This is an example of “what not to do”… thanks StuffChristiansLike!

Yesterday I held a very quick and last-minute informational meeting about ChurchCrunch’s need for a new logo.  We had about 20 or so people cycle in and about 6 or 7 stay for the whole segment via Tokbox.com.

I’m not surprised, considering that I sprung it up during Christmas Break…!

So for those that couldn’t be in attendance, here’s the run down, timeline, and things to think about in regards to designing a logo for ChurchCrunch.com…

Timeline and General Info:

1. Anyone can participate in creating a Logo for ChurchCrunch.
2. Submissions start today and will be open til February 1st, 2009.
3. You can submit your ideas early and I will provide feedback!  Please title your “draft” versions in the subject portion of your email as [DRAFT] and your final submission as [FINAL].
4. Please know that all submissions are property of their respective owners but the 3 Finalists will transfer all rights and privileges of use and ownership to ChurchCrunch.com.
5. You can submit them to john@churchcrunch.com.

Awards:

1. There is an “award”!
2. 3 of the [FINAL] submissions will receive a copy of the Thesis Theme from DIYThemes.com!
3. They will get mad props via ChurchCrunch.com.
4. The “winner” will also receive some “personal strategy” time with me.  This may not necessarily be of value to most, but it’s available if the “winner” wants it.  The Thesis Theme is pretty rad though…
5. Thesis Theme is one of those themes that I personally endorse as a standard-bearer in design and SEO strategy.  It’ll make your blog shine… and what’s nice is that you can drop the pressure of attempting to create a “unique” design yourself…

Thoughts on the Design:

1. “Clean” and “strong” look.  I hope for it to be as memorable as possible.
2. It needs to look good both on the online medium as well as offline/print media.
3. I needs to be fairly “theme-agnostic”… meaning that it should work well with the current design template on this blog and future styling.  This means that “perhaps” doing creating a diverse set on different color palettes might be nice… or making sure it’s easily changeable.  2009 is going to be a big year… and a re-design has already been started…
4. I need both a logo and an “icon” or graphic.  I’d love for the graphic to be able to be used as both a “favicon” as well as a large-sized graphic for individual and independent use.  It should obviously be recognizable to the logo and unique and strong.
5. Generally, I reserve the right of the creative artists to just “go at it”… so you do your thing.  Again, [DRAFT] files will get feedback…!
6. Finally, if the design has any crosses, flying doves, or any other “christian” symbols… that would automatically make it a “fail”.  Here’s a good post on what NOT to create.

So get to it!