Have you ever looked at a movie poster and immediately knew what type of movie it was without reading one line of text? The design instantly revealed whether that movie was a horror flick, comedy or sappy love story. Well believe it or not, the same holds true when reflecting diversity in church design. Design is a language and just one look can speak of what type of church you are – a predominately white church, black church or one that is truly seeking a multi-cultural experience.
Diversity in design goes much deeper than just including stock images of a happy white woman, black family, or Latino couple. It’s about incorporating the individual styles and feelings one gets when looking at something that is designed and created specifically for them. The twist is to include these different styles while maintaining your church’s identity and culture. So the million dollar question is: “How do I speak to other cultures through my design while remaining true to my church’s identity?”
I really wish there were a formula for this question but unfortunately there isn’t. The good news is that this means the sky is the limit! I mean, isn’t that why we were hired in the first place, to be creative and figure it out? There were, however, a few things that helped me to balance my urban design background with the multi-cultural identity of Manna Church (www.mannachurch.org):
- 1. Study design styles that are popular in other cultures. I make it a point to grab print materials, watch videos and browse websites that target a specific culture and study the differences in each of them.
- 2. Push yourself to design outside of your comfort zone. This is one of the hardest things to do because as designers, we have our own style and often there’s a measure of pride that doesn’t want to compromise that. However, we must remember what sets us apart from the mainstream industry is that we are called to use our gifts to reach people. It’s not about us and “our style.”
- 3. Remember the big picture and don’t give up. I constantly remind myself of this because it’s very easy to slip back into our comfort zone or fool ourselves into thinking that intentional diversity in design is not effective or worth the effort.
- 4. Utilize the people around you. Ideally, a multi-cultural church has a multi-cultural staff, so ask your co-workers from different backgrounds their opinion of the design and if it speaks to them.
- 5. Know that you’re not going to please everybody. It’s impossible to create designs that speak to everyone and quite frankly, there will be times when you must target a specific demographic and that’s okay.
Hopefully this helps you to embrace the fact that we designers play an important role in church diversity and even though we are often behind-the-scenes, our work is always on the frontlines.
What do you think about Diversity In Design?
(This post originally appeared as a guest post on BigistheNewSmall.com)
