Frequently Asked Questions

Predesigned Logo FAQ's
1. What are Cornerstone Logos™?
2. What are Select Logos™?
3. What is a Custom Logo?
4. Why consider a predesigned logo?
5. What if I can't find a predesigned logo I'm looking for?
6. Can I trademark my logo?

Custom Logo FAQ's
1. What should a logo do for my church?
2. What does a good logo look like?
3. Will the logo use our church colors?
4. What can we do to help the design process?
5. Do we need to trademark the logo?
6. Will you trademark the logo for us?

Custom Project FAQ's
1. How Does LifeWay determine the price?
2. If our church needs photos as part of our project, what are our options?
3. Can we take the completed files to our own printer?
4. Can we make changes or updates in the future?
5. How can we make the process go smoothly?

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a Cornerstone Logo™?
Cornerstone Logos™ are logos that are available for $99 as a do-it-yourself logo, or $199 if you would like LifeWay to personalize it for you. Cornerstone Logos™ are a non-exclusive use product, so we can't guarantee exclusive use within your area. We will provide you with JPG, TIF and EPS electronic files of your logo. Ground shipping is provided for Cornerstone Logos.
top

2. What is a Select Logo™?
Select Logos™ are our personalized logos for $379. LifeWay will personalize the logo you select with your church name and colors. If you would like to use Pantone colors not found on our palettes shown, we will do that at no additional charge. Minor modifications can also be made, often at no additional charge. Your happiness is important to us, so we go the extra mile to design our logos to work for you. Cornerstone in the 45640 zip code, no other church from 45000 - 45999 may use the logo you order. We will provide you JPG, TIF and EPS electronic files of your logo on CD. Overnight shipping is included on completed Select Logos™
top

3. What is a custom logo?
Custom logos are designed to meet the unique identity needs of your church. We start with our Church Profile Questionnaire and discuss your church and design needs to gain a good perspective of the personality and design needs of your church. Multiple design approaches are undertaken and we e-mail initial designs for your consideration. Once a design is chosen, we continue to tailor it until you are satisfied. It then belongs to you, for the exclusive use by your church. Custom Logo customers also receive the design of their letterhead, envelope and business cards (up to 8 names and titles) with the price of the custom logo package. Final files are set up ready to print by a commercial printer, and are sent to you on CD. The logo files include JPG, TIF and EPS versions of your logo. We can also provide you with a quote if you would like us to oversee the printing for you. Overnight shipping is included for the final project.
top

4. Why should we consider a predesigned logo?
Price is a key factor, and a quick turnaround time is another. The important question for any organization considering a new logo is whether it conveys the essence of who they are. No logo, no matter how great it is, can tell you everything about your church. What it can tell your community are quick bits of information - that you are worship oriented, a family church, caring, situated in a beautiful geographic location, contemporary, traditional, etc. We've had churches with custom logos call and say they wish they had seen a Select Logo™ before they purchased their custom logo, that it conveyed who they were better than a custom designed logo.
top

5. What if I can't find what I'm looking for?
Contact us. We might be able to add what you're looking for to our line. If not, we also design custom logos at reasonable rates and would be happy to work with you to achieve just the right look for your church.
top

6. Can I Trademark the logo?
While we design each logo as an original logo, the predesigned logos can't be trademarked by individual churches because they are being offered in other regions. There shouldn't be any concern that another local church will use the same logo you are considering since we offer zip code protection and we retain the legal rights on the original design. If you think another church is using your logo locally, please contact us and we will make sure your rights are protected. Custom Logos can be trademarked by the customer. Trademarking is not a service that we offer.
top

Custom Logo FAQ's

1. What should a logo do for my church?
Your logo should be a visual representation of your church. When people see your logo they will visualize your church. Your logo should reflect your churches personality and serve as an umbrella that ties together all of the ministries of your church. Your logo is central in coordinating all of the printed materials and signage of your church for your community to see.
top

2. What does a good logo look like?
A good logo is clear, descriptive, memorable, unique, consistent with the personality of yourÊ church, and creates a positive first impression to newcomers. Your church affects people on an emotional level, your identity should convey that same personal feeling. Your logo should strike a balance between timeliness with timelessness, tradition and trend*. A good logo will reproduce in both grayscale and color. It will also work well and when scaled small for printed items, or large for signage.

* From: Introduction what logos do and how they do it, Anastatia R Miller and Jared M. Brown, c. 2000, Rockport Publishers, Inc., 33 Commercial Street, Glouchester, MA 01930-5089
top

3. Will the logo use our church colors?
A logo should tie into colors that your church uses. This might not be an issue if you are a portable church. Churches that are updating their image will often coordinate the design of a new logo with painting and new carpet.Ê Color is the easiest element for us to change. Because of this, we usually focus on the overall design first and work with colors toward the end of the process. We typically design a logo with two colors because the cost of printing rises dramatically with additional colors.
top

4. What can we do to help the design process?
- Be able to describe the personality of your church.
- Describe the average person/family your church hopes to minister to.
- Tell us about your region. Geographic landmarks, social make-up, business factors.
- Have a clear vision statement (What kind of church will you be known for).
- Tell us about other logos (either church or business logos) you like.
- Give us as much information as you can. We don't need that a thick report, but we would rather have too much information than too little.
- Designate a decision maker. Committees and teams are great for input, but strong leadership and the ability to make decisions is vital for moving the process along. Just because there isn't unanimity doesn't mean that the design in question should get eliminated. You may have heard that leaders at Nike hated their logo when they first saw it. But a key decision maker made the decision to "just do it". Today it's one of the most recognized logos in the world.
top

5. Do we need to trademark the logo?
That's up to you. It is more advantageous for businesses to register trademarks because they are in business to make money and their profits would be affected if they didn't protect their identity. With the church it's a different story. In all likelihood, enforcing a trademark would stop another entity from using your logo, but since there is no profit to protect, it might be unlikely to gain financial restitution (since there was no loss of profit). This is merely our opinion, however, and does not constitute legal advice.

In order to trademark a logo, it has to be unique. Be assured that all of our work is original and we don't copy other work. If you experience any problems trademarking your logo, we will stand behind our work and take any measures necessary to deliver a logo that is able to be trademarked. top

6. Will you trademark the logo for us?
We don't offer this service because it's a legal service, but the links that follow can get you the information you need. You can do the work yourself with the

- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They have a good FAQ list and you
can download the forms from this site. << http://www.uspto.gov >>

- Business.com has a directory of service companies and agencies available. They can be reached at this site. << http://www.business.com >> Type in trademarks in the search directory.

- 4Trademark.com is one such company that performs searches and offers trademark  assistance. Click here to view this site. << www.4trademark.com >>
top

Custom Project FAQ's

1. How Does LifeWay determine the price?
Before determining a price we sit down and look at the project to make sure we understand the scope of the project and to make sure it's a good fit for our areas of expertise. From there we estimate how much research, design, and revision time will be required and base our estimate off that.
top

2. If our church needs photos as part of our project, what are our options?
We have access to thousands of copyright free and licensed photos. We're happy to pass on the use of these photos at a minimal fee. If we're unable to find a suitable photo from what we have, then we can purchase images on your behalf, and will let you know what the charges are before the decision is made to use the image. We can also advise you on images you may own and want to use. We'll let you know if the quality will be compatible with the rest of the images, and what format we need it in.
top

3. Can the church keep the project and have it printed at our local
printer?
Certainly. The only right we retain will be the right to use it in our promotional/capabilities materials. If you would like us to handle the printing, we are happy to do that. If you print it yourself, you may print as many copies as you like - the project is yours to print as you please. In either case the files are set up ready for a commercial printer, and we would be happy to work with your printer should they have any questions.
top

4. Can we make changes or updates in the future?
Give us a call. We keep a copy of your project on file, so we can always go back to it. If we created it we can probably make the change more efficiently than anyone else. We will need to charge you for the changes in most cases. If there is a typo that we created, we will fix the file at no cost. The proofing process is very important, so please proof everything carefully before signing off on the project. Once a project is signed off, the customer is responsible for the project. We'll be as helpful as we can, but once a project is signed off by the customer LifeWay is not responsible for any film or printing related charges.
top

5. How can we make the process go smoothly?

A) Have a plan. Having samples or a drawing of what you would like gives our designers a better idea of what the project is all about, and will help you get the result you want. The more input we have from you the customer, the better.

B) Make sure the estimate covers the details you want in the project. We'll be asking as many questions as we can up front, but if you don't see a detail in the estimate or proposal, please let us know so we can make sure we're on the same page.

C) Be reasonable. Every project is different, and while we have an average of 12 years experience under our belts, each project usually has a unique challenge or two. We're comfortable with meeting those challenges, but custom projects aren't cookie cutter solutions. We treat each one individually with as much thought and care as we can. We'll communicate as clearly as we can on any challenges we're facing and any potential effect they may have on your project. We've done well over 1300 projects, and the overwhelming majority go smoothly. It's our business, our ministry, and a big part of our life. We're passionate about doing greatÊ work and we really enjoy it. We look forward to helping your church communicate in a dynamic and compelling way.
top