Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

Snappa: Review and How-tos of a GREAT program to create social media graphics

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Snappa is a great program for the fastest, easiest ways to make social media and online graphics! I've used it for some time (in fact, all the graphics you see in the sidebars of this website were created with it), but I like to use something for a while before I recommend it because I'm sure that many of you have had the same frustration I have where someone does this raving recommendation of a program and with great excitement you go to it and after paying for it realize it is a piece of junk and not only that you signed up for something that keeps wanting you to upgrade or buy more junk from them. That won't happen here as we don't take any advertising or affiliate payments (often the motivation for rave reviews).

Below is my little overview of it.

Here are some additional videos done about Snappa, just click the link below them to go to them.

A video comparison of PicMonkey, Canva, and Snappa
https://wp.me/pDky9-8il

Snappa: The easiest way to create social media verses
https://wp.me/pDky9-8mw

Snappa: How to create a side-bar ad
https://wp.me/pDky9-8mB

 

A reminder of the features and flexibility of MS Publisher

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MS Publisher for Churches
MS Publisher is a great program for churches and this e-book shows many of the reasons why.

I just finished an article for Ministry Tech magazine (if you haven't signed up for the FREE subscription to it, CLICK HERE) and as part of that article talked about how and why years ago I switched from using primarily Adobe PageMaker to MS Publisher to teach and equip church communicators.

As part of that explanation I mentioned an e-book I created years ago to illustrate all you can do with MS Publisher and how in many ways it can equal the design capabilities of far more expensive graphic design and layout programs. I wanted to share the e-book and you can download it by clicking here or on the image at the start of this article.

Some of the material in the book is a little out-dated, as Publisher has continued to improve, but it is still a useful reminder of how flexible and useful this program is for church communicators. [Read more...]

SIX TIPS to chose paper wisely for the greatest church communication impact

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Paper choices for church communications
It's easy to get buried with paper choices for your church communications, but this article will help you choose what is most effective.

As we go into the holiday season, many churches are tempted to use colored papers to print brochures, flyers, newsletters and other materials. Lots of orange, brown, green and red paper will be used and though these colors might be appropriate to the season, they may not be the best to get across your message and help people show up to your events. Following are SIX TIPS on paper choice for the holiday season and year round to make for more effective church communications.

#1 Remember Readability

The most important aspect of the paper you use is how well it contributes to the readability of your newsletter or other communication. If people can't read your message nothing else really matters.

People don’t judge a holiday communication based on how fancy the paper is, what color it is or if it is slick or not. What matters is how easy is it to read. If a publication is difficult to read, today’s busy, stressed out readers will simply put it aside and won’t read it.

With these comments in mind, let's look in more detail on:

  • Paper opacity
  • Paper color
  • Publication reproduction method

[Read more...]

A tourist brochure provides design inspiration for a church information brochure

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Tourist brochure provides inspiration for a church information brochure
Tourist brochure provides inspiration for a church information brochure

Ed. note: This is from our archives and it still represents one of the best examples of a newcomer brochure that I've ever seen. It's based on a tourist brochure, is incredibly creative, and should provide some great inspiration for newcomer materials you create for upcoming fall events.

We know that for people to come to our churches who may have grown up without going to church that it can be a very scary experience.

This PDF shows a wonderful way you can make them feel welcome. Think about how visiting your church might be like visiting and entirely new country (which is what it is for many people). Think about how you might do up a tourist brochure  and in an upbeat way show them around.

Our traditions and sometimes the language we use, can be very confusing—so have fun and help out your guests!

To download the PDF click here or on the image.

PLEASE —if you do up something like this for your church, send me a PDF of it  and I'll share it on this site so others can be inspired. Send it to yvonprehn@gmail.com.  Thanks so much!

note: this PDF is from Yvon Prehn's archives and is the only format of this article available presently. Not the greatest quality to be sure, but shared with the belief that the content is useful.

For a ministry to the arts in your church and incredible graphic design creativity, check out the RISOGRAPH!

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RISOGRAPH Samples
Images like this show why the RISOGRAPH has become a favorite graphic design tool of artists everywhere.

In a recent newsletter, the AIGA  (the American Institute of Graphic Arts) had a wonderful article about how the RISO is becoming the darling of art schools!

I must admit, I was just astounded by some of the work being done with the humble digital duplicator, but it proves what I have often said that the quality of communications has so much less to do with the latest and greatest technology and has everything to do with the imagination and skills of the person working on it. Artists around the world are doing incredible things with the printers and their low-cost and versatility make it perfect for printing in the church.

Below is the link to the article, and then after that, some quotes from it and then some examples of images on sites that specialize in RISOGRAPH (aka the RISO Digital Duplicator). It really is inspiring! [Read more...]