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Photo courtesy of www.ted.com
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What happens when what we see doesn't line up with what we hear? Confusion, lack of clarity, and misaligned intent are just a few. Churches are in the business of being communicators to groups of people both small and large. What others see has an indelible impact on the effectiveness of that message and ministry. The stage design in your worship space can be a big factor in what's being communicated before anyone steps on stage.
Yes, dipping into the creative nuance of design is tricky. Personal taste, past experience, and a whole host of other factors will dictate not only the direction, but effectiveness of what those in the congregation lay eyes upon. While much can be debated, perhaps asking the right questions from the outset and probing a little deeper will help your stage design find purpose and cohesion in a way that communicates with clear intent.
Ask Better Questions
How do we gauge the aesthetic effectiveness of a stage or room? We may sense that something is off, but we may not know why. Our internal triggers, pushed and irritated, are reacting to visual stimulus.
Often, the intent of the church is well meaning, yet what's being communicated visually contradicts these intentions. Perhaps it's out of line with the time of year. Maybe someone thought it was cool, but it winds up simply being a distraction to those in attendance.
We get defensive when someone jumps all over our creations, but the process of growth, challenging the status quo, and expanding our creative principles should be a welcome part of our job rather than something to avoid.
There's no better way to learn if a design supports a message than by asking better questions.
Life and business strategist Tony Robbins says when you ask better questions you get better answers. Potential questions to ask in this process might include: How does will the church's brand be communicated in the look and feel of the stage? What's the demographic of the church? How will the time of year (spring, summer, fall, winter) play into the aesthetic of this design?
While this represents an extremely small sampling of potential questions, it should trigger a longer list of questions about your situation–ones that incorporate the communicator, worship, and branding elements.
Once the information-gathering stage has been completed how do we put this into action?
Bringing It Together
Let's assume the creative team decides to change over the stage set for the summer season, seeking to reach an 18 to 40 demographic. How can we think artistically in a way that supports both of these in tandem?
Begin by looking at shapes, flow, and organization of the physical elements. One mistake often made is the need to be ironic. That is, we naturally assume we must incorporate stereotypical items in order to get our point across. There very well might be a time to throw up beach balls and cutouts of the sun dangling from the ceiling. Much more, however, can be conveyed without irony. Instead of a sun, how about concentric circles. Rather than a huge picture of the ocean, incorporate sweeping layers of pastel or translucent fabric which can be lit in your color pallet. These are similar elements, but an approach that is a bit more timeless, classy, and cohesive.
At the same time though, using an ironic element in a careful way can produce an appealing result. Take for instance the use of neon inner tubes at Life Quest Church in Kansas City, Missouri. (See Figure 2) Sure, inner tubes are an ironic summer item, but using them to create a wall with the tubes then lit from below creates a uniquely colorful and geometric background that does not come across as being awkward or out of line. The implementation here is well thought out.
After shape and flow, we need to account for the colors often associated with the particular season. Incorporating a pastel color pallet provides a welcoming and colorful statement without feeling abrasive, while the instant energy of a bold orange or yellow is still warm but gives a punchy impact. What will people feel from a color standpoint when they walk into your worship space? Do they support common associations?
Some of the best places to look for inspiration about colors are magazines such as House Beautiful, HGTV Magazine, and Real Simple. Sure, no man wants to be caught in the store perusing these selections, but the color matching and pallet choices are second to none and provide visual looks at them in real world scenarios. Taking the idea of watercolor painting, for example, and applying it to a wall or background scrim can produce abstract but unique looks.
Just as shape and color choices can bring affirming and cohesive perception, the opposite effect can occur just as easily. Pay attention to what's being said and not said from a visual sense. Colors and shapes should align rather than confuse.
A Multitude of Options
In analyzing our approach to a more cohesive and artistic stage design, we must always fight our natural tendencies and biases. Sure, it's easy to throw a few “set pieces” on stage and call it good. Sometimes we wonder if it even matters. It does matter.
In the same way body language has a profound effect on what's being communicated between humans, so too does the visual element of any worship space. And the only way to become cognizant of this fact is to pay attention and ask better questions.
The great Henry David Thoreau said, “It's not what you look at that matters…it's what you see.” Looking beyond the obvious and into the world of human perception, we will start to gather clues, resources and knowledge that will glue together the visual presentation of not only the technical production but that of the entire church ministry and audience experience.
