Using Traditional Art in a Modern World - Saint Covers
In December 2022, we launched a new bulletin cover series featuring images of Catholic saints paired with a quote from the saint.
Feedback from some of the many churches we serve helps give us a perspective on what churches want to see in the art we offer. Often although a church may love Catholic traditional forms of faith expression, the parish also cares about appealing to families and young people in their neighborhoods. We wanted to strike a balance between those two desires — to honor and uphold familiar images while also thinking outside of the box with a design that can capture the attention of both the churched and non-churched alike. A steep challenge, but our designers were up for it! The results have been stunning, so we took the time to sit down with the project’s main designer, Gaby, to learn more.
Q. Hi Gaby, thank you so much for talking with us today! First-off, what is your official position at LPi and what does it entail?
A.
Hi! I’ve been with LPi for almost three years now. I started as a graphic design intern and now I’m a full-time graphic designer working with publications, brandings, web design, and art and content, including this saint cover series.
Q. Why did LPi decide to make this cover series?
A.
The whole idea behind the saint bulletin cover series was to create a cover design for churches that has a much more modern-looking approach. For this series, that means that the image, text, and other elements all interact with each other in the design and are accompanied by a vibrant color pallet. The series features saints, sometimes based on their feast day, but they could also be featured because the quote being used connects in some way to that week’s Scripture.
Q. What have you enjoyed about being the designer of this series?
A. As a designer, I personally gravitate toward the feel of more modern designs, so this series is right up my ally. I’ve enjoyed the fact that I get to play more with color and collage. Discovering new color combinations to use in each cover has been fun and I’ve enjoyed the challenge of creating really vibrant designs for our church communities.
Q. What cover has been your favorite so far and why?
A.
This month, my favorite has been the St. Alphonsus Liguori cover because I love the quote that we included from him. I’m a Christian so sometimes these quotes are fun for me to design around. This one reminded me that living my faith doesn’t have to be super difficult or over-complicated. In seasons where we may not feel like we are hearing God or feeling God’s presence, this quote is a wonderful reminder that there is nothing easier than just talking to Him.
Q. Is there anything that you would like our customers to know about this series? What do you hope churches will get out of these covers?
A. I hope that the churches who use these bulletin covers start to feel that they can experiment with more modern graphic design while also featuring a historic Church figure like a saint. Modern art and design within the Church can cater to a diverse population of age groups and cultures, inspire conversation, and still get the point across of how important these saints are to our faith. In general, with this cover series we integrate modern and up-to-date designs that still honor the beloved traditional culture of the Catholic Church. Another point to note is that we didn’t include dates on the covers so a church can use one of the these covers for any week of the year.
Thanks, Gaby for the inside look at this special cover series! You can see all this year’s previous saint covers available for use in our WeCreate library here.
If your parish doesn’t currently have access to WeCreate, check out this short demo to see if this incredible resource is right for you!
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