PROJECT HIGHLIGHT:
The Hello Book

PROBLEM

How do we introduce first-time guests to a big church? After guests attend a service, they’re encouraged to stop by Connect Central – a place to meet a volunteer who will help them feel at home and answer questions about what the church has to offer. The volunteers stood behind a corporate-looking info desk. The desk was cluttered with a confusing and sometimes competing assortment of flyers, cards and brochures promoting programs and events. Guests grabbed a few of these print pieces, but often left without a clear picture of the church’s vision and with little guidance on which events might best meet their needs.

ASSIGNMENT

Our team was tasked with creating a single brochure to do away with the clutter and give guests a clear picture of the church’s vision and feature a few key ministries.

INSPIRATION

Ideas come from everywhere if you’re a curious creative. One of my daughter’s school art projects used a brad—an old-fashioned metal fastener—to hold a set of papers together. provided the spark that took the Hello Book to the next level: We used a single binder ring to hold together a collection of cards to tell a short story of who we are as a church.

SOLUTION

We identified the word “Hello” as a welcoming starting point for a friendly conversation, and leveraged this for our bold, clean cover art. The book is a series of nine cards that walk readers through our vision and values before highlighting a few key next steps designed to help most folks grow in their faith and build life-giving relationships.

 We created additional cards that can be added to the book, making a custom deck tailored to the interests of each guest. As the volunteer chats with the guest and comes to understand their needs, the volunteer simply pops open the binder ring and drops in additional pages. Each guest walks away with a custom book to peruse at their convenience.

 The binder rings allow the Hello Books to hang on a pegboard wall in Connect Central, creating a fun and friendly backdrop, and avoiding any storage hassles. As a bonus, to help the Connect Central guest experience to feel less of transaction and more relational, we replaced the old info desk with round pub tables, removing a barrier between the guest and the volunteer.

COPY

Clear, compelling copy can make or break a project. We wanted the voice of the Hello Book to carry a simple, relational appeal. We wanted it to feel humble and human. In addition to gracing the cover, the word “Hello” leads the reader into the book’s story. Here’s how the first page reads:

Hello. 

It’s a little word that can mean a lot… It invites a conversation, greets a friend, welcomes you home. That’s what we hope you find at Woodmen … a church you can call a home.

We believe Jesus calls His church to be about people, about relationships and belonging, so we’d love to know your name and hear your story. You’ll find a little bit of our story in these pages—who we are as a gathering of Christ-followers—along with a look at our vision and values.

We hope that this book says Hello to you, and that you’ll continue to get to know us better.