NewSpring Leadership Conference is All About Patterns!

This is just how I think, ok? So, if you’ve got a few seconds to burn then follow me down this rabbit hole for a second…
Engineering, VideoTitle Package from Andy Stanley’s ‘White Flag’ Series
Inside North Point’s Media Blog posted the title package video to Andy Stanley’s ‘White Flag’ series this morning:
The series is about Jonah and how he ran from God. We wanted to show a character running endlessly and becoming more and more exhausted. Additionally, the subject was to end up in increasingly desolate environments.
The reveal at the end would show a white flag. We wanted the viewer to see the subject running, becoming beat down by the run and eventually surrendering.
And yes, that is me running wildly around downtown Atlanta. Looking tired was easy since I’m an overweight blogger.
I mean, true authentic acting!
You can see the package in all it’s glory after the jump. Laugh at me in the comments.
Creatives, Design5 Design Tips to Make Your Church Website Kick Butt
Designing for a ministry is tough work; there’s much more to consider than just making sure people click through and buy your product and service (or whatever a business is trying to do).
We’re trying to capture people’s attention to what’s most important in life and we’ve got a message to die for.
As a result, we should be the arbiters of good web design strategy and techniques, right? Here are 5 Design Tips that I’ve learned in the past few years that have helped me greatly:
Creatives, DesignFaithful and Stylish: Red is White
Red is White is a unique and interesting concept where designers can upload images to be printed on clothing to be rated and voted on by the community. The winners get their stuff printed and get paid!

Environments, ExperiencesHow to Plan for The Awkward Silence (and Not Have Them)
Does this sound familiar?
A staff member or volunteer just gave some announcements, and now it’s time for offering. A few moments pass. Increasingly uncomfortable.
Ok, it just got awkward. Someone forgot their cue, timing is off, no one is coming to the mic, there’s obvious concern, but no one knows who’s supposed to call and/or pray for the tithes and offering.
In fact, the only thing that’s pulled everyone’s attention away from the awkward situation is the guy towards the back who is doing “the nervous cough.” Murmuring starts and finally someone, anyone steps up and does the job.
Don’t Burn Your Web Designer Out!

Most of us are pretty used to working on the weekends. In fact, most of us probably see Saturday and Sunday as opportunities to “catch up.”
I think ministries and churches can too easily take advantage of our good nature and have us work on the weekends. In fact, it can be even harder since a lot of us work on Sunday as part of the ministry!
We’re Not Designers, We’re Developers!

I thought this might be an interesting piece to put here on Create (rather than Crunch) for those design-types.
In fact, this might be a generally good resource to pass around your office or organization about “web developers” in general. As you well know, web developers aren’t web designers.
Sometimes there’s a merging of the two in a specific “rockstar” genius, but typically not.
Here’s a list of of what a web developer is and isn’t. Go on, send this to someone who “needs” to know…
Creatives, DesignRe-Thinking Form Design
Forms aren’t really where most people sit and down and create robust strategy documents and roadmaps, but maybe it should be.
It’s interesting: We spend a lot of time banking on the information we get from forms but spend little time making them intuitive, manageable and *gasp* attractive!
An interesting study done notes that changing up the style of the form design results in a 25-40% increase of conversion!
Wow. Take a look:



