Design is the messenger, not the message. That is why it is so important to plan your message before you begin designing your church communications. Roger Parker, an expert in communication design put it this way:

The purpose of graphic design is to make it as easy as possible for readers to understand your message. Because graphic design is a tool, not an end in itself, it should be unobstrusive, almost transparent.

In evaluating many church communications, I’ve found one of the biggest reasons they don’t accomplish their purpose if not because of “bad” design, but because the design wasn’t appropriate to the message they were attempting to share.

It is an ever present temptation to put something on paper or your website just because “it looks great” or will “get people’s attention” or simply because you have the ability to do it with the latest software or web tool you learned.

But before you put anything into the design of your publication, always ask, “How does this type or image or moving graphic contribute to the message?” sometimes the most simple designs are the most effective.

Though you can do almost anything you can imagine with the communication creation software available today for both print and online communications, you don’t have to use every tool imaginable. It is clean, clear organization that makes the information—the message—primary. Good design enables readers to always know where to find the information they want, in what order, and in what section.

This is not to say you can’t ever add graphic interest and excitement to your communications. You can, but be sure that you first have a basic design structure that communicates your key ideas. Then build from there.