Over the years, churches have changed in the way they
interact with the congregation. Technology is partially responsible for this
transition and visual presentations have become an integral part of worship and
sermons. But do you know what really works when it comes to designing worship
visuals that members would love? While the content is important, you cannot
ignore the significance of a great design. Design is actually what holds the
attention of the members and keeps them engaged in the entire session. Here are
some design tips that you must follow if you want to craft compelling worship
visuals.
Create something
holistic
Worship visuals are all about holistic experiences and this
mindset should reflect in the design as well. Ensure that the presentation has
the right blend of words, lyrics, and backgrounds to create something
impressive and memorable. Every image, word, and lyric should blend seamlessly
to create an impact on the audience.
Use attractive but
relevant colors and images
While choosing the colors and images for your worship
visuals, make sure that you have ones that are attractive yet relevant. Cheesy
images and colors are often not liked by the audience because they do not match
the mood and context. Think of a single theme and adhere to it through the entire
presentation. Remember that simplicity makes the best impression.
Avoid overwhelming the
audience
Another design rule that you must follow with worship visuals
is to avoid anything that overwhelms the audience. This applies to every aspect
of your design, whether it is words, images, videos or backgrounds. Look to
create a seamless experience without changing the slides too quickly. Give the
congregation enough time to absorb one slide before moving to the next.
Create themes and
sub-themes
If you want to use visual presentations on a regular basis,
the cost will surely be a major concern for the church. It would be great to
have some themes and sub-themes for your worship backgrounds so that you can play with them to
present something new in every session. Some smart variations will not be
detectable by the audience and they will probably enjoy every single
presentation.
Polish your photography
skills
If you can take some good photographs, they can serve as
assets for your presentations. A good one surely adds a personal touch to the
session and the audience will love them more than templates. Photographs also
become wonderful memories that your church and the members will surely cherish
for a lifetime.
Use creative stock
libraries
Besides using photographs, you can also include some creative
stock libraries to make worship visuals more attractive and memorable for the
audience. Google offers a range of free and paid images that you can explore
for this purpose. Just browse the internet and you will find a wealth of images
that you may easily integrate into your presentation.
Leverage royalty-free
videos
While you can use some creative images from the internet,
videos can take the presentation to the next level. Look for the ones that are
royalty-free because you would not want your church to get into copyright
infringement issues. You can even use videos from major motion pictures in the
presentation, provided that you have the license for use.
Develop design
standards
Whether you have volunteers or professionals working on your
church visuals, do develop proper design standards and have them in place.
Specify the basics of graphic design, such as font family, colors and
sizes and image sizes that they should use for every visual. This is important
to ensure that every presentation is consistent and makes a great impression on
the audience. Also, having well-defined standards ensures that whoever prepares
the presentations has clear guidelines to follow.
Choose the right people
to prepare designs
Even if you get the designs prepared by volunteers, make sure
that you choose only the people with the right skills and expertise. Amateurs
can spoil the show and you should not take a risk with them. Have more than one
person for the job because you would not want monotony to set in. Give the
designers some creative freedom to explore their design ideas even while they
stick to the standards.
Even if your church has a small budget and works with
volunteer designers, it is still possible to create effective visuals for your
presentations. Just make sure that the team invests their best efforts and
creates something that the audience would really want to see. Try to bring the
storytelling element in the design if you truly want to create winning
presentations!
