It’s all very well having a process, and knowing what you want to produce, but what about when it comes time to actually coming up with the goods? What do you use to make good quality design and creative that doesn’t cost the earth?
In the last of our series on producing effective design for your church we suggest a few free, and cheap options* for creating the best possible content on a tight budget.
1. Inspiration
Every good design starts with an idea, but how do you know where to begin? Below are a few sites to help get you started.
Pinterest
The grandaddy of them all, Pinterest is like an endless pinboard made up of everything it’s users find interesting.
Behance
Adobe’s portfolio site. You can find content from the world’s very best creative minds all in one spot.
Dribbble
Kind of in-between the above two, the world’s top designers and illustrators share ‘screens’ of their most recent projects.
2. Creation
Now the hard work starts, but these options should make the process easier.
Canva
Free online design editor, even available on your phone. This is the go to app for creating quick designs, especially social media posts.
GIMP
If you can get past the ‘unusual’ name, this is a free photo editing program to rival Photoshop in terms of raw power.
Affinity Creative Suite
Inexpensive, but extremely powerful design tools to rival Adobe’s best. There is a small cost for each of these, but Affinity regularly holds sales offering up to 50% off.
3. Learning
It can be intimidating to learn new software and new skills, but the internet offers countless options to help you get started.
Youtube
You can find a wealth of in-depth videos from everything on how to get started with Photoshop (or GIMP) to building and hosting a website. Whatever you need to know you will find it here.
Udemy
An online tutorial site, which offers very clear in-depth online learning on a huge range of topics, taking you from beginner to expert. The courses are paid for, but there are regular sales, and the courses offer very good value-for-money.
So there you have it. We hope you now have a better understanding of the importance of good design and creative, and actually how straightforward it is to produce.
Obviously though we understand that church staff are usually busy and rarely have the time to spend on these sorts of things, and that’s why we exist.
If you’re looking to get some graphic design produced for your church we can help, and it probably won’t cost nearly as much as you might think.
Why not get in touch, and speak to us about what you need? A consultation is free of charge with no obligation to take things further, and it might just offer you the inspiration you need to take your design further!
*We do not get paid any advertising or commission for suggesting these products. We have used them all, and think they’re useful for creating good content on the cheap.
