Back-(B)logged

I've got such a back-log of blogs.  In the last few months I've been busy sewing, crafting, creating, cooking, confronting, and designing... maybe too busy because I haven't been able to blog about any of it.  So... this blog is dedicated to Design Work!

I have done a TON of design work here recently, mostly ministry-related as usual.  Here are a few things I'm most proud of:

Kristen's Cards

Kristen is a new staff member, old student / friend at SFA Chi Alpha.  Truth be told, she's the reason the group didn't disintegrate the first year we were here.  She finishes up her Master's degree this May and will join the staff here working mostly with the girls' leadership.  She is currently in the process of raising her support and she needed a business card for connection purposes.  This is what we came up with for her to use.  I worked up two options for her, one vertical back and the other horizontal.  In the end, she chose the vertical.

ICON Guest Guides

My church has been in the process of re-vamping their "look" and I get to be part of the changes!  Up first was some literature for guests on Sunday mornings.  I did quite a bit of research, scouring the web looking at what other churches are using and found several that were very helpful!  In the end, this is what we came up with:  The blue page is perforated and will be returned to us.  It has a short questionnaire to help us with contacting guests for follow-up and a spot for prayer requests on the back.  The other four panels are stuffed full of information - the name of the game on this piece was definitely strategic use of space!  We have a brief overview of our theological beliefs - where to find us online - a welcome note from our Lead Pastors - a little explanation of what to expect on a Sunday morning - and an overview schedule of weekly activities offered.  Whew!  Finished size is 11" wide x appx. 6.5" tall, tri-fold.  Sadly, due to a major miscommunication with the printer, we did not have them ready for our HUGE Easter Sunday service.  Oh well... next year!

Church Maps

Our church property is large and confusing!  Our sanctuary is round (built pre-1970's probably) with crazy little off-shoots everywhere.  Then a few years back they added a new building in the back that houses Sunday school classes, a large gymnasium, and a full industrial kitchen.  To help guests find their way around we have designed these double-sided cards with color-coded map.  The reverse would have Sunday's activities but would look exactly the same.  I was surprisingly pleased with the turnout and like the visual connection back to the Guest Guide.  The plan is to insert these cards into the Guest Guide and they've been sized (hopefully - we have yet to print them) accordingly.  But my favorite part of the entire design was the decision to white-out the ICON logo in the lower left corner!  :)

Work in Progress - Nursery Graphics

This is the logo I've been working on for the soon-to-be-updated Nursery at our church.  I LOVE kids, the smaller the better, and our church has an amazing ministry to children on Sunday nights.  We are working right now to improve the quality of childcare on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights to better reflect our church's crazy love for kids!  And I'm super excited because I get to be part of it all!  In my excitement, I started working on graphics - maybe a little ahead of the game, but seeing something like this helps me get a feel for how the entire program could be run!  Hopefully it will feel like these logos - fun, simple, trendy, and, of course, ALL about kids!
These are possible designs for hallway signage in the nursery hallway.  Theoretically, we would have multiple classes for children not yet old enough to participate in Children's Church, broken down into ages suitable to play with each other:  birth - walking and walking - 2/3 years.  Aren't you just IN LOVE with these animal characters???