Resources3 min read
What comms directors at Indiana churches wish their designer knew
Indiana church comms directors carry more than design. Here is what they wish a designer understood about deadlines, formats, and the weekly grind, from years of working alongside them.
By Emily Farmer in Indianapolis, IN
TL;DR
Comms directors at Indiana churches wish their designer understood that the job is mostly logistics rather than art direction, and that a missed format or a late file costs them their Saturday. The designers they keep are the ones who deliver every size, hit the lead time, and hold the brand so the comms director does not have to babysit it. That reliability is what the subscription is built around.
I have spent years working alongside comms directors at churches across Indiana, and they have taught me more about this job than any design course did. The thing they wish designers understood is not about taste. It is about the reality of their week. So here is the honest version, from their side of the table.
The job is mostly logistics
People imagine a church comms director as a creative role. Some of it is. Most of it is logistics. They are tracking what every ministry needs, when it is due, where it has to appear, and in what format. They are managing the slides, the social calendar, the bulletin, the email, the website, and the constant stream of last-minute requests from people who needed something yesterday.
Design is one input into that machine. When the design shows up on time and in the right shape, the machine runs. When it shows up late, or in the wrong format, the comms director absorbs the cost, usually on a Saturday, usually alone.
A designer who understands this stops thinking of themselves as an artist handing over a piece and starts thinking of themselves as a reliable part of someone else's stressful week.
Deliver every format, every time
This is the one that comes up most. A comms director who receives a single graphic still has work to do. They have to crop it for the screen, resize it for Instagram, fit it to the bulletin, format it for email. That cropping and resizing eats their evening, and it is the exact kind of task that should never have landed on them.
The designers comms directors keep are the ones who deliver every format up front. Screen, social, print, email, the whole set, without being asked each time. Under the subscription, that is the default. Every request comes back in the sizes the church actually uses, so the comms director is done when the file arrives instead of just getting started.
Hit the lead time and protect their Saturday
A comms director plans around lead times. When a designer misses one, the whole plan collapses into a scramble, and the scramble lands on the comms director's weekend. They are not asking for impossible speed. They are asking for predictability they can build a schedule around.
I ask Indiana churches for about a week of lead time, and I hold it. When something genuinely urgent comes up before a big Sunday, I offer same-day revisions, because I know what a Saturday emergency does to the person on the other end. The flat fee means there is never a rush charge for helping in a pinch.
Hold the brand so they do not have to
A comms director should not have to be the keeper of the brand on top of everything else. But when design is scattered across volunteers and freelancers, that is exactly what happens. They become the one person policing whether the fonts are right and the colors match, and it is exhausting.
The subscription takes that off their plate. Because I hold the visual system, the comms director does not have to babysit it. They send a request and trust that what comes back is on brand, because keeping it on brand is my responsibility rather than theirs.
Why this adds up to relief
Put it together and the comms director gets one dependable designer instead of a coordination problem. Requests come back on time, in every format, on brand, for a flat $997 a month. That predictability is the difference between planning a week and surviving it.
If you are a comms director at an Indiana church and this sounds like your Saturdays, join the wait list and I will reach out by email when a spot opens.
Frequently asked
- What do church comms directors need most from a designer?
- Reliability over brilliance. A comms director at an Indiana church is juggling slides, social, print, email, and a dozen ministry requests, so the designer they value is the one who hits deadlines, delivers every format without being asked, and keeps the brand consistent. A gorgeous graphic that arrives late or in the wrong size creates more work rather than less.
- Why does delivering every format matter so much?
- Because a comms director who receives a single graphic still has to crop and resize it for the screen, social, the bulletin, and email, often late on a Saturday. When the designer delivers every size up front, that whole task disappears. Under the subscription, every request comes back in the formats the church actually uses, which is one of the things comms directors mention most.
- How does a subscription make a comms director's job easier?
- It gives them one dependable designer instead of a rotating cast of freelancers and volunteers to coordinate. They send a request, it comes back on time, in every format, on brand. That predictability lets the comms director plan instead of scramble. For Indiana churches where the comms role is already overloaded, removing the design variable is a meaningful relief.
Join the wait list.
Emily takes on a small number of new churches each quarter. Drop your church name and email on the wait list and she will reach out personally by email when a spot opens.
- Based in
- Indianapolis, IN