Did you know that our church website is where most of our newcomers and potential new members get their first impression of what we’re all about? It can truly be thought of as the “face” of our congregation. Well, UUCBers, we’re about to get a new face!
In less than a month we’ll launch a completely remodeled website with a new look, a new logo, new colors, and enhanced content and navigation.
Last Fall UUCB’s Communications Team was reconstituted and chartered to start from scratch and to build a remodeled website that would be not only attractive and functional but would capture the spirit of an engaged congregation with new leadership and new energy.
About eight years have passed since the previous branding work was done. As we all know, so much has changed at UUCB since then! The focus: a more personal, welcoming and accessible website along with a contemporary look that reflects our vibrant and welcoming community.
Team members Sam Henderson, Rev. David Schwartz, Steve Todd and Chris Zanoni studied some 30 other local and national UU church websites and other design resources to identify features and qualities we liked (as well as things we definitely wanted to avoid!). Having compiled our technical and aesthetic requirements, we invited several designers to submit proposals. Among them was Emily Snyder Starks with Starks Design Company who had previously served as UUCB’s office manager. Based on the responses, Starks Design was selected for this exciting and important project.
This February we began partnering with Emily to detail our needs and requirements more specifically. (She’s awesome to work with!) You may recall participating in one of our first internal steps: a quick congregation survey asking folks, “What three words best describe UUCB?” Key themes and responses – Welcoming/Community, Justice, and Spiritual – emerged with many additional descriptors to create a more detailed picture of the look and feel we had in mind. This was combined with defining the technical requirements for the website.
We wanted the website to serve as a front door to newcomers to tell the story of who we are, what we’re about, and how we “do” church. Many collaborative meetings to review layout and content followed, resulting in the website you’ll be seeing soon. Fine tuning continues.
We’re planning for a September photoshoot with a local photographer for a new and updated photo gallery featuring UUCB’s lovely, smiling faces! We’re delighted to share the look and feel of our new logo and website! We hope you’ll join us Sunday, August 20th to celebrate the big reveal.
With excitement,
Your UUCB Communications Team
Sam Henderson, Rev. David Schwartz, Steve Todd, and Chris Zanoni
