ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH, WHEATON, IL; FEASTING CAMPAIGN
As with all the designs I produce for this client, my budget was extremely limited. I always enjoy finding ways of developing images on my own. By doing so, it helps in maintaining an original look and it keeps the spending to a minimum (no stock photography here).
"Feasting". That was the theme for St. John's annual stewardship campaign. Fish have a significant role in Biblical history. It made good sense to focus on fish for this "Feasting" theme. I went to my local grocer and bought the freshest whitefish. I went back to the studio and experimented capturing the fish digitally. Scanning the giant fish in two different passes proved to be the best option. (Though putting white printer ink on the fish and "impressioning" the fish onto black matboard proved to be very interesting.)
There were 7 different mailings. Each postcard had different copy provided by the brilliant Pastor Bruzek. I decided to make each postcard a different color so when the cards were mailed, it made the new postcard stand out from the last. There's also another reason why I decided on different colors for each postcard. I'll get to that after the next paragraph.
My favorite part of the design is the endless multitude of fish that is created when you line up the front and back sides of the postcards. This is a strong reference to John 6: 1-15 (Jesus Feeds the 5000). That connection is just awesome. I placed parts of the fish in each of the four corners, so when the cards are lined up, you get even more fish.
I made 7 banners of each of the seven postcards. I simply placed the postcards onto a huge sheet of contact paper and burnished them in place. I also put a big graphic at the top of each banner re-stating the headline of the respective postcard. The only cost for the posters was the contact paper. The postcards were taken from the extra supply the church had. By making each postcard a different color, I now had 7 different colored banners which looked great in the church. I also lined up the postcards on the support beams. I made a couple people in the church nervous about that one, but I assured them that the tape would come off smoothly and it did. Though I had to put some elbow grease into the effort. Well worth it.