular logo? 

First, we shared a lot of information with Kristen Mann, our graphic designer, including all the newsprint from last year’s retreat when everyone wrote what they love about Redeemer. She also looked at our website, newsletters, and all our current print and online materials to get a feel for our community and what we’re already doing. She created a “story board” of our values and core beliefs to use as inspiration for her designs. The story board included ideas like Friendly, Human, Genuine, Inclusive, Warm/Comfortable, Modern, Intentional, Spiritual, Acceptance, Respectful, Active, Vibrant, and Adaptable. 

We also shared some ideas the committee had brainstormed, the previous logos we’d been using, and the national Episcopal church style guide for the official brand of our national church.  In addition, Kristen did competitor research and looked at all the logos and designs of all the churches in Lexington, as well as other Episcopal and non-Episcopal churches in the Boston area. 

Based on that, she sent us a first set of designs, which had a wide variety. The committee quickly noticed that some designs (steeples, doves, crosses, shields) appeared over and over again in the competitor research. Those felt boring to us and we realized they would not differentiate Redeemer. Because of that, we focused on two designs that felt authentic to Redeemer – a labyrinth, like our labyrinth outside, or a stack of prayer stones like the stones we have used in our worship services.  

We went through several rounds of designs on both of those, and more and more gravitated to the labyrinth. The stones were a little hard to understand to someone who hadn’t seen the prayer stones in use. 

At the same time, we were thinking about color. Kristen incorporated the red and blue of the national church’s logo and the traditional “Episcopal Church Welcomes you” sign. But we also realized that the rainbow conveyed important ideas about inclusivity, and a colorful design showed the importance of children in our community. 

We went through a LOT of labyrinths. We first went through several versions that looked more like our labyrinth outside, the traditional Chartres Cathedral style, but it was too busy and hard to read in small scale, with too many little lines. It needs to be simplified in order to get reproduced on the web and in print. 

At the same time, we worked through many typefaces. We settled on this one as being classic yet modern, rounded and open, easy to read, and just friendly feeling. 

How to share feedback

This version is now the result of many meetings and much discussion. We can’t wait to hear what you think! If you have feedback, please share with Rev. Kate or any member of the evangelism/ communications committee.

–Erica Brotschi, Cassie Bowlby, Lee Noel Chase, Kate Ekrem, Bethany Friesner, Tony Johnson, Cara Kalf, Beth Murnaghan, Mia Ong, and Ashley Rooney, and for the Evangelism/Communications Committee

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