Graphics are probably more important now than they've ever been. Remember when all you had to choose from was the clip art that came with Microsoft Word? Thank goodness those days are long since over.
With Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram just to name a few visually-driven social media network, graphics are a big deal and can have huge ministry impact.
While some churches might have a graphics designer on staff, I'm willing to bet that the majority don't. That's why I've gathered some DIY church graphics resources that can benefit that volunteer, part-time communications volunteer, or even pastor who does everything from soup to nuts.
Design Tools:
Canva
Canva is a nearly free graphics design site that give you templates for blog graphics, Facebook headers, social media, presentations, and much more. You can upload your own images or pay $1 for many wonderful images in their system. With templates and plenty of snappy fonts, this site will juice up your ministry. This site allows you to design right on their site and download your files to your computer when you're done.
Pixlr
Pixlr is another great design tool that allows you to add text, change size, and much, much more. You can launch the web app right from their site and be designing like a pro in minutes. This site also allows you to design right on their site and download your files to your computer when you're done.
Images:
Unsplash
Unsplash offers 10 new high quality images every ten days. They have lots of inspiring nature photos and beautiful, pro-quality photos.
Lightstock
Lightstock is a newer stock image site that offers photos and videos for the faith market. I love that their images are thoughtful and “cheese” free. They also take requests if you're looking for shots they don't have. They offer a free image and video once a week if you sign up for their email list. Images are very affordable and of excellent quality.
iStockPhoto
If you can't find the image you're looking for for free and you can't find it on Lightstock, your next move could be to look on iStockPhoto. That's what we do and we usually find anything and everything on this site. The prices are a bit higher, but it's easy enough to choose a smaller image for less credits and download for current and future use.
Other:
CreationSwap
CreationSwap is the fastest growing community to find free and stock church media. Thousands of artists come to generously share their work with churches and pastors around the world.
More Free Church Graphics:
Great list over at ChurchRelevance.com