Divine Designs: Successful Church Logos Our Designers Loved Making and Why

One of our favorite tasks to work on here at LPi is creating church logos and brandings! Whether a parish is simply updating their old logo or diving into a completely new design, our team of designers is there to guide them until their new brand is perfect. This week, we had an opportunity to interview a few of our designers about the logos they’ve created for parishes that they consider to be their favorite designs. Before we reveal these strong church logo designs and why each logo is so successful though, let’s quickly review what makes a strong parish logo.

According to our LPi multimedia design team, a strong, memorable, and well-made church logo should include:

• A good composition that can be recognized at a large or small scale. It should be easily read and recognized from far away and up-close.
  
  
• Strong brand-recognition. If there’s another church down the road with a very similar logo, it can cause confusion to the community and for parishioners.

• Colors that represent the “feel” and “atmosphere” of the church, so if the church is more traditional or more modern, the style of the logo and the colors used should be a direct representation of that.

• A timeless design. Choosing a logo that is too “trendy” can be an issue when, a few years down the road, it may end up looking off-trend or outdated.

• Intentional design elements. Choosing a logo that is too complicated or includes too many elements can also make it hard to read and remember.

Now, on to the logos that our designers chose to highlight! Three members of our design team chose a logo that they created and kindly answered a few questions about why that particular logo is a strong design.



Heidi’s Choice:

What, in your opinion, makes this a strong logo?

This particular logo is strong for a few reasons. One is because it’s fully customized. You’re very unlikely to see another logo that is similar in the same region that Our Lady Queen of Peace is in or even beyond. Because of this, the logo is also more likely to be memorable and helps to create brand recognition and loyalty for the parish. Another thing that makes it a strong logo is that its design is simplistic enough that it can be easily understood at a distance. 

What were some of the hopes and goals of the church going into this design and how did the design satisfy those goals?

The parish wanted to use Marian imagery and the University’s colors in their design. Their idea was that this would help tie their two church communities and their educational campus together. They also wanted to represent peace with a dove and/or olive branch. We were able to include all of these requests in the final design!

What do you personally like about this logo?

I like how when a viewer looks at the logo from far away, they immediately see a dove but when they look at it up-close, they see more — Mary, the crown, and the olive branch. This makes the logo unique and interesting. I also love the soft, calming color palette that matches well with the subject.



Evan’s Choice:

What, in your opinion, makes this a strong logo?

This is a strong logo because of its unique use of negative space, and the fact that the primary text is integrated into the logo. It incorporates a water element which balances out the upper portion that features the architecture of the church. The two shades of blue are contrasted with a fresh green which together creates an engaging pallet, and an engaging feel for the parish.

What were some of the hopes and goals of the church going into this design and how did the design satisfy those goals?

The folks at San Juan Del Rio wanted to incorporate a river into the logo, so I included that in the design. The parish also wanted their logo to feel welcoming. One of the most welcoming colors psychologically is green, so I went with a friendly green that balanced out the blue hues.

What do you personally like about this logo?

When working on this logo I also wanted all of the line work inside the image to create movement throughout the logo. I also enjoy the modern colors. They are unique and I think they create a sense of excitement!



 Gaby's Choice:

What, in your opinion, makes this a strong logo?

I think the overall simplicity of the logo is what makes it so strong! It can be difficult for a designer to illustrate a religious figure, especially the saints. We often get paintings or stained-glass images as references that are complex and busy. We have to make sure to capture their likeness in our design as well as include any small details that are often associated with that figure and that can be challenging. For example, they might be seen with a flower, or a certain type of crucifix, and those elements can sometimes be hard to pull off at such a small scale. For reason, I think that this logo was a success — not only because is it recognizable as the figure, but it is so simple and iconic that a viewer is able to point out what each element is and the purpose each serves for the whole design!

What were some of the hopes and goals of the church going into this design and how did the design satisfy those goals?

For this branding, the customer specifically requested that the logo be done in an illustrative style of design. They wanted the logo to include the figure Our Lady of LaSalette as well as the hammer and pincers associated with the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. I satisfied their wishes by having the sole focus of the logo be a zoomed-in version of Our Lady of LaSalette’s face. By taking an up-close approach to the design, I was able to fit in all the details that make her recognizable: her crown with roses, the single tear running down her face, and her crucifix that she wears around her neck with the hammer and pincers. None of this could’ve been achieved if I would have tried to illustrate her whole body.

What do you personally like about this logo?

I think this logo is one of my strongest so far. Fun fact about this one — I had originally started with a completely different design, hated it, asked a fellow coworker for some advice, then started over from scratch. My favorite thing about this logo was the process. Seeing where it started to where it ended up was very rewarding for me! Especially since I don’t consider this illustrative style my strongest, I decided to take this challenge head-on. Typically, iconic logos are my favorite to design, so it was fun combining the illustrative and iconic styles into one piece. I also chose specifically to only use one color for this logo to push the simplicity even further and I am very pleased with how it turned out!

Like what you see? There are number of other samples of church logos we’ve designed on our website. If your parish is ready for a logo refresh or a complete rebranding, you can learn more and get the process started with this brochure.

Want to learn more about logos and branding for parishes? Dive into the "Art and Design" section of our blog!
Updated on 03-18-2024