Make something brand-true without a designer in the room.
A self-service kit for staff who suddenly need to make a graphic, and make it look like us. Logos, colors, fonts, tools, and walkthroughs, all in one place so you can move fast and still feel confident hitting publish.
Start here. Always.
Every project starts with the same three questions: what logo, what colors, what font? Here are the answers, with one-click downloads of everything you'll need.
Color
Click hex to copyType
The Asset Library
Everything in the right format, ready to drop into Canva or your design tool of choice.
All lockups, all color variations, PNG + SVG
↗Proxima Nova and Caliway are the fonts you can install. Abril and Forma DJR are available in Canva's brand kit.
↗Approved photography of Radiant life. Coming soon. In the meantime, use stock sources.
↗The full deck. When you want the deep dive.
Say it like you'd say it at the Welcome Desk. No "guests" or "visitors." No churchy acronyms without explanation. Active voice. Clear call-to-action. Less is more.
Where to make it. Where to find it.
A curated set of tools and image sources. Canva is the home base. Everything else is a supply closet you can pull from when Canva's built-in library isn't cutting it.
Canva
Your home base for 95% of what you'll make. Use the Radiant brand kit (under "Brand") to access approved logos, colors, and fonts in two clicks. If Canva has a template for it, start there. Don't build from scratch.
Motion & SlidesChurch Motion Graphics
High-quality motion backgrounds, sermon bumpers, and worship loops built for church use. The best source for anything that moves on the screens during services. Jordan and Jerome have accounts. Ask either of them for login access.
Inspiration & AssetsMotionArray
Huge library of video templates, motion graphics, stock footage, and design inspiration. Great for seeing what's possible before you start building. Jordan has an account. Ask him for login access.
Stock PhotosUnsplash
Free, high-quality photography. Great for backgrounds and context shots. Always skim for "real, not staged," and avoid anything that reads as a stock cliché.
Stock PhotosPexels
Alternate library when Unsplash comes up short. Slightly different catalog, same quality bar. Good for video B-roll too.
Church-specificFreely
Church-specific graphics, sermon series art, and social templates. Free to use, made by other churches. Useful when you need something that already "feels" ministry.
Church-specificChurch Media Drop
Another free library of church-ready media. Curate with care, because not everything fits our voice, but there are gems.
Start your accounts.
Before you can make anything, you'll need two accounts: Claude (your AI writing partner) and Canva (your design tool). Both have free tiers that cover almost everything staff needs. Set up takes about 10 minutes end to end.
Sign up for Claude
Claude is an AI assistant. Think of it as a writing partner who's fast, patient, and never tired.
- Go to
claude.ai - Click Sign up and use your church email
- Verify your email and set a password
- The Free plan is all you need to start
- Heads up: the fullest Canva experience (inline previews) requires Claude Pro. Free works for writing, prompts, and connecting to Canva.
Sign up for Canva
Canva is where you'll actually build the graphic. Drag-and-drop, templates, no design degree needed.
- Go to
canva.com - Click Sign up, use the same church email you used for Claude
- The Free plan covers the basics
Connect them together
This is what unlocks the workflow in Section 04. Takes about a minute.
- In Claude, click your initials (top-right), then Settings
- Select Connectors from the sidebar
- Find Canva in the list and click Connect
- Approve the connection when Canva asks
- Back in Claude, start a new chat and toggle Canva on
Canva + Claude, together.
Once Claude and Canva are connected, you can describe what you need in plain English and Claude will build an on-brand Canva design for you. This is the fastest path from idea to publishable graphic. Especially for the brand-new-to-design among us.
How it works.
Open Claude, turn the Canva connector on for the chat, describe what you want. Claude talks to Canva behind the scenes, pulls your Brand Kit, and creates the design. You open it in Canva to finish.
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Start a new chat in Claude
Go to
claude.aiand click the new chat icon. -
Turn on the Canva connector
Click the settings icon in the chat window. Find Canva and toggle it on for this conversation.
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Describe what you need
Be specific: what it's for, the size, the headline, the date, the tone. Copy a starter prompt from the right.
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Claude builds it
You'll get a link to open the design in Canva. It'll use the Radiant Brand Kit automatically.
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Tweak and export
Adjust copy, swap the photo, fix spacing. Then export from Canva as PNG, JPG, or PDF.
Try one of these.
Edit the bracketed parts, paste into Claude with the Canva connector turned on.
Canva: to signal you want a visual, not text. Example: "Canva: create a 1080×1080 Instagram post for..." Specific prompts produce dramatically better results than vague ones.
Your new writing partner.
Canva's not the only reason to use Claude. For the thing most of us dread (writing the words), Claude is a patient co-author. Headlines, captions, email copy, alt text, shortened drafts. Paste the prompts below, tap any one to copy, then edit the output to sound like you.
Draft an Instagram caption
For when you have the photo but the caption is staring back at you blankly.
Write a flyer headline
Trade three mediocre options for one great one.
Turn an announcement into stage copy
For whoever is on stage this Sunday.
Shorten something that's too long
Less is more. Always.
Five recipes. Pick one and go.
Most of what staff needs to make falls into one of these buckets. Pick the closest match, follow the steps, ship it. Prefer the fast path? Try the Canva + Claude shortcut in Section 04 first, then use these steps to fine-tune the result.
Social Post
Instagram / Facebook square or vertical. The one you'll make most often.
- Square
- 1080 × 1080 px
- Story / Reel
- 1080 × 1920 px
- Format
- PNG (image) or MP4 (video)
- Caption
- Under 150 characters, one CTA
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01
Start in Canva with a template
Open Canva → search "Instagram post" → filter by "square" or "story." Don't build from blank. If you see something close to the vibe, duplicate it and adapt.
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02
Apply the Radiant brand kit
Left sidebar →
Brand→ swap fonts to Proxima Nova and colors to the brand palette. Replace any stock logo with the Radiant logo from the Brand tab. -
03
One message. One image. One CTA.
If you have two things to say, make two posts. Cut anything that isn't the main point. The CTA is specific ("Register at radiantchristianlife.church/one-day"), not generic ("Learn more").
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04
Draft the caption with Claude
Use the Instagram caption prompt in section 03. Paste the result, then edit in your voice.
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05
Run the pre-publish checklist
Section 05. Every time. No exceptions.
Announcement Slide
For the pre-service loop, mid-service announcement screens, or post-service slides.
- Size
- 1920 × 1080 px (16:9)
- Format
- PNG or MP4
- Text
- Minimum 60px font size, so it reads from the back row
- Safe area
- Keep text 100px from edges
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01
Use the Radiant slide template in Canva
Canva → Templates → search "Radiant Slide" (shared in the team workspace). Don't reinvent the layout. It exists for consistency.
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02
Pick a background strategy
Solid brand color, a motion loop from Church Motion Graphics, or a high-quality photo with a dark overlay. Never white plus plain text. That feels like a flyer, not a slide.
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03
Headline → subhead → CTA → QR
That's the hierarchy. Headline in Forma DJR or Abril (whichever the tool offers), subhead in Proxima. CTA with a specific next step. QR code in the bottom corner if there's a link.
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04
Export at 1920 × 1080
PNG for static, MP4 for motion. Double-check by previewing full-screen. If text looks cramped, make it bigger.
Flyer & Handout
Printed 8.5×11 handouts, bulletin inserts, half-sheets.
- Full page
- 8.5 × 11 in
- Half sheet
- 5.5 × 8.5 in
- 300 DPI, CMYK preferred
- Bleed
- 0.125 in if sending to a printer
- Background
- Solid white preferred (per brand guide)
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01
Start with white space, not color
Brand guide is clear: solid white, texture-free backgrounds are preferred for print. Whitespace is the design.
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02
Build the hierarchy
One headline at the top. One hero image or graphic. Short body copy (bullets, not paragraphs). CTA at the bottom with URL and contact person.
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03
Logo placement
Bottom of the flyer, with 0.5 in of clear space on all sides. Horizontal lockup by default. Never stretched, rotated, or resized to fit a corner.
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04
URL, not "scan here"
Write
radiantchristianlife.church/vbs. No "www." and no "click here." Add a QR code if space allows. -
05
Export as PDF for print
Canva → Share → Download → PDF Print. If it's going to an outside printer, include bleed.
Event Graphic
The hero image for an upcoming initiative (One Day, a retreat, a series launch). Used across web, social, email, and print.
- Web hero
- 1920 × 1080 px
- Social
- 1080 × 1080 px
- Email header
- 1200 × 600 px
- 8.5 × 11 in @ 300 DPI
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01
Decide: sub-brand or Radiant brand?
Initiatives like "One Day" and "15 Days of Prayer" have their own visual identity that sits alongside Radiant's. If your event has existing art, use it. If not, use the Radiant brand kit.
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02
Design the square first, then resize
If it works as a 1080×1080 social post, it'll scale to everything else. Build the 1:1 version, then duplicate and resize for each output.
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03
Include: name, date, one-line hook
That's the whole graphic. Don't add the address, time, schedule, speakers, etc. That's what the landing page is for.
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04
Ship the set together
Export all sizes at once and save them to the event's shared folder. Future-you (or your coworker) will thank present-you.
Internal Signage
Room signs, wayfinding, "this room is reserved," printed notices around the building.
- Most common
- 8.5 × 11 in, portrait or landscape
- Black ink on white unless color is essential
- Font
- Proxima Nova Bold for readability at distance
- Min. body size
- 24 pt if readable from 6 ft away
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01
Clarity first, pretty second
Signage has one job: communicate quickly. Big text, lots of whitespace, one clear message. If someone has to read twice, it failed.
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02
Use the Canva signage template
In the shared Canva workspace under "RCL Signage." Already has the right fonts, spacing, and a spot for the logo.
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03
Logo bottom-right, small
It signals who made the sign without stealing focus. Use the horizontal lockup in slate.
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04
Print and tape it up
Export as PDF, print on the office printer, done. If it's going to be up for more than a week, consider laminating.
Before you hit publish.
Tap each item to check it off. If any answer is "no," fix it before it goes out. This is the single best thing you can do to keep things brand-true while Bradley's out.
Logo looks right
Correct colors. Not stretched, rotated, or glowing. At least 0.5 in / 120 px of clear space.
Colors are from the palette
No rogue colors picked from someone's shirt. Pull from Section 01.
Fonts are approved
Proxima Nova (the default), Abril, Forma DJR, or Caliway (accents only). If a font isn't available, Proxima is always the safe call.
No "visitor" or "guest"
Use "if you're worshiping with us for the first time…" or similar inclusive language.
One clear call-to-action
Specific and actionable. Not "click here." Not "learn more."
URL is clean
No "www." in print content. Use radiantchristianlife.church/page.
Image quality holds up
Not pixelated. Not stretched. If it's a photo of people, focus on emotion, not a stock cliché.
Read it out loud
If it sounds stiff or "churchy," rewrite in plain speech. Active voice. Warm tone.
Dates & times formatted correctly
"7 pm" not "7:00 PM." Months abbreviated with dates (Aug. 12), spelled out alone.
Someone else has seen it
A second set of eyes catches 80% of typos. Send it to a teammate before it goes live.
Stuck? That's okay.
This hub covers about 90% of what you'll need to make. For the other 10%, or when you want a second opinion, here's who to reach.
Jordan is your point person for creative questions, account access (including MotionArray), and "does this look okay?" gut checks. Loop him in early rather than late.