Special Event Printed Material
How should you go about creating special event printed material for your church?
Well this blog will answer this question!
We’re writing this with the next major event on the horizon for the church is Easter. So, this will come in handy as your church runs towards Easter Sunday to help think through your printed material. All this information will be transferable to other events, so, feel free to reference this at other points throughout the year.
But first, if you have not downloaded our free Easter timeline and task tracking spreadsheet, download it HERE.
Key things to think through as you plan and implement printed material!
It’s permanent!
When it comes to printed material, it may seem obvious, but remember you cannot simply backspace and fix any problems quickly! If there is a typo, you’re stuck with it. Signage mistakes not only cost you money, but also time. Somethings take upwards of 1-2 weeks to print and ship, that type of time isn’t always available for a redo.
Take some time before you submit your designs to proof-reed them, spend 30 minutes before pressing the send button to double-check it yourself, and then ask the office grammar nazi to check it for you. 30 extra minutes will easily save you time and money in the long run. I once had a sign made, for the youth ministry I was leading, and I was super excited about getting it. It came in the mail and I was pumped as I was putting it up, only to have a member ask how to spell “welcome.” I found this odd and spelled it for them, only to look back at them smiling and pointing to the sign . . . The sign said, “welocome.” I had to go back and order a new one and wait even longer to have another one arrive. Other than feeling dumb for the obvious reasons, it kills your timeline and budget to make mistakes.
The last thing to check before submitting your designs is to check the readability of your designs. As you are reviewing it asks for other people to look it over and see if they can read everything clearly. You want the info to be easy to read without straining or focusing too hard on it. Remember the sign will not be seen on a computer screen in a well-lit office. The sign might be in the yard at dusk, on a bulletin board at the local grocery store, across the auditorium, etc.. Remember the context of the printed materials and look for clarity. Signage and designs are pointless if they are unreadable.
Keep it Consistent.
No matter what the medium is used for your designs, it has to be consistent. You cannot have one style for your flyers and a completely different one for a yard sign. You want it to be the same across the board. In communication, repetition is paramount, as it is said, “repetition is the mother of knowledge.” The more something is said and seen the more likely it is for those reading or hearing the message to remember it.
The idea/goal is that throughout all the mediums that you are using, your audience (those reading/seeing the signs) will no longer have to read each sign or put much effort into it. Simply, they see a sign with the same design as the flyers/cards/t-shirts/etc. and they immediately bring to mind Easter Sunday, or whatever event you are promoting.
Where to get things printed?
There are two options, a local print shop, or an online print shop.
Local print shops are awesome for these types of events. Most of the time you will be dealing with the person who is either directly printing or overseeing the printing of your materials, this ensures things come out the way you want them. They also have the experience with the materials you are looking to use and can help guide and direct your designs to best complement the material or vise versa. From a missional standpoint, this helps create a relationship with someone in your community that can lead to sharing the gospel and keep you in touch with whats going on in the community.
The second option is the online printing options, aka vistaprint.com, or our favorite, Gotprint.com. These are awesome for quickly finding the cost and seeing all the potential options you may have for the material. There are some things that they will simply do better and often cheaper than a local shop, however you lose the personal touch.
I tend to prefer paper prints online and bigger signage through a local shop. But, it’s up to you to decide what works best for you!
Invite Materials!
I’m sure we have all seen or created invites for special events or even just Sunday morning worship services. When it comes to inviting material for special events like Easter or whatever it is that you are planning you have two different routes to go.
The first route is going for a big impression. This will oftentimes be the more fun option as it requires creativity and out of the box thinking. These are designed to leave a lasting memory and feeling for whoever it is receiving them. For example, receiving birthday cards is fairly common it’ll bring you some joy but, it’s not very likely to be memorable. But if you were to receive a card at work from a man in a blow-up dinosaur costume as he dances and sings happy birthday, this is likely an event that will be burned into your memory and leave a lasting impact. The same can be true of invites, here are some areas to get creative: Materials printed on, the shape of the printed material, quality of the material, personalization, and method of receiving.
The other option is much more mundane than a dinosaur handing out cards, but it is effective nonetheless. This option is to maintain consistency with your other invite material, changing up the info but not a huge overhaul. This is especially effective if you already have a consistent invite system going and you are not looking to push Easter more than any other Sunday. You won’t win any awards for creativity, but that’s not what you’re pursuing with this option anyways.
The main thing with invites, and just about anything else, is you need to have a communication strategy. That strategy has to be a lens to filter all ideas through, use your strategy to help you decide what fits your strategy.
We Love Us Some T-Shirts.
When it comes to printed material, few bring more joy and enthusiasm than a good t-shirt. We realize as students we may have some innate inclination to love free t-shirts, but in our ministries we have seen t-shirts become huge morale boosts. Beyond this, they help build team spirit amongst all those involved. The better the t-shirt the more it will be worn and the more it will be seen! Don’t overlook a good t-shirt!
We hope you found this helpful!
If you have any further questions, leave a comment below or shot JC an email at Jcmorrison@anthrobranding.com! We’d love to help you glorify God better through design!