How to Give Feedback on Church Graphic Design That Actually Helps

Every church leader has been there: a designer sends over a sermon series graphic, and something about it just feels off. You know you don’t love it, but when you try to explain why, the best you can come up with is “it’s just not quite right.” The designer goes back to the drawing board, guessing at what you meant, and three revisions later you’re both frustrated — and the graphic still isn’t right.

The problem usually isn’t the designer’s skill. It’s the feedback.

Vague feedback wastes everyone’s time. Specific feedback, even when it’s critical, moves a project forward fast. Here’s how to give the kind that actually helps.

Name the problem, not just the feeling. “I don’t like it” tells a designer nothing. “The title text is hard to read against that background” tells them exactly what to fix. Before you send feedback, ask yourself what specifically isn’t working: Is it the color? The font? Too much text? Not enough contrast? The more precise you are, the faster the fix.

Separate personal taste from what the design needs to do. Every graphic has a job — get someone to register for an event, communicate a sermon topic, invite a first-time guest. When you give feedback, tie it back to that job. Instead of “I just don’t love blue,” try “Blue doesn’t feel urgent enough for an event that’s happening this week.” That distinction helps a designer make a decision, not just chase your preference.

Give feedback on the whole batch, not one piece at a time. If you’re reviewing a series of graphics — sermon slide, social post, flyer — look at all of them together before sending notes. One-off feedback on a single piece often creates inconsistency across the rest of the set. A batch review catches that before it becomes a bigger fix later.

Use reference, not just description. If you know a style you like, show it. A screenshot of another church’s Instagram post, or even a bakery’s branding you admire, communicates more in five seconds than three paragraphs of description. Designers think visually — meet them there.

Trust the expertise you’re paying for. Not every note needs to be acted on. If a designer explains why a choice was made — spacing, hierarchy, color contrast for readability — it’s worth hearing them out before insisting on a change. Good design partners aren’t just executing your ideas; they’re applying craft you may not have language for yet.

Set a feedback deadline. Open-ended review windows drag projects out for weeks. A simple “feedback by Thursday” keeps momentum and respects everyone’s time, including your own team’s.

Better feedback doesn’t mean being harsher — it means being clearer. The churches that get the best work from their design partners aren’t the ones with the most artistic eye. They’re the ones who’ve learned how to communicate what a graphic needs to accomplish.

If your church wants a design partner who makes this process easy, CRAKL can help. We specialize in graphic design built specifically for churches.