What is it with Candles at Christmas? A Case Study in Intentional Imagery
In a recent post I discussed the importance of intentionality in choosing images for your church graphic design. The foundational idea is that when communicating the message of the Church, ministry leaders must know what they want each image to accomplish as well as how that image will be perceived by the target audience.
In a bit of field research, I came across the following postcards from a prominent church marketing company. While this company offered many designs to choose from for Christmas promotions, a large percentage involved candles.
Anyone who has ever desigend seasonal collateral, myself included, is probably guity of this.
But my questions is this: why candles?
What do they say? What do they do for the target audience? Christians may have some extensive metaphor for Christmas and the light of the world yadda yadda, but do those not familiar with our codes get this?
Is there any motivation for using candles, or are the just easy?
In light of these thoughts (pun intended), I offer a question for use in critiquing your image choices: Does this image most effectively communicate my intended message?
If you answer no or maybe, keep looking.
All images © Outreach
There are 2 Comments to "What is it with Candles at Christmas? A Case Study in Intentional Imagery"
In many Christian traditions candles play a meaningful role in worship. In many Methodist churches and Anglican churches candles are lit in every worship service to represent God’s presence among the people. In the Catholic tradition candles are lit while praying because it is thought that the flame and the smoke carry the prayer to heaven. Often at Christmas many churches will have a candlelight service where candles are lit one by one to symbolize the message of the Gospel being spread to everyone. Perhaps the assumption is that the target audience has experienced candles in worship at some point. Perhaps no thought is given to the audience and candles are used because of there common place in worship. Maybe it is thought that candles offer a warmth and aesthetic that are welcoming. I’m not sure…it is definitely a thought provoking question.
Will, thanks for the perspective on the historical significance of candles. This kind of information is helpful as we all try to think deeply about the images and metaphors we use in our communications.