Watch that Font!

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere, you’ve seen the media and social networking frenzy created around LeBron James’ announcment that he’ll now be leaving for Miami.  An interesting side story has been the press that was generated by the Cav’s owner’s letter.  Strangely enough, it’s not the content of his letter that’s generated the buzz — it’s the fact that he posted his letter in the Comic Sans font. [For those that may be less font/design saavy, Comic Sans is an all-but-antiquated font that’s going to make your letter look like it was drafted by a 2nd grader.]

The backlash generated from this Comic Sans letter brings something to mind.  Design matters.  Fonts matter.  Any digital communication that you send out is covered in layers of potential nuance.  Font size, font type, colors, and graphic/clip art selection (or clip art usage at all!) all play a critical part in communicating your message.  In the absence of face-to-face and auditory communication, readers are grasping at subtle nuance to determine your mood and emphasis. 

Take a lesson from Dan Gilbert and pay attention to your font selection.  It may save yourself some embarrassment!

Ways to Partner with Your Local Schools (8 of 13)

Visual Support

Partnering with your local school system can be basic.  There are many ways that you can use your church’s influence to show support of a local school.  Be creative and come up with some solutions that work best within your community. 

Here are some ideas:

• Congratulate the school for an achievement on your church’s sign and/or bulletin
• Purchase an ad in your local paper honoring the school on a special occasion
• Offer the services of your church’s graphic designers to design t-shirts, flyers, or other needed items.