Walnut Street Baptist Church

Scope:

One Church. One Mission.

Walnut Street Baptist Church was the most historical and missional church in their city, but their logo was stuck in the early 2000's. Now they're able to honor their long heritage and reach key demographics in their city.

Historic Church Aesthetic

The aesthetics of the rebrand were important to the WSBC branding team, so I worked with them to match the historic, refined, and classy look of the church building.

Together with the rebrand team, I looked at modern photos of the interior, exterior, and historic illustrations of the building. Two of those prominent features of the church were its arching stained glass window shapes and its iconic bell tower. These were shapes and ideas I played with in the initial logo concepts and sketches.

Before
After

Branding to Connect with Students

Louisville is home to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which meant that seminary students were a key part of the target audience for this rebrand. That said, it was essential to resonate with longstanding members of the church as well.

In the final stages of logo development, there were still four options left. The rebrand team chose this logo from among the other options for a few reasons.

  1. Appeals to community members of all ages
  2. Represents the centrality of the cross
  3. Shows the intersection of many walks of life
  4. Highlights the iconic church building architecture

Timely and Timeless Church Logo Design

A goal of this rebrand project was for the the church logo to look comfortable and confident in both historic environments like the church building and in urban contexts like much of downtown Louisville.

Historic, Missional Branding

The two central pillars of WSBC were summed up in its vision statement: "One Church. One Mission." To visualize those ideas, I designed two pictograms as an extension of the church identity system.

Legacy Emphasis and Ministry Impact

The church's branding team made an excellent choice to lean on the long-standing, well establised legacy of Walnut Street Baptist Church. With that as the foundation, the new logo and brand was positioned to serve the church well for decades.

Keep Reading

King's Cross Community Church
For the Good News of King Jesus.
Heritage Church
Gospel Belonging.
Grace Presbyterian Church
For the Gospel of Grace.
First Baptist Muskogee
Be Disciples. Make Disciples.

Want to start a new chapter or see a similar transformation in your church?

Take the first step and book a free call.