Perfection from Ordinary
Look at this wonderful art created by Christian Faur. The detail in this is really stunning when you see that it is made up of nothing more than crayon tips. Ordinary objects that we have all used since we were 3 years old. I am always amazed when I see work like this, not so much by the complexity of it, but by the thought of creating it. I look at this and realize that my life is no different, ordinary objects put together to create something beautiful.
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” —Philippians 1:6
I see the sin in my life. I see the dull moments. I see the hopelessness of this world. But what I need to have faith in is not what I see, but what I am told by God. I will be perfect no matter what I think now. Not perfection by my own accord, but perfection from Christ.
HT: COLOURlovers
Filed under scripture | Comment (0)Trim Your Hedge
Below is a great campaign for STIHL’s hedge trimmer, from Publicis Conseil Paris. The simplicity of this design makes their message scream, and speaks to something we all need to do. We need to make sure we trim the hedges in our own lives. Are we building up barriers around us so we cannot see the outside world, and they cannot see us? If so, do buy a STIHL trimmer!
HT: Adhunt Blog.
Filed under other | Comment (0)The Nike Syndrome
I have been working with churches and ministries for some time now, and I have to report a problem I have seen. They seem to want the world, but not pay for it. This epidemic mainly hits pastors, but worship leaders have also been known to suffer from it.
The Nike Itch
This is the most common effect I have seen in progressive churches. Here is how it plays out? The church sees the newest, most awesome campaign by a major company, lets say Nike. The pastor falls in love with it, because it speaks in a language that everyone understands. It is edgy, and pushes the envelope from what he has seen. They use all forms of media; print, web, video, and they even sprinkled in is some viral. Now his mind is set, it must be done. So the creative team is gathered, and it is on. But the problem is that there is no money to pay for it. The $500 budget might not cover printing, and the volunteer staff might not be able to handle the workload.
See a doctor, but pay the bill.
The next step then is to look outside of the church. There are plenty of options for churches to get professional work these days. Church graphics, and web programmers are filling the web. Some churches are able to look to local ad agencies for creative too. These are great options if the church can afford them, but the problem is most of them can’t. If you want top quality work, you have to do what Nike does most of the time, pay top quality prices. If Nike payed $1,000,000 for a project, why do churches think they can get the same thing for $1,000? I have heard the phrase “Sorry brother, it just did not work out.” way too many times. The church wants the “Nike” campaign, but they do not want to pay Nike prices. How can we fight against this, what can be done?
Stop the disease.
There are many ways to get rid of the Nike syndrome. One is to look to your team. What are the strengths of your creative team or volunteers? Play off of what they do best, and you will get the best results. Push them in what can be done, but do not shove them into hating what they do. Another is to to be realistic with what your budget can do. Work with your creative team and be honest with what you have. Do not over promise what your money can do. And last, don’t try and be Nike. Large companies are great, but realize you are not them, and you will never be them. That is not a bad thing, and it will free you from trying to be something you are not.
In other words…
Filed under marketing | Comments (2)New Ministry Site Launched!
We’ve (un)officially launched a new website for a ministry client in Fort Worth, Texas. There are still a few kinks to work out, and items to add, but we’re very pleased with how this one turned out.
EuroTrain is 14-day expedition through Europe that serves as a powerful personal discovery and leadership development tool for young leaders (high school through college-age). Here’s how they describe themselves and the expedition experience:
EuroTrain enables young adults to shape their families, communities, and vocations into what God envisions for them. We want each participant to:
Embrace a decidedly Christian worldview and commitment to creating culture.
Be transformed by Christ and develop the character traits of a leader, namely courage, generosity, wisdom, and self-discipline.
Grow in confidence defined by their God-given talents and life purpose.
Gain life experience in the basic skills of leadership, teamwork, planning, communication, time management, and problem solving.
Develop a one-year plan to strengthen their family and community and to continue growing as a person.
Establish long-term relationships with a trusted adult at home, their expedition leader, and other EuroTrain alumni.
Though Flash is by no means our expertise, we whipped out our animating guns to deliver the interactive and explorative experience the client was wanting. Go check out the site, and hey, if you know someone who might be a good candidate for EuroTrain, nominate them!
Filed under other | Comment (0)Web type for dummies.
I am in no way a programmer. In fact, I can be a royal pain in the butt to programmers. My background is in print design, and when I started working heavily in web design I found out it is a whole new world. After about a year of frustrating my programmer he gave me this nifty site for web type, it is called CSS Type Set.
CSS Type Set allows you to pick your front, choose a size, a color, ajust your kerning, leading, and space between words, and it lets you see this all in real time. And if that is not enough it gives you the CSS for your programmer. Check it out, use it, and make a programmers day better.
Filed under Tutorials, design | Comments (2)I like the cool kids, Part Dos
This is a piggyback on Corey’s post from yesterday, that was inspired from this post at The Resurgence blog.
Yesterday Corey posted an interesting article about our desire as designers and graphic artists to engage and impact culture. He discussed how our limited understanding of “culture” tends to be people and things that we personally relate to and identify with. There are whole segments of culture that we essentially ignore because it doesn’t fit into the mold of “cool” as determined by the upwardly mobile. At the end of his post, Corey asks the question, “How can we break down that [cultural] barrier?”
I believe the answer is very simple. Ask questions. As designers or ones involved in marketing we have become really familiar with the concept of investigating and truly wanting to understand the audience we wish to reach. From first hand experience, the questionnaire that we have new churches and ministries fill out before we start a project is one of our most valuable assets to have before starting in on the design/development phase.
What I find interesting is that as Christ followers and Westerners when we decide to engage a culture that is outside of our bubbles of influence we do so with a very defensive stance and apologetic approach. We become more consumed with converting those in this unfamiliar culture, than just understanding them. Here’s what the Jonathan Dodson at The Resurgence says:
One of the most effective ways to know our “target audience” was to ask them questions…something that we really aren’t good at in the West. Instead, Christians assume a defensive posture, making conversations doctrinal battles or apologetic arguments. Ethnographic research forces us to take a more humble path, the path of learning from those we hope “to reach.”
By asking questions from concern and genuine interest, we will travel much further and faster in our relationships. But first, we have to be convinced that we have something to learn from others, especially from those who don’t believe as we do. Our biblical anthropology–all men are created in God’s image–should convince us of that, but only the Spirit of God can convict us of subtle self-righteousness in viewing non-Christians as projects to complete, not persons to love.
I truely believe that if we would take the time to ask more questions, and personally cultivate a desire to understand those God has put in our lives, we would find our art, marketing, relationships, and witnessing exponentially more fruitful. What do you think?
Filed under other | Comment (1)I like the cool kids.
One of the main focuses of this blog is wresting with ways to use art and design to engage culture for the glory of God. I was recently convicted by this post. Here is the part that got me.
…engaging culture does not mean that one must own a Mac, listen to Sufjan Stevens, Bob Dylan, and Bon Iver, watch CNN, listen contemplatively to NPR, drink local-brand coffee only, and cultivate stylish facial hair.
One may be engaging culture with these sorts of life choices. If so, terrific! But isn’t one also engaging culture, so to speak, by listening to Hank Williams, eating at Wendy’s (note: I do not encourage this), and seeking to witness at the local truck stop? Are these things not “culture” that we should engage? Or is “culture” only what is branded cool by the upwardly mobile? Though I like a lot of the stuff that this group likes, I confess that it drives me nuts to see otherwise thoughtful Christians think that they alone are “engaging culture” because their brand of “culture” happens to line up with the societal zeitgeist. That is just plain dumb.
When I read this it stops me in my tracks. I tend to like the cool kids. I like people who like what I like. I like people who have the same personality as me. I like people who fit into my mold. But I need to remember that Christ came for all, not just the cool kids. I may not understand certain parts of culture, but that does not mean I give up on them. When I do marketing I don’t only work on campaigns that fit into my mold, I work on anything. I research the target market, and then speak in terms they understand. So why don’t I do that when it comes to Christianity? Is this true in your life? If so, how can we learn to break down that barrier?
And the winners are…
I just want to say thank you to everyone who participated in this contest. This was a blessing for us, as I am sure others too. Now on to the winners. All winners were chosen using Truly Random Number Generator.
Monday: Kent Shaffer
Tuesday: Joel Gutowsky
Wednesday: Vicki
Thursday: Cindy
Filed under other | Comment (1)Love Contest: Bonus Round
We had some technical difficulties yesterday with the blog, so we are now offering you a bonus round. You now have until Monday to comment on all four contests. All you have to do is comment on the questions for the day, and we suggest doing all of them. One person from each post will be the lucky winner of 6 poster tiles, a button pack, and a t-shirt. But don’t just comment, take the time to read and be encouraged by how people view the love of Christ.
Make sure and share this with everyone you know. Here are some suggestions: your blog, twitter, facebook, myspace (if people still use that), and why not good old email.
Love Contest: Thursday (FINAL DAY)
We are almost done, and I have been truly blessed by some of these comments. Please take the time to comment on each post, the winners will be chosen tomorrow. We will close the commenting at 8:30am PST on Friday Feb. 6.
Question: Do you know that you are loved by Christ? (this can be a one word answer.)
