A historic church sought design guidance for the decorative text in their sanctuary. They requested the design to balance tradition with a look that would be fresh for several decades. The resulting designs apply period fonts from the church’s time of construction with modern fabrication techniques. The placement of the text extends the lines in the room’s structure to reduce visual clutter and embed it with the background.
Sans Serif Set with Blue Chairs
‘God is Love’ is featured behind the podium as laser cut steel, powder coated in a golden rod satin finish. Pegs float the quote off the wall, creating a drop shadow. The 1930’s font, Succi, references the the era the church was built, while also embodying the effortless nature and lightness of the quotes meaning. The readers’ chairs are upholstered in blue to as an example of adding to the color palette secondary cool colors.
The side walls feature the quotes painted between the windows and the corresponding location in a sophisticated grey-blue. Located at seated eye height, it visually continues the line of the platform’s top edge and the window sills. At distance, san serif fonts are the easiest to read.
The decorative boarder directly references the sanctuary’s doors glass detailing and gives the font a more classic setting. The border is painted in a gloss beige that is slightly lighter than the beige walls. With this treatment, it will appear subtle and reflect the light.
The side walls renderings feature various cases, with the recommendation that both side walls are painted in the same case.
Serif Set with Red Chairs
‘God is Love’ is featured behind the podium as laser cut steel, powder coated in a golden rod satin finish. Pegs float the quote off the wall, creating a drop shadow. This arts and crafts font emphasizes the quote through it’s strong structure. At the turn of the 20th century, this font was used in architectural details. While maintaining it’s serifs, it prioritizes clean lines and simple curves much like the church’s stain glass designs. Chairs are upholstered in red provide a pop of color.
On the side walls, the quotes are painted between the windows in a sophisticated grey-blue. Located at seated eye height, it visually continues the line of the platform’s top edge. By placing these quotes on the side walls at an intimate height, they sit amidst the congregation during the service. It also does not distract from ‘God is Love’ or further clutter the reader’s wall.
The highly legible 1930’s san serif font and the arts and crafts font (shown in Readers’ Wall Option 1) gives the quote a cadence and emphasizes certain words.