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Branding Guide

Presence People. Passion.

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Table of Contents5) Brand Overview

6) Logo Rationale

8) Logo Specifications - Main Logo

10) Logo Specifications - Minimal Logo

12) Colour Pallette

14) Imagery

16) Texture and Feel

18) Examples: Signage Power Point Web and Digital 21) Sub Branding

24) Final Thoughts

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We are about people encountering God’s presence and pursuing him with passion.

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Brand Overview

City on a Hill is about having a relationship with God that’s not about ideas or rit-uals. It’s about experiencing the authentic love and freedom of the father’s heart and enjoying it together

Our brand identiy is built around our three core values: Presence. People. Passion.

This brand guideline outlines ways to keep this message consistant across all of the encounters people have with our church. Whether it’s joining us for a sunday service, or checking out a small group, or viewing our webpage, each encounter we have with a person should say the same thing:

We are about people encountering God’s presence and pursuing him with passion.

Each element of the design from the logo to the typography has been selcted purposefully to represent these values. This should form a basis of how the church represents itself to people, with room to grow as our congregation and impact on the Vancouver region grows.

Our brand has to accomplish two main goals:

First and foremost it must function as an externally facing tool to reach our wider city. A city on a hill is not easily hidden, and our brand must first and foremost annouce to Vancouver that God’s presence is here. The brand should grab peoples attention, and communicate our core values simply and effectively to allow people the freedom to join us in our pursuit of God. We are a witness to what God is doing, and our brand should be a parable that invites new people in to this encounter with God.

Second, our brand must function as an internal tool that helps build communi-ty within our church. We belong to something greater than ourselves. God’s church is global, and we are first and foremost citizens of His Kingdom, but we are equally part of it’s local expression at City on a Hill. The brand should help people feel a sense of belonging in our community.

The design of our brand should not be flashy or showy. We are not in compe-tition with the advertising media of the day. Our creative brand output should reflect confidence in who we are, and not fight for peoples attention.

Some specific notes:

•Our brand strays away from common Christian symbolism, or attempts to interpret it in a new way. We love our Christian heritage, but seek to host new encounters with new symbols in our design

•Our brand is always clean and professional, but also must always carry a strong sense of our humanity and personal touch.

•Our brand is never over-deisgned for the sake show. Each element is thought-fully considered to allow God to shine through, not the hand of the artist

•Our brand is focused on clarity of one message: Presence. People. Passion.

Although the brand guideline should be followed as much as possible, it must also be challenged or changed every so often especially if the church is ex-periencing something new with God. At the end of the day the brand is not immutable rules that must be followed without question. This brand guideline is more like a cook book than a manual. Change or adapt elements when the Holy Spirit or God compels you to do so. Because that’s where our identity comes from: God and not the brand guideline.

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RationaleThe logo for City on a Hill is designed to represent our three core values: presence, people, passion. Each element in the logo is de-signed to point to these three values, though presence is depicted in each one to affirm that God’s presence is the heart of our church.

The Logo

The Tri-StarPeople: We are the light of the world. A city on a hill is not easily hidden. The star first and foremost represents who we are in the logo: we are the light.

The star imagery in scripture is used to an-nounce the birth of Jesus, the moment when God’s presence flooded this earth.

The MountainsPassion: Representing the mountains of influence that we are called to pursue with passion. Our church seeks to help people find their vocation, or deep calling in God, and equip them to pursue it with their full hearts.

Mountain imagery in scripture represents the holy meeting places with God. From Moses in the Old Testament, to Jesus inviting the three to witness his transfiguration, moun-tains are where we find God’s presence.

The TentPresence: The tent is a shelter, a place of refuge. Our logo is surrounded by the tent to represent that as a church, we are envel-oped by the presence of God and live in his security.

Before the tabernacle, there was a Tent of Meeting where God would meet with Moses and a pillar of cloud would come down and rest at the entrance. As a church, we seek this same presence to rest on us.

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Main LogoThe main logo should be the primary mark of COAH and is to be used in favour of the minimal mark whenever possible.

Minimum SizeThe minimum vertical size will be•1” for print media•80px for digital media

SpacingThe capital “H” from “Hill” should create a border surrounding the logo within which no other design element apprears.

1” 80px

Logo Specifications

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Improper Usage1. Don’t strech the logo. The triangle should be a perfect equalateral.

2. Don’t change the text in the centre of the trainge. Only the proper word-mark should appear here.

3. Don’t apply any style effects (bev-els, glows, etc) to the logo. A simple clean line is all that should be used.

4. Don’t change the colour. The logo should appear in white or balck.

5. Don’t use the logo at extremely small sizes. Instead, use the minimal logo

6. Don’t use a blend effect. It should always appear 100% opaque on any background.

Small Groups

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

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Logo Specifications

Minimal LogoThe minimal logo is a secondary logo to be used in instances where the main logo would not be appropriate, or would be difficult to implement. It serves asa simple geometric symbol of the church, without clutter of imag-ery or wordmark. When used appropriately it helps reinforce the main brand that is centred around God’s presence.

SizingThis logo can be used at most any size, but should primary stick to smaller sizes where the main logo would be to small.

Important: As the size of the minimal logo decreases, the lines at the top must be ex-tended outward to maintain visual congruen-cy. The weight of the line must also decrease, though this logo can have either a thick or thin stroke.

Extend these lines as the size decreases This depicts the

effect if you don’t extend the lines

UsageUse this logo to watermark images, for small icons, before names in motion video, and in any other instance where there is to be a branding, but the main logo is already in use.

Do not use this in any material where the main logo is not also visable.

www.coah.ca

Charles AnVP of Keeping it Real

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Colour Palette

RationaleAlthough the colour palette is earth tones or pastels, it doesn’t mean our relationship with God and with each other is diluted or desaturated in any way. It just means we are satisfied and secure in our identity and our relationship with him as well as with our-selves and each other. Life is not always fire works and neon colours. it’s a journey and a process with God as well as with ourselves and each other. He refines us from bright rough edges to a smooth and defined finish.

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Imagery

PeopleAs much as possible, our images used in marketing and branding should contain people. City on a Hill is defined as the people who belong to our community.

AVOID: •images of people in static poses •images of people who don’t attend City on a Hill church •images that contain only one visible ethnicity

SEEK: •images of people doing things (praying, worshiping, playing, laughing) •images of all ages in our church •images that contain diversity of ethnicity.

The images above don’t work. The first image depicts a static pose with no movement. The second fails to depict ethnic diversity within our church. Both images are oversaturated.

The images in the right column do work. They depict action and diversity. They con-vey a sense of reverence for God, worship, and fun and enjoyment.

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MountainsWhen images of people may not be appropri-ate, use of mountain imagery can be employed. “Presence” is expressed by the feeling of sacredness that mountains create for people.

AVOID: •sharp images of mountains •over saturated or HDR images •mountains that are too snowy (don’t communicate coldness)

SEEK: •images that are soft •images with fog, or a ‘glow’ quality •desaturated or monochromatic images •images that convey warmth and holiness

The images above don’t work becuase they are oversaturated, cold, and too sharp.

The images in the right column do work. They are appropriately coloured, and have a glowing quality that conveys God’s presence.

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Texture & FeelTextures help define the feel of a brand by helping create tactile and sensory connections to it.

The City on Hill Church brand should use these three main textures to help connect with people.

The use of textures should be reflected across all of our brand experiences: digital media, print, merchan-dise, etc.

Overall, the feel of the brand should be muted, dark, subdued, with the stark whiteness of the logo standing out. Light in the darkness is the main feel or effect we should aim for.

Rough Fabric / NetsNetting and rough fabric hcombines the soft encounter of a textile with the unfinished ‘handmade’ quality outlines in our brand. It creates an experience of invitation in the same way people are drawn to touch inter-esting fabrics in a store, we want people to touch and interact with City on a Hill

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StoneStone is the most unfished texture. It creates an experience of the natural world touched only by God, while delivering a sense of cold-ness. This texture should be used carfully. It should never overpower the other two. It can be helpful to draw attention to our ex-perience of ‘lostness’ and our brand should equally communicate a place to be found by God.

WoodWood should be a primary texture used in our branding. It has a feeling of timelessness, growth, the natural world, strength, and soft-ness. Wood is a familiar texture for people, and also a familiar smell. This texture helps engage a number of our senses at once.

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Example:Outdoor SignageOutdoor signage should be simple, clean, no texture. It should have 3 main elements:

1) Our church name and logo

2) Service times clearly indicated

3) Our website so people can learn more

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Example:Power Point

Sermon SeriesSermon Series slides can include a full image and colour. The typogrpahy should remian the same, with distinction being expressed through creative imagery and colour choice (remaining within the colour guidlines of the brand)

Other SlidesAll other slide should be black with simple typogrpahy. Textures can be used but must be feathered out to black around the edges. This is to create the cleanest look on screen, and to draw attention away from the ‘pow-er point’ feel of rectangular borders of the screen.

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www.coah.ca

People, Presence, Passion

Example:Online PresenceThe website should revolve around two primary functions:

1) Giving financially for church members

2) Information on ways to connect with our church

One main event or idea is promoted, with two or three smaller ones further down.

Our facebook page should be kept simple, and our profile image should be our logo on a black back-ground. The cover image may change, but should always retain our core values and be presented in black and white. This will allow for our content, which can have colour, to be emphasized.

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Example:Sub-branding

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Example:Sub-brandingSub-branding should carry over major qualities of the main brand. Any sub brand that is created should centre aroudn the central idea of God’s Presence, and help enhance the main brand of City on a Hill. Design elements should carry a similar stylistic approach and should be easily identifiable as part of the overall City on a Hill brand.

Specific Sub-branding

This type of sub-branding should be used for events and smaller projects. Examples would be the Be-loved retreat, or the blessing challenege. It should carry over almost all of the elements of the main brand. Typography should be consistant with the larger brand, as well as stylistic choices.

Larger Sub-brands These sub-brands would include major ministries of the church like Kingdom Kids and Community Groups. These brands should feature a distinct logo or word mark but should be identiable by the inclu-sion of the unique ‘tent’ element with two lines cross over each other as pictured below.

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Final ThoughtsThank you for the opportunity to help shape the brand message of City on a Hill. It has been an honour to work together on this guideline and to help create something new and unique in the landscape of church branding. We are passionate about the direction of City on a Hill, it’s vision, and it’s leaders. To be able to participate in such a significant way has meant a great deal. We hope you find the final brand to be reflective of where we are as a community, and inspirational as to where we are headed with God’s Spirit.

May you as a leadership team find even greater clarity in your vision for City on a Hill, and may God give you even greater wisdom to express it and call many to follow him in this. May this work included here be a blessing to our community, but also a great announcement to Vancouver that the Father of all is present in our city, and doing mighty works in our very midst.

Thank you again for allowing us to be a part of this journey under your leadership.

Ros & Barron

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