Culture is saturated with images. Social media, TV commercials, giant banners, and even t-shirts have created an atmosphere of visual over-stimulation. No matter where you go, somebody is trying to capture your attention through graphics and media. While it’s hard to stand out in a vast sea of visual imagery, how you look still has a large bearing on how you and your brand are perceived. This is especially true when creating church graphics. The vast over-stimulation in America has led to people making snap judgments based solely on what they see. Unfortunately, churches are not exempt from this. Your church graphics will communicate a message to the community. How high-quality it is, how it reflects the community, and how eye-catching its design is will all determine whether someone gives you a second glance. More and more churches are realizing the need for excellent graphics and are working to create strong designs. However, many church leaders and pastors struggle with whether to hire a professional graphic designer or simply create church graphics in-house. There are pros and cons to both options. Here’s what you should consider when making your decision!

The Pros and Cons of Professional Graphic Designers

There are several benefits to hiring a professional graphic designer that make it a worthwhile option. Here are some of the pros and cons.

Pros

Cohesive design across the board

When working with a professional graphic designer, you can ensure that your church graphics will carry a cohesive design that compliments your church brand. Graphic designers work to make sure that everything flows together to convey a stronger message. This means your church website, logo, and graphics will all fall within a similar “feel.” This level of expertise requires extensive training and experience and is unlikely to be found anywhere outside of a professional graphic design company.

Eases responsibility on church staff and volunteers

Another great reason to hire a professional graphic designer for your church graphics is to ease the burden on your own staff. It’s no secret that church ministry is demanding, and just because someone CAN do something doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the right option. In your church, there are responsibilities that only you and your staff can handle, meaning your time shouldn’t be taken up by something that can be easily outsourced. Hiring a graphic designer frees you and your staff up to focus on other important church ministries. Furthermore, it offers a 3rd party perspective on how people view your church and can give more insight into graphics and marketing techniques that you may not have come up with on your own.

Professional quality

There is a certain level of professionalism and quality that can rarely be found in-house. Hiring a graphic design company to create your church graphics will help ensure that the resulting graphics are excellent and of the highest quality. Again, in a culture that is over-saturated with imagery, it’s more important than ever to convey that you are a professional and well-put-together church. That being said, it is important to hire a graphics agency with church experience. There are many excellent graphic design agencies, but they may not know what a sermon series is, or that VBS stands for vacation Bible school. By working with a church graphics and media company, you can eliminate frustration and miscommunication while still receiving professional graphics,

Cons

May cost more

It’s no secret that you get what you pay for. And if you are weighing the cost of purchasing subscriptions and software vs hiring a professional, you may find that a professional service costs a little more. However, most churches wouldn’t use the software enough to make it worth it, which means depending on how many graphics you need, hiring a professional may actually be the cheaper option. We understand the desire of churches to be wise stewards with their budgets and to handle projects in-house when possible. Having your Youth Pastor do graphics for free may sacrifice quality, and hiring a professional costs money. As a church graphics and media company, we at Enduo want to help you strike the balance between affordability and quality, which is why we offer professional graphics for less than it would cost to hire a part-time employee!

Less flexibility for last-minute graphics

While professionals are capable of providing outstanding work, they need time to get it done and to make edits. If your church has a hard time planning ahead for large events like Christmas or regularly has pop-up events, you may find that it is difficult to find a graphic designer who is able to accommodate last-minute requests. Some professional graphics services, like Enduo media, work to mitigate this con by offering a 2-3 day turnaround on projects, which is much faster than most agencies. Additionally, we offer Canva templates with most of our packages which allows us to predesign templates for churches upon request. That allows them to easily go in and change a date/time/copy and add photos themselves for last-minute requests in the case of funerals, service cancellations, etc.

Requires planning ahead of time

To follow up on the previous con, working with a professional graphic designer means being able to plan ahead and know what you’ll need so you can get it well ahead of time. Typically, the earlier you can submit your requests, the better. However, some churches have a difficult time planning ahead or knowing what they’ll need, leading them to rely upon in-house talent who may not have the same level of skill but is available for last-minute requests. At Enduo, we offer creative meetings with each of our plans to help go over media needs. This keeps big services like anniversaries and holidays front-of-mind and helps ensure that nothing is getting done last-minute.

The Pros and Cons of Creating Church Graphics In-House

While hiring a professional is an excellent way to get your church graphics done right, there are a few pros that come with doing graphics in-house.

Pros

More flexibility

Getting your church graphics done in-house means you don’t have to worry about planning ahead as much. Many churches rely on gracious members who have dabbled in graphic design and can put together an easy design. This lack of depth and expertise means that less time is needed to put a design together and can therefore be quickly supplied upon request.

Hiring in-house is cheaper… sometimes

Churches that take care of graphic design in-house typically rely on staff members who are already overloaded with ministry work or church members who volunteer to do it for free. In either case, you’ll typically get what you pay for. While the idea of “cheaper” or “free” graphics sounds incredibly appealing, you have to think about the quality that’s being sacrificed and what that, in turn, will communicate to visitors and guests. Even hiring a designer part-time costs more than some graphics packages, as you’d have a hard time finding a designer who will only cost $399 a month. Depending on your desired scope of work, hiring in-house MAY be cheaper, but not always.

Cons

Graphics are just “good enough.”

Wrong as it is, many church leaders have a “good enough” mentality when it comes to creating church graphics. Unfortunately, this mindset can have a devastating impact on the impression you leave in guests’ minds, and your ability to share the Gospel! At Enduo Media, we are intentional with the designs we create because we believe that the most important message in the world deserves the best presentation. In a culture where so many industries are trying to get your attention, excellence has become the bare minimum. Secular businesses, fast-food restaurants, and even social media influencers understand the importance of a professional look and a quality image. What impression do you want your church to have on people? Do your graphics help convey that impression? Or are they saying something else?

Limited tools

Unless churches are willing to pay for multiple subscriptions for stock images and assets, many of their images and promotional material end up having the same stock images as other churches. So while it may actually seem cheaper to take care of graphics in-house, that’s only if you’re willing to be okay with not having all of the necessary tools and software to help create excellent images. Professional design agencies, on the other hand, have those tools and subscriptions, meaning that they can create new and fresh images and designs for you without having to worry about whether or not another church is using the exact same stock image on their own website.

Which is better?

Unless your church has been blessed enough to have a member who is a retired graphic designer with plenty of free time on their hands, hiring a professional graphic designer will undoubtedly produce better results and keep you and your staff free to focus on other areas of ministry. While some churches may struggle with whether or not a professional graphic designer is really the best use of church money, it’s important to remember the importance of what your church graphics convey and the cost of conveying mediocrity. Additionally, church graphic design services like Enduo Media offer multiple packages depending on your budget. A church of 100 and a church of 1,000 have different budgets and different needs. We believe that each church should have access to a professional look at a price they can afford. To find out more about how Enduo Media can help you and your church, schedule a call with our creative team!