Break From Busy

It’s been a busy week here at The Plow! Lots of projects going on and deadlines quickly approaching. Though I’m always drawn to simplicity and minimalism in art/design/life, it’s a much needed breather from busy and chaotic times likes these.

Corey and I have been digging the awesome art direction and pure simplicity of this stop motion music video for Oren Lavie’s song “Her Morning Elegance”. Watch the video, enjoy the simplicity, and ask yourself, “Why can’t I come up with something totally awesome like this!?!?”

RGB Madness

Here’s a little midweek pick-me-up for you all. Stronger than a cup of morning coffee, faster than a Twitter crash, brighter than the sun itself… it’s my new random inter-web love affair.

» Click here to enter the most intense RGB experience ever!

WARNING! May enduce seizures. Seriously.

One Line

I came across this video this morning on good.is. I’m not sure why it is that I find this so interesting, but somewhere between the Wes Anderson-esque soundtrack and the simplicity of the single line drawings this cool little stop motion has grabbed hold of my inner minimalist and reminded me what a relief less can be.

No-Money, No-Problem

It’s no big secret that ministry is not where they money is, yet, at The Plow we still feel unbelievably blessed and humbled to be called to serve alongside some amazingly passionate people in advancing the Kingdom of our Lord.

With the economy being what it is, and giving/tithing being down at most churches, creative/marketing budgets are taking a real big hit. Lately we have been looking into ways of meeting the needs of our lower-budget brothers (and sisters) especially when it comes to web development.

“Web 2.0″ has brought about an abundance of third party services (Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, ect.) which, when used properly, can be a huge asset to any church or ministry. My questions to you today is, what third-party web apps/services do you use/know of that have been a huge aid to your ministry communication endeavors?

Here are some common functionalities that most churches/ministries are asking for:

• Photo Galleries
• Events Calendar
• Video Integration
• Podcasting
• Blogs
• Sermon/Audio Archiving
• Website Statistics/Analytics
• HTML Email Communication

Keeping in mind that free is always better, let’s come up with a good comprehensive list here, the more the merrier!

But Times are Hard

I came across this postcard (designed by Because Studio) last night, and thought it was worth sharing with everyone. The irony and humor of this piece definitely made me laugh, but it also reminded me of the responsibility that we have as designers working in the church/ministry realm to promote smart financial stewardship when it comes to producing our marketing materials.

In economic times like these I think it’s especially important that we make smart decisions with how our churches and ministries disburse their money. Although that newly designed four-color, full bleed, custom die cut mailer may look like a million bucks, it might not be that wise to drop $5,000 to get them printed, cut and mailed out. A better solution might be to do an equally-fly looking HTML email blast and accompanying micro-website. The leftover budget could be used to financially bless and support some struggling church or community members.

Besides, there’s few better ways to stretch yourself as a designer then by creating a killer tri-fold brochure using no bleeds, and only one color! Give it a shot, I promise you’ll bang your head on the desk at least once.

Clean Graffiti

This is beautiful. Something that has been covered in dirt for years can become a work of art. Sound familiar?

HT: VLU

TOGETHER with art

Catalyst posted a pretty cool invitation yesterday. Here is the low-down, create art that reflects “Together”. I am personally very excited to see how this looks. Everyone has their own art style, world view, and experience and I love to see companies harness that for a common good. My bible study has been going through Galatians, and yesterday we hit this section. That is what together means to me, Christ.

Let me know what you think, I have not yet submitted it.

What Lovely Design

Are you ready for some design hotness? I hope so, cause here it comes!

These taken from Dirty Mouse

This next one will need some explaining. Make sure you read this, awesome stuff.

On major streets and spaces throughout the city of Gothenburg a number of small brightly coloured houses appeared, featuring provocative statements about homelessness and the homeless. At each house the public were asked to critically respond to these statements with their own messages by writing on the houses using pens provided. The houses also contained lighting which would illuminate a pictogram of a homeless person at night.

The statements, written in both English and Swedish, were created to be deliberately inflammatory so they would receive the strongest possible responses. Featuring statements such as ‘It’s a person’s own fault that they are homeless’, ‘Homeless people don’t deserve sympathy’, ‘Homeless people shouldn’t be helped with public money’ and ‘Most homeless people are addicted to drugs or alcohol’ caused the public to react strongly on one side of each argument or the other.

The team hoped that the project could in some small way help to improve communication between homeless people and people with homes, closing the mental gap that exists between these two groups. By reading other peoples statements it was hoped people may begin to question their own views about homelessness.

These taken from Ad Blog Arabia

These taken from Advertising/Design Goodness

What I love about all these designs is the simplicity.

What I love about all of these designs is that the simplicity is powerful. These are all simple concepts but will make you stop and look. The items will make you think, and this is what the church needs to do. Make sure you check out all these blogs and be inspired.

simplicity screams

In our world of buzz words, marketing trends and relevance, we can lose the simplicity of the biblical illustrations that we have been given. The bible uses 2 contrasting ideas to describe christian life—darkness and light, and death and life. These ideas can be understood by any culture, sex, race, or age at any period of time.

We were given the task to come up with a series design called “Come Alive” that focused on “ identity, freedom from sin, and power in Christ”. When we started reading the description of each week the image of Lazarus and the Widow’s Son came to our minds. When Jesus commanded Lazarus to “Come Alive” it was nonnegotiable, his eye’s were opened. When Christ calls us our eyes are opened, and we now live in the light. That was what inspired us with this art. The visual of a dead man opening his eyes again in world of darkness to see the light. We wanted the art to be so simple that the message would scream though it. The bible is filled with powerful, challenging, beautiful and simple messages that are sometimes best to be keep as is. Let the simplicity of scripture scream.