Design is all about context. If anybody else says otherwise, they don’t know what they are talking about (look at their portfolio if you don’t believe me). As a designer, your primary concern always revolves around getting to know your audience and how they might perceive your message. After all, the medium of design is to deliver a message, hence, The medium is the message (thanks Marshall).

Whether you are a large-scale advertising agency, or a small 3-person shop, the tool of contextualization is very important to have. Christian ministries, churches, organizations and seminaries/colleges all share a unique message – the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all play our part in bringing Him glory, but we must be very careful about how we share the gospel of Jesus Christ via our message strategies.

What special thing sets you apart as a church/organization/ministry/seminary/college? 

As a designer for Dallas Theological Seminary, I understand that the mission of the seminary is to train up godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of Jesus Christ worldwide. But that isn’t our distinguishing mark that separates us from the rest of the seminary crowd, they all do this! It’s our trademark Th.M. degree, which is different, simply by the sheer number of credits one needs to earn in order to receive the degree. As one admissions counselor here has put it, it’s your typical Min Div, plus an applicational/practical component. It gets you ready to serve in the ministry that God has called you to do.

How do you market something like this? What must I be aware of, contextually? 

Recently, I’ve had two full page ads for magazines come across my desk. One for a more conservative, older crowd and the other a more youthful and current topic type of magazine. Could I have designed one ad and stuck them into both of the magazines and call it a day? Sure, why not?

But is that good design? Good design implies that you are constructing a message so that it can be easily and clearly understood. The older generation might not understand the use of minimalism in a piece, and therefore miss the entire message. On the flip side, the younger generation might not understand why things have to be spelled-out, when all they want to do, is think for themselves.

In either case, the message is not intended for that demographic, and then it bombs. Construct two different pieces. Make sure they apply to their contexts, but also that they tie together in some form (same logo sizes, same font, similar color palettes, etc.). That way, when a person picks up both magazines, they can see that your message is the same throughout, regardless of the context. This is the power of branding and careful design (a later post on this).

Communicate using context, wait, and then expect results

By utilizing the tool of context, we can produce great designs that deliver clear and engaging pieces of advertising. Contrary to belief, advertising is not of the Devil. In fact, overlooking the person you are trying to reach, that’s the real injustice here.

A teaching tool that Jesus frequently used was the parable. The thing about these parables was that for those people that lived when Jesus did, it made sense. Jesus was including certain cultural practices and traditions in these parables, that only these people got! It’s only with hindsight and history that can enter into these parables and understand them for ourselves. Jesus used context as a means to teach and reach people. We can use the sample principles and apply them in our external communications.

Concluding Thoughts

So, as you think of your church/ministry/organization/seminary/college’s unique message, remember the context of those people whom you are trying to reach. Remember to create pieces that have cohesion across contexts, so that your branding becomes strong and uniform. It’s a lot of work, a lot of pre-planning, revisions and edits, but in the end, it will be the best thing you will have done to ensure that our message – the gospel of Jesus Christ – successfully goes to the ends of the earth (God will accomplish this no matter what, but we still play a part in it, somehow).