JFlah's Blunders

New sermon series is coming... Attempt 1: I knew it might be a bit too conceptual for Pastor, but I usually try that route first just to prime the pump and then I was hopeful that he'd go with it, so I showed it to him. He's like, "Uh, Jen, reign it in." One of the messages for the series will be on the 2nd coming of Christ and that made me think about how His grace transforms us from "goats" to "sheep" and... yeah, was too conceptual for Pastor since the focus for the series isn't literally on how Christ separates the Sheep and Goats. [background template from Igniter Media] He liked the title text layout/font choices and the dark background so here're the next few proofs: I didn't want to do butterfly imagery since it's so over done... so here's changing leaves... [leaves photo by Chris Lawton ] A moody landscape [image from unsplash by Michael Dam ] Just the text... kinda nice, actually. Mood...

This is the series we're in now - was fun to work on this. Doesn't look like much, but there are lots of layers. Removed original man from dune, added the new guy, fixed the levels and put shadows and highlights on him, added stars overlay and a gradient filter, adjusted more levels/curves again. [Photos: Man by Kian Chow, Dunes by Marko Zupan, Stars by Mark Gee all sourced from unsplash .]

Proofs with the two I liked most at the top... This is the one she chose - definitely my favorite - although she chose the one with the sewing machine for a larger sign she was going to do cut vinyl for. I'm looking forward to seeing these in action. A talented friend asked me to help her with some designs for craft bag tags. If you're interested in seeing some of her side-hustle goods, check out her facebook page .

It's funny how people think differently about things - here are basic ideas I offered for this week's sermon title slide: And here's what Pastor countered with from a google image search: I loved the idea of the hand reaching out from the pile of wadded papers with a help sign - and he wasn't opposed to it, so I was off. This is the first time I've been bold enough to ask for someone to help me with source pictures. Pastor did a great job and sent me come pictures but they weren't quite what I wanted so I took a few too. Pastor and my boss were hand models - used the sleeve from pastor's pics and the hand from my boss's pics, replaced the paper with a picture I took of some crumpled paper, took pics of wadded up paper, worked on shadows and balances and other such and ended up with this:   That awesome "help" font is Befn - don't remember now where I got it - might've been one of those stellar Mon...

This week's sermon topic is Divorce and Remarriage. Created a torn Polaroid photo. This is the toned down final version for the front of the bulletin with a subtle tear of photo. Will probably play with the text arrangement some more, but the image is done. This is the first version of the layout - dynamic tear for the photo. Boss thought it was too scary. Cake Topper Image source credit White background image source credit Love the white background images from there - those images have proven to be some of the most helpful things in my digital tool kit - can use them in conjunction with lots of other stuff and use them as filters to create just enough interest for a solid color background. Inspiration for the torn pic

Black and white is always classy...   Brown is nice too - it's warm and inviting, but not as flexible in relation to design solutions. Who knew slat board could be so cool? The boss came back from a staff retreat and brought me the idea of using a slat wall as a solution for what I've jokingly called his "wall of faces" (loosely translated: it's a wall of pictures for the worship ministry). The pictures have been taken by one of our church members - a very talented photographer - they'll be grayscaled. If the idea is approved, it's going to be nice when it's done. The above images are two of the many mock ups I've done for this wall idea, and I have to say that I like the slat board idea so much better than any of the other media choices we've explored. It will prove to be the most flexible for future things too. Once the boards are up, it won't be hard to install and remove and rearrange pictures and such at will. Surprisingly...

I had the pleasure of making child dedication slides for my sister's children. They were on a very long list of children to be dedicated this year. Every year I take pics parents send for the dedication service and add the dedication verse along with the name. Often it's a challenge. This year the slides are kind of plain, but I think they work. We do child dedication every Mother's Day at work - making the week before Mother's Day a rough one for me. Come to think of it, the month of May is a rough month for that matter. We have Easter either in April or May so there's always extra music ministry work, then the children's choir usually does their spring musical on the first weekend of May. Also in May we have HS Grad recognition service, this baby dedication service and two luncheons (Daisy Chains for Bereaved Mothers and Pearl Girls Luncheon for Single Moms). It's an insanely busy month for me both from a graphic design standpoint and from the typ...