How I Design a Sermon Series from Start to Finish
Okay, y'all — if there's one thing I genuinely love doing, it's designing a sermon series. There's something so special about taking a pastor's vision and turning it into something your whole church is going to see every single weekend. It's a big deal, and I don't take it lightly.
So I want to walk you through exactly how I approach this from start to finish, because I think a lot of churches don't realize how much goes into it — and a lot of designers don't have a clear system. Let's change both of those things today.
Step 1: The Discovery Conversation
Everything starts with a conversation. Before I open a single design program, I sit down — either in person or on a call — with the pastor or communications director and just listen. I want to know the theme, the feel, the Scripture references, and any specific imagery that's already coming to mind. I also ask what they don't want — that's honestly just as important.
Some questions I love asking: What's the one thing you want people to feel when they see this series? Is there a color palette already tied to this message? Do you have any specific design inspiration in mind?
Step 2: Research and Mood Boarding
Once I've got the vision, I go into research mode. I'll look at what other churches are doing, pull together fonts and color palettes that feel right, and create a simple mood board to share before I start designing. This step saves so much back-and-forth later, because we're aligned before any real design work begins.
Step 3: Designing the Main Graphic
This is where the fun starts. I design the main series graphic first — the one that'll anchor everything else. I usually present two or three directions so the client has options without feeling overwhelmed. Once we land on a direction, I refine it until it's exactly right.
Step 4: Building Out the Suite
A sermon series graphic doesn't live in just one place. It needs to work for in-person and streaming lower thirds, a social media post, a screen background, and sometimes a banner or print piece. I build out the full suite from the approved main graphic so everything feels cohesive and on-brand.
Step 5: Delivery and Handoff
I will typically use Google Drive to hand off deliverables. I do offer PSD and Canva files depending on the level of designer the church has working on their team. Some churches only have volunteers, so recreating files into Canva allows their team to take what they need & keep creating new content.
The whole process usually takes about one to two weeks from kick-off to delivery, depending on the scope. And honestly? When I see that series up on screen during service, it never gets old. That's why I do this work.
If your church is planning an upcoming series and needs design support, I'd love to chat. You can reach out through my contact page — I'm always happy to hop on a call and talk through what you need.
