Welcome to Transfigured!

Hi, my name is Mark Kuhl, and I'm a brand communications designer.

It's been several decades since I started my communications ministry volunteer work at the Newman Center on the campus of the university I attended. As a student of advertising design, I was beginning my career and saw the need for basic branding at Newman (and most other parishes at the time). I approached the pastor hoping to convince him the parish needed a logo, and he agreed. That was the first parish logo I designed in 1987 and was in use for many years. I guess that's where my interest in parish communications started. Even then I wondered why parishes paid so little attention to their communications.

First parish logo, anniversary logo and ministry logo 1987-88

Early on I learned that every parish has a brand. That concept wasn't too well received, especially in church circles. Maybe the idea of something as secular as a brand being associated with a church didn't seem to sit right with some, and at that time, parish branding and communications was just beginning. Fast forward to today, parishes have come a long way with their branding, and have a new commitment to their communication ministries. Working in parish communication, I learned quickly parishes require vast amounts of content to keep their media channels current and parishioners up-to-date with liturgical life and a fluid parish life. I've been there, I know It can be overwhelming for staff during the busy liturgical seasons. That's why I'm convinced a resource like our All-Access Pass is a small, but great investment to achieve communication consistency and alignment. It will save staff time, simplify planning and lighten the workload, all while making your parish look great! Parishioners will notice. They always do.

Another observation while working with parishes and for a parish, was that there isn't a great selection of Catholic content available. What was accessible seemed dated, a bit over designed and sometimes a bit cheesy. More concerning was that it didn't easily fit/transfer to all media channels I used, and required additional file formatting to work. With my background, this didn't sit well, and I started designing my own content that was more contemporary and unique, and focused on message, rather than design. Even better, the content is designed specifically to fit the digital and print communication platforms parishes use – bulletin, website, social media, email campaigns, monitors, flyers and posters – and the content is always ready-to-use and ready to customise with your parish branding!

I've come to understand some of the challenges facing faith communities today, and they are just all the more reason for parishes to invest in their brand and communications. We are called to be bold! Years ago I penned, and still do believe that communication builds relationships, relationships build community, and community builds the Church.

We're just getting started at Transfigured. I look forward to sharing new content on a regular basis, and using the Brand Catholic blog to offer insights, things learned, planning, creative, case studies, design topics, campaign archives along with other related branding and communications topics. While I have a list of various topics for Brand Catholic, at this time, I haven't completed a schedule yet, and I am curious to what readers would like to learn more about or what would be helpful for you. I also invite you to sign up for our Next Level enewsletter to learn about content and campaign releases and developments.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Have a good week!

Mark