The Family Works Series Design

We just started a new series this past weekend titled "THE FAMILY WORKS".  We wanted something fresh and fun that would carry over 8 weeks.  

A few days before going to print we had a change of direction along with a new series title.  The whole process was stretching but also came with a great sense of accomplishment when finished.  

I have to give some props to the team members here at PVC  that helped me push through the design. I love that these guys aren't impressed with my bag of tricks but can tell it like it is.  

I'm sure it would have been easier to create this using some sort of 3D software but I can't use what I don't have.  I created the basic shapes in Illustrator and apply the 3D bevel effect. After bringing the pieces into photoshop I adjusted colors, and added textures.  I also used some blurring effects to give it some depth.   

One of the things we like to do every quarter is switch up the worship guide layout.  This is a pretty basic layout nothing fancy just cut to bleed and folded in half.  The simplicity of the layout helped give more real estate for body copy.  I was able to bump up our normal body text up one point.  (very exciting stuff, well at least for those with reading glasses)

The production team came up with a sick stage design.  Thank God for volunteers, air guns & spandex.  They were able to transform the stage in 2 days.  They built a 14ft x 7ft screen for the middle and mounted a old projector to splash stills and video.  

Related Posts:

Before&After: Worship Guides AKA Bulletin

Our Stage In A Year

Video a la "In plain english"

I thought this was a creative promo spot for PVC groups that our team did.  Props to Oz on the editting and Cierra's voice over.

Walking Billboards! Part - 1

Like probably most churches around the nation our attendance took a dip this past Sunday, due to the daylight savings time. That wasn’t the surprising part though, what really shook my world was to hear that attendance was up 30% over last year. YAY GOD!

I began to wonder how this growth has happened. Certainly this has been the hand of God, but aside from the mystical how do people find out about PVC? I haven’t heard of many that have decided to come because a burning bush told them. We are not advertising, we don’t send mailers to the community, we are not on TV, we don’t give away ipods.

Last week during lunch with some friends, I overheard a lady at the table next to us talking about PVC and the changes in her life. Her excitement to share the good news with her friends was energizing.

This might go against most marketing strategies. I believe that people bring people. And if we look back at the way Jesus did ministry it was about people sharing the good news to those that haven’t heard it.

Stay tuned, in this “Walking Billboards” series I want to discus some practical principles that have worked for us.

The Boring Stuff

So in my poor attempt to stay organized I keep all of my task on a iCal to-do list. It’s probably not the best solution but so far it’s working for me. The problem I’ve always had is, I love doing the cool stuff. Posters, shirts and series designs are more tempting then gold to me. I eventually catch up and all I’m left with is the boring stuff. Usually on the bottom of the list are things like forms, booklets, and flossing. Regardless of my likes and dislikes these tasks need to get done.

Getting through the boring stuff requires more inspiration then ColdPlay & Tomlin can offer. So I created a folder called inspiration in my mailbox where I put testimonies and encouraging notes that I’ve collected from my time at PVC. These stories do much more then motivate me to get pass the forms and paper folding, it puts everything into perspective and they remind me why I do what I do.
So how do you handle the boring stuff? What are some particle ways that help you get through the list?

Announcements PVC Style

One of the difficulties we've face here was how to handle service announcements. For the most part we didn't announce much from the pulpit.  But when we switched to 3 services we new we had to tighten up the time spent on every element within the service.  In most cases we only have one hour to impact a person's life and want to make the most of it.  So the production team at PVC implemented the 5-Till a few months back.  It plays right before service and averages in length from 2-5 minutes.  Planning starting points in service have always been awkward, this has help there to be a constant beginning to the service.  

We drew inspiration from North Point Church in how they handle their video announcements.  But much props too team members Oz & Cierra have really worked hard on improving and keeping it fresh every week.    Here's is last weekends video:

Tools Of The Trade!

I'm a strong believer that tools shouldn't make or break a project.  But having them sure helps.  I've been asked several times what we use to produce our printed pieces here at PVC.  These tools have helped saved time and money and are a vital part of our production.  

HP DesignJet z2100:

This bad boy is our large format printer! It prints 41 inch wide by up too 150 ft long.  We use this primarily for stage set backdrops.  We occasionally use it for large posters and displays as well.  You can easily pay $7sq.ft. at our local printing shop.  Having this in-house has brought the cost down to about $1sq.ft 

Xerox Docucolor 252

This machine is a little less then a year old.  We use this primarily for color printing of  posters, worship guides, hand outs, books and so on.  Before we got this printer it would take half a day to print our worship guides for the weekends.  Now we can get them all printed in about a hour or less.  It has a high capacity feed for large print up too 13x19 paper.  It also has a booklet finisher.  Only cons is that it's loud and hot.  We use to have it in our office and would have to have the AC pumping non stop.  

Industria 480E Paper Cutter

The newest addition to the family.  Producing anything with a bleed use to be a nightmare.  We had to take stuff to a print shop and have it cut.  After having several deadlines not met and time when the cuts were wrong we decided on getting our own machine.  After months of researching I found this cutter and it was the best product for the price.  It' cuts our 17 in. paper in 2 in. stacks.  It's a very easy to use machine.  Now we're able to turn around jobs more quickly with options of using bleed cuts.  I LOVE THIS THING!!!

Martin Yale 959 Auto Folder

Not the most glamorous of the bunch but it's another time saver.  When I got here they use to fold all worship guides by hand.  They also did perforation by hand as well.  This particular folder does double folds, perforation and even scoring.  This one is a tricky beast.  You have to look at it just right or it might jam.  But it does make it life easier.  

These are some of the tools we are using here if you have any question feel free to ask.  

Our Poor Stage In A Year

ANother year has flown by here at PVC and another is in full swing!  I just wanted to give some props to the stage crew that has been involved in stage production over the last year!  It's been a fun ride.  Here are some pics of how our stage has changed through the year.  Enjoy, and if you want take take a peek at the current set be sure to go on over to mitchisms.com.

 

Bring On The FooFooness

This week we finished off our "Church I See" series.  Which means a new set design this week.  Big props to Cierra for leading on this set and making it happen.  We kept the basic lighting frame and brought some old fabric we had used last year for Christmas.  Check out my flick photo-stream for more shots.  

One Jammed Pack Sunday!

So sitting here watching the Eagles vs Cowboys shootout and I'm still feeling the aftermath of yesterday!  The day started out with a phone call from Mitch at 5:30 am,  we had to take down a 13ft x 20ft banner we had hanging in the sanctuary.  Here it is setup for the volunteer banquet.

I got to experience service from from the back of sound board.  This brought my respect and love for sound man to a new level.   It's really easy as a musician to think that the sound job is a breeze.   I have never been so nervous.  I soon realize that It takes more then knowing what gain knobs or phantom power are.  It takes nerves of steal and some patience. Thank God I made it through all three services with no big hick-ups, just a couple of stares.   To every church sound person out, I LOVE YOU.  Keep doing what you do and crank up that ELECTRIC guitar!

Rick finished the series off by talking about Religion as a Roadblock.  I think this illustration sums it up well.  How there use to be the gap of sin separating us from God.  But know we are living in a post-christian society where the Christian Sub-Culture needs to be crossed first.  Probably one of the most thought provoking sermons I've listen too, please take some time and check it out here. 

After service staff and volunteers stayed to setup for the volunteer banquet that took place two building down.  A great time to thank the volunteers for their commitment.  Last year Rick challenged us to wrench it up and it showed.  Around 300 volunteers came out.  We look back at some images from last year and some of the stories of life change.  Before the night was over Rick challenged us to wrench it up some more by launching the "Church I See Campaign".  More to come on this as the weeks go by.  Needless to say we will be busy this week working on a new stage set, I'm anxious to see what is to come in the next few months.  

This post is part of Creative Chaos on Ragamuffinsoul.com