For many Christian organizations and churches, branding means creating a logo and using that somewhat consistently. Obviously, creating a consistent and recognizable brand involves way more.
Everything you communicate—your website, your printed materials, the letters and emails you send, the promotional materials you use, anything—should embrace the brand’s identity. There cannot be a different use of the logo for instance (different colors or proportions, a different placing), or a message that doesn’t fit the core identity.
Font Love
One undervalued element in branding is a consistent font.
Does your organization, church, or group use the same font for everything?
If not, you’re missing out on an important branding element.
Choosing the right font can be daunting or easy, depending on how deep you want to go down the font-rabbithole. If typefaces are not your specialty, focus on these four things:
- Choose a font that’s clearly legible in every size, both in print and on a screen.
- Pick a font for plain text and one for headlines, with maybe a third one for special communications
- Check the licensing if you plan to use it commercially. It’s always better to be safe than sorry in this area.
- Make sure the typeface you pick is complete, meaning it not only has all letters and numerals, but also special symbols.
Other than that, personal preference and the type of image you want to project are considerations. For more formal organizations, a more classic choice would be best, whereas youth ministries can get away with going a little more creative and unconventional.
Once you’ve selected your fonts, make sure that everyone who creates materials or sends them knows the ‘rules’. For instance, emails use font X in this font size, letters use it in this size, and on the website we use this. Headlines are this size, you may use the special font for these occasions, etc.
Formal? Absolutely. But I guarantee you it will make your brand appear more professional and consistent.
Do you use a consistent font for your communications?
If so, how did you come up with this?
Eric Dye says
Agreed!
Such a simple thing makes a huge impact.