This post is part of Creative Chaos. Get your fix over at ragamuffinsoul.com.

Every month, I look forward to creating a new series concept for our sermons. For me, it is an awesome experience to sit in a planning meeting months ago, throw out ideas, meet again to discuss details, and then see it come together before your eyes. It’s one of the reasons why I love my job. Not to say there aren’t frustrations along the way, there are. And I will share a little bit of my journey here.

The theme for May is Heroes. The creative team decided it was best to go with a medieval look because of the overuse of the popular TV show and we did superheroes last year. When it comes to graphics, it’s just me. As much as I would love a team, I work with what I have now. That’s where the Church Marketing Lab comes in handy. A bunch of designers (mostly) critique work and give suggestions. I love it. Here is an example of how good it is for me.

Here is what I started off with:

Not too shabby, but not strong either. I needed help so I went to the lab. They suggested things like metal textures, photos, etc. so this was my response.

An improvement, but still not there. Too illustrated. The lab really pushed me to go further and try some photos. I really struggled with this for hours but I finally had breakthrough. What you see next is the final result of some good collaboration.

After that, a whole bunch of juicy goodness exploded from this one image. But you’ll have to see for yourself in May.

Yes, I said juice-ay.

Stephen