Graphics | Childrens Ministry Online

A hub for ministry graphics

Posted on 14. Dec, 2010 by Kenny.

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I dont’ believe that I’ve blogged about this site before, but CreativeMYK has been an incredible resource for ministry related graphics. It’s all based around of community of graphic artists who share their work with each other. If you’ve created something, you can post it there for critique and share with others. If you haven’t checked it out, head on over and see what they’re all about. However, if you wait too long, you’ll miss them. I just got an email today that CreativeMYK is changing into Creation Swap. I’m not sure how different it is going to be, but it looks like there will be more tools to crowdsource media, share ideas and even hire artists to help with your projects. Check out their video below as well as an article from Collide Magazine here.

CreationSwap from CreationSwap on Vimeo.

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Updating my weekly parent update

Posted on 24. May, 2010 by Kenny.

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I’ve been using Constant Contact for almost two years to communicate news to parents. I’ve been very happy with it as a communication tool. I get all kinds of great feedback from every email like what emails are being read, forwarded and the like. However, I’ve been very slow to adjust to using all that Constant Contact has to offer. For the first several months, I didn’t use any graphics. It was just a boring text email. Then a few months later I added a snappy header and that’s what I’ve been using ever since. However, I’ve been inspired to make some changes and have a semi-final product. I’d be curious as to what you think.

Here’s the template I’ve been using (click on image to see full page):

Here’s the new template (blue version, not sure we’re going to use this one):

Here’s another new template (green version, probably going to go with this one):

I’ll be using this new template this week, so any input you have would be much appreciated. Thanks!

BTW, I think I’m going to have to extra things done this week. I’m going to have my graphic designer tweak the header “The KQ Update” so it doesn’t look so plain. In addition I think I’m going to have her tweak the “Join Our Mailing List” as well so it looks a little better designed.

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Dopey graphics don’t cut it anymore!

Posted on 28. Jun, 2008 by Kenny.

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I’d like to say that they never worked, but as a kid I was a big fan of Psalty the Singing Songbook and Charity the Church Mouse. I had the records and cassette tapes with the kiddie-dopey illustrations… and I think I loved it. Children’s Pastors take notice… it’s not the 80′s anymore!

Always having been a young Children’s Pastor, I’ve tired my best to create an elementary ministry that related to the kids we were trying to reach. What seemed to work for me as a 5th grader did not work for me. I remember being so frustrated with music options 8-10 years ago. I couldn’t find worship songs that didn’t sound like the music was recorded with toy instruments. We wore out Big House as it was the only song that I wasn’t embarrassed to do with my 4th and 5th graders.

Over the years, I always tried to push the envelope on what music we’d play as kids were hanging out. In the early years of ministry, DC Talk (those kids loved Jesus Freak) and Five Iron Frenzy were winners. The WOW music videos were usually pretty good, but even in recent years I felt the need to even grab some of the edgier that really grabbed those older boys. The boy band and girl groups had nothing on the power chords of a spiky haired rock band. On occasion I’d have a parent complain that the music was a little mature. At least I knew I was pushing the envelope.

Well, I think all of this is true of the images we use as well. Whether it be a logo, a flyer or our web site. Fact is, dopey graphics don’t cut it anymore. A few years ago I created a new logo for my summer camp (called Camp Extreme). It was pretty fun. Then last summer I told the graphic artist that I wanted him to make it edgy. I wanted it ripped and scraped and beat up. The result was the coolest camp graphic we’ve ever had… and the kids loved it. No more dopey camp shirts.

I was pleased to see the camp logo that my friend Sam Luce is using for his summer camp. It’s modern, fun and reflects what is popular right now… holding to the retro look. I love it. That set me out to find what other people were using as their camp graphics. I was impressed by so many.

However, there were a few that seem to be stuck in the 80′s. For the love of reaching kids, stop it. Update yourself. Get a new image. It’s not as hard as you would think. Even if you have no budget for this kind of stuff, I bet there’s a 15 year old in your church that could create something really cool. See what you can do!

The Good Ones: