Encounter Church
Brand Design and Website
The Client
Encounter Church is a small church plant located in two cities- Athens and Lavonia, in Northeast Georgia. The Encounter Team recently experienced a fresh change in leadership, and was looking to catalyze their strategy for growth and outreach in this new season. I partnered with their core team to strategize and deliver an essentials-level rebrand that provided them a firm visual foundation from which to relaunch a healthy, authentic church community.
Footage from the ministry’s old identity, Windborne Church.
Stage 1
Discovery
From the beginning of the project, Encounter (formerly Windborne Church) knew that the brand identity would be a noticeable distinctive from the churches around them. As a house church movement, Encounter operated by rotating weekly through different venues. These were almost always homes of people in the church, which gave the community a strong sense of authentic family connection.
In early conversations with the new lead pastor, it became clear that as the church prepared for its next season of growth, a new identity would be needed to support this effort and better communicate the culture and values of the church.
Through a Discovery Session, I sat down with the core team and worked to uncover the DNA of the culture at the church. What emerged was a consistent emphasis on deep love for Scripture, as well as a high emphasis on both authentic community and openness to the Holy Spirit.
My favorite line from this session, which served as a guidepost for the project: “We’re like Tim Keller and Bethel combined”.
Stage 2
Strategy
From this session, I created 3 different visual directions for the Encounter Team to consider. These directions were presented in the form of moodboards, each with their own explanations for not only color and tone, but also story and concept and how they related to the idea of “Encounter”.
The team ultimately felt most drawn to the direction “Healthy Things Grow”, and loved the idea of emphasizing both the moment of encounter with God, and the authentic journey with God’s community that follows.
Stage 3
Creation
After landing on a final visual style, I created three primary logo concepts for the team to review. While all had their strengths and weaknesses, our first concept really felt like lightning in a bottle, and quickly became the favorite of everyone involved.
Once this logo was established, I set to work crafting out a fuller expression of the brand. When working with churches, I love to ensure that our handoff is well-suited for the often volunteer-based creative teams that keep ministries running. Sometimes this involves creative templates, and sometimes this involves providing examples of how to use the brand. In Encounter’s case, I provided both.
Stage 4
Launch
After crafting a fuller expression of the brand, I met with the Encounter Team to walk them through final deliverables, and teach them how to use the various tools we developed. My biggest task at the end, however, was revamping the church’s website to match the new brand (seen here, in a small preview).
What did the client think?
“It has been an absolute pleasure working with Gabe. The discovery phase stands out because the questions that he asked, and how he layered them, were an incredible help in actualizing what I was looking for. It caused me to think more deeply about the concept. The ease of discussion and Gabe's intuitive nature made the process quite enjoyable and made me feel as though I was genuinely cared for, my project was important, and that Gabe was interested in what I was trying to achieve."
-Dr. Mark Trump, Lead Pastor of Encounter Church
Ready to begin?
I’d love to talk and see how I can help, even if you’re still researching or figuring things out.