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    media basics
dave harris
Whether we are watching TV, driving down the street, looking at a magazine, or even shopping at the grocery store, we are constantly surrounded by images trying to get us to buy into their idea or product. It's tough to say what is good or bad since God created us all different and let's face it, we like what we like. However, I think there are a couple of rules we can follow when creating media in our ministry that keep the church current and allow us to effectively communicate our ideas.
I realize it can sometimes be hard to compete with companies who spend millions of dollars on research and designers to create the ad campaigns you see every day. It can also be tough because good design can take tons of time that you don't have. Hmmm, what's more important, spending hours creating this week's PowerPoint show or spending hours pouring into the spiritual lives of your students. :) I want to encourage you to spend some time to find a few volunteers or even students, and give them the resources and inspiration they need to create good media for your ministry. There are tons of great resources out there like, http://www.totaltraining.com, that will help anybody learn graphics applications like Photoshop. Remember, having good media needs to help your ministry, not take away all your time.
Below are two simple rules we can follow to having good and effective media in our ministry.
Keep it Simple
When creating a new design based on a topic or idea, remember it is always better to communicate with a single idea. Sometimes we try to incorporate too many ideas into our design and it ends up looking cluttered. This makes it harder for people to understand your point or message. In most cases you can create amazing artwork with your digital camera, some cool fonts, and a little bit of color correction in Photoshop or your favorite photo editor. You don't have to be a great artist or a Photoshop guru to have good design. There is something to the phrase, less is more, when it comes to good design.
You don't need 12 fonts or a collage of pictures to have a good looking graphic. Just because you found a new effect in Photoshop doesn't mean you have to use it in your next flyer. As a general rule, effects are only there to be a means to an end, therefore, you only what to use effects if they help you communicate your idea. A great example of this would be even though Microsoft has something called WordArt, doesn't mean you should use it!
Get Inspired
I have heard the phrase that "you can't copyright an idea". Although I am not suggesting we steal anybody's content, I think it is important that we get inspired from media we know is good. For example, the reason why we all loves Simply Youth Ministry stuff so much is because they give us the freedom to make it our own and adapt to our ministry. Even though we would never attempt to preach one of Doug's talks verbatim (although I've come really close!), it helps to listen for inspiration when we are writing our message. The same thing applies with design, it helps to pay attention to good design to try to figure out why we like it. I drive my wife crazy because I watch TV sometimes just to see the commercials, but it helps me find new and creative ideas for creating media. Finding your source of inspiration will keep the "idea" well from going dry.
Another great place to find ideas is by using or looking at stock photography. Sometimes there is no need to create anything new if it has already been created for you to use. There have been many times when I needed to create something very quick, and in these cases stock images can become your best friend. I recently found http://www.sxc.hu, a free stock photo exchange. Another stock image place is http://www.istockphoto.com, which has a large selection of images with price ranging from $1-$5 per image.
An Example
The graphic we are working with in this tutorial was originally created for a series at my church called "Identity". We came up with the idea of using the "Hello, My Name Is ..." name tag to represent our identity. We headed out to our local office supply store and picked up some name tags and the thrift shop for an ugly tie and jacket. When we got back to church I grabbed my digital camera and a friend of mine and we found an interesting wall in our church building. I snapped a couple of photos, and that's it. We now have the foundation to a simple, but interesting concept for a graphic. You can watch the video below or download the Photoshop file below to follow along.
Click here to download the tutorial video.
Click here to download some freebie resources from the �Identity� series.
The Bottom Line
As Christians and as the Church, we have the greatest message to tell the world. It's our job to communicate it.
Great Media Resources
http://www.sxc.hu (free stock photos)
http://istockphoto.com (cheap stock photos)
http://totaltraining.com (Photoshop training)
http://photos.com (subscription based stock photos)
http://churchtechtalk.com (free tech podcast and resources)
http://vineresources.com (free media resource)
http://relevantmagazine.com (source of inspiration)
http://dafont.com (free categorized fonts)
http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/community-articles-from-the-field.html
dave harris
Whether we are watching TV, driving down the street, looking at a magazine, or even shopping at the grocery store, we are constantly surrounded by images trying to get us to buy into their idea or product. It's tough to say what is good or bad since God created us all different and let's face it, we like what we like. However, I think there are a couple of rules we can follow when creating media in our ministry that keep the church current and allow us to effectively communicate our ideas.
I realize it can sometimes be hard to compete with companies who spend millions of dollars on research and designers to create the ad campaigns you see every day. It can also be tough because good design can take tons of time that you don't have. Hmmm, what's more important, spending hours creating this week's PowerPoint show or spending hours pouring into the spiritual lives of your students. :) I want to encourage you to spend some time to find a few volunteers or even students, and give them the resources and inspiration they need to create good media for your ministry. There are tons of great resources out there like, http://www.totaltraining.com, that will help anybody learn graphics applications like Photoshop. Remember, having good media needs to help your ministry, not take away all your time.
Below are two simple rules we can follow to having good and effective media in our ministry.
Keep it Simple
When creating a new design based on a topic or idea, remember it is always better to communicate with a single idea. Sometimes we try to incorporate too many ideas into our design and it ends up looking cluttered. This makes it harder for people to understand your point or message. In most cases you can create amazing artwork with your digital camera, some cool fonts, and a little bit of color correction in Photoshop or your favorite photo editor. You don't have to be a great artist or a Photoshop guru to have good design. There is something to the phrase, less is more, when it comes to good design.
You don't need 12 fonts or a collage of pictures to have a good looking graphic. Just because you found a new effect in Photoshop doesn't mean you have to use it in your next flyer. As a general rule, effects are only there to be a means to an end, therefore, you only what to use effects if they help you communicate your idea. A great example of this would be even though Microsoft has something called WordArt, doesn't mean you should use it!
Get Inspired
I have heard the phrase that "you can't copyright an idea". Although I am not suggesting we steal anybody's content, I think it is important that we get inspired from media we know is good. For example, the reason why we all loves Simply Youth Ministry stuff so much is because they give us the freedom to make it our own and adapt to our ministry. Even though we would never attempt to preach one of Doug's talks verbatim (although I've come really close!), it helps to listen for inspiration when we are writing our message. The same thing applies with design, it helps to pay attention to good design to try to figure out why we like it. I drive my wife crazy because I watch TV sometimes just to see the commercials, but it helps me find new and creative ideas for creating media. Finding your source of inspiration will keep the "idea" well from going dry.
Another great place to find ideas is by using or looking at stock photography. Sometimes there is no need to create anything new if it has already been created for you to use. There have been many times when I needed to create something very quick, and in these cases stock images can become your best friend. I recently found http://www.sxc.hu, a free stock photo exchange. Another stock image place is http://www.istockphoto.com, which has a large selection of images with price ranging from $1-$5 per image.
An Example
The graphic we are working with in this tutorial was originally created for a series at my church called "Identity". We came up with the idea of using the "Hello, My Name Is ..." name tag to represent our identity. We headed out to our local office supply store and picked up some name tags and the thrift shop for an ugly tie and jacket. When we got back to church I grabbed my digital camera and a friend of mine and we found an interesting wall in our church building. I snapped a couple of photos, and that's it. We now have the foundation to a simple, but interesting concept for a graphic. You can watch the video below or download the Photoshop file below to follow along.
Click here to download the tutorial video.
Click here to download some freebie resources from the �Identity� series.
The Bottom Line
As Christians and as the Church, we have the greatest message to tell the world. It's our job to communicate it.
Great Media Resources
http://www.sxc.hu (free stock photos)
http://istockphoto.com (cheap stock photos)
http://totaltraining.com (Photoshop training)
http://photos.com (subscription based stock photos)
http://churchtechtalk.com (free tech podcast and resources)
http://vineresources.com (free media resource)
http://relevantmagazine.com (source of inspiration)
http://dafont.com (free categorized fonts) |
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