Church Bulletin Design Mistakes That Make People Tune Out (And What to Do Instead)

Your bulletin might be visually overwhelming before anyone reads a word.

Too many fonts. Too little white space. Important things buried in clutter. The overall impression: this looks like a lot of work to read.

So people don't read it.

The good news: most bulletin design problems are simple to fix. You don't need a design degree. You need to stop doing a few things.

The Clutter Problem

The instinct is to use all available real estate. Blank space feels like wasted space. So you shrink fonts, add graphics, squeeze in one more announcement.

The result is overwhelming. Nothing stands out. Readers don't know where to look.

White space (the empty areas around your content) is a design tool, not waste. It gives the eye a place to rest. It makes the content you do include stand out.

If the page feels cramped:

• Cut content (first choice)
• Increase margins
• Add space between sections
• Remove decorative elements that aren't adding value

Less content, more breathing room.

Four different fonts. Three colors of text. Bolded and underlined and italicized—sometimes all at once.

It looks chaotic. And chaos doesn't communicate "welcoming."

Pick one font for headlines and one for body text. Use your church's brand color for accents. Everything else is black on white.

Simplicity looks professional. Professional builds trust.

The Hierarchy Problem

All the announcements are the same size. All the headers are the same weight. There's no visual difference between the main event and the sidebar note.

When everything looks the same, nothing stands out.

The most important thing should be the biggest. Secondary items smaller. Tertiary items smaller still.

Example:

• Sermon title: 18pt bold
• Announcement headlines: 14pt bold
• Announcement body: 11pt regular
• Sidebar info: 9pt

Readers should be able to tell what's most important without reading a word—just by scanning the sizes.

A solid block of text with no breaks, no bold, no headers. It looks like homework.

Use headers to label sections. Bold key words and dates. Use bullet points when listing multiple items.

Give scanners something to grab onto.

The Readability Problem

You've shrunk the body text to 8pt so you can fit one more paragraph. Technically it fits. Practically, nobody over 40 can read it.

If the content doesn't fit at readable sizes, you have too much content. Cut words, don't shrink text.

Gray text on a white background. White text on a light blue background. Dark text on a busy photo.

Hard to read means people won't.

For body text, stick with high contrast. If you want color, use it for headlines or accents—not running text.

ALL CAPS IS HARDER TO READ. Our eyes recognize word shapes, and caps removes those shapes.

A two-word header in caps is fine. A full paragraph is exhausting.

The Photo Problem

A pixelated image from someone's flip phone. A stock photo of people who look nothing like your congregation. A photo that has nothing to do with the content.

Quality over quantity. If you have a great photo from last Sunday, use it. If you don't, a clean design with no photo beats a bad photo.

Make sure images are high resolution. If it looks fuzzy on screen, it'll look worse in print.

You put text directly on a photo, and now it's unreadable because the background is too similar in color.

If you must put text over an image, add a semi-transparent box or banner behind the text. Ensure contrast.

Those little cartoon images felt modern in 1998. They don't anymore.

If you want visual elements, use clean, modern icons. Or just skip them—good typography doesn't need decoration.

The Consistency Problem

One week the announcements are on the left. Next week, they're on the right. Sometimes there's an order of service, sometimes not. The format is unpredictable.

People can't find anything because it's never in the same place.

Create a layout and stick to it:

• Front: Logo, date, sermon title
• Inside left: Order of service
• Inside right: Announcements
• Back: Connection info

When the layout is consistent, people develop muscle memory. They know exactly where to look.

Elements placed wherever they fit. Some text left-aligned, some centered, some right-aligned for no apparent reason.

Pick an alignment system and stick to it. Most content should be left-aligned. Centered text works for headers. Keep margins consistent.

Turn on grid/guides in your design tool and snap elements to them.

The Squint Test

Here's a quick way to check your bulletin:

Print it out. Hold it at arm's length. Squint.

Can you tell what's most important?

Can you identify distinct sections?

Does anything stand out?

If it all blurs together, your hierarchy isn't working.

Before and After

Before:

• 4 fonts (script, serif, sans-serif, decorative)
• Announcements crammed edge to edge
• Every item the same size
• Clip art in three corners
• Text shrunk to 8pt

After:

• 2 fonts (Montserrat for headlines, Open Sans for body)
• Generous margins, white space between sections
• Hero announcement larger, others clearly secondary
• No clip art, one clean photo
• Body text at 11pt

The content might be identical. The second version actually gets read.

The "Professional Enough" Standard

You're not designing a magazine. You don't need to be beautiful. You need to be clear.

The standard: Does this look like a respectable organization put it together?

If someone picked up your bulletin with no context, would they assume competence or chaos?

Clear, consistent, and readable beats creative but confusing every time.