Finding the Purpose in Your Design

So lately I have been doing a lot of design work for non-profits.  I am currently working part time from home as an administrative assistant for a homeless shelter and community resource hub called Bridges of Hope here in our home town.  I update the website, I am in charge of their social media as well as data entry.   I am also continuing to do all media outreach for my husband’s non-profit, a local free clinic called Living Well Clinic.

Then I recently had the opportunity to do some side work for our state’s Association of Free Clinics.  They have an upcoming conference and they asked me if I could do the design work for their invitations, program, etc.  I was happy to do it in exchange for some advertising of my skills!  However, it really made me start to think about how I do design work.  Am I asking the right questions when I meet with someone to do design work for them?  Am I truly getting a good feel for what they are looking for?  Are my designs the best that they can be technically?  And how do I do this without a degree in graphic design?

So, to find answers I went to (you guessed it) Google.  Like I have said before, there is no shame in asking for help and the internet is abundant with all sorts of advice (some good, some bad).  But one thing that stood out was knowing the purpose someone has for their design or website.  So, if your pastor or ministry lead walks into your office ans says, “Can you make me a flyer for the Easter Egg Hunt next Saturday?”, it is important to find out what the purpose of the Easter Egg Hunt is.  Is it just a fun event for kids?  Is there going to be a message for the kids and parents?  Will there be food?  Will there be a raffle?  How are you going to engage everyone?  Make sure you have the details.  Not just so you can put it in the flyer, but so you can set the tone of the flyer.  You want it to be engaging to the kids, but you also want it to have clear information for the parents as well.

In the invitation above, the OAFC is having a conference and wanted the information about that.  However, they also communicated that they are going to start engaging other entities beyond free clinics to be a part of their membership, such as pharmacies, etc.  So, in my design I found a way to put symbols of many other entities in the medical world beyond just doctors and nurses so that it was inclusive to the new members they were looking for.  It was a subtle way of communicating a message.

So, in your Easter invitation, while eggs and bunnies are fun and engaging for kids, pull the parents in with a clean design, references to the cross (if there will be a message) and verbiage about fun for the WHOLE family.  While I was still working in the church office, my hubby’s clinic set up during our Easter Egg Hunt to do free health screenings.  So, I put both types of information in the flyer that was sent out.  You can see that there are different themes, but balance as well.  I used the same fonts, the same themes, even though each side was aimed at the different audience.  One was more fun for the kids, the other side more serious and clean for the adults.  Finding balance is important in design, but also, communicating your message is important as well.

So, the take away here is to ask questions about what the person you are designing for really wants to communicate.  Make sure you have all the details, but also what their heart is for the ministry or event they want to promote.  This will help you think about elements to include in your design and how you are going to communicate that message through even the flyer or design.