Graphic for the next series on the book of John, for St. Matthews Asian Congregation (SMAC).

The tagline for the sermon was “The Truth Will Set You Free” and the first image that came to mind was a chain breaking, which may have been subconsciously linked (no pun intended) to the chorus of Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). After sketching some broken chains, I then had the epiphany that half a chain link is conveniently shaped like the letter U and drafted different versions incorporating the broken chain into the words.

I produced the final graphic in Photoshop. I wanted “Truth” to be the emphasised word, coupled with the broken chain replacing the U, to convey the meaning of the message effectively. “Free” also had to be emphasised, as the secondary keyword to tie it all up, simply by letting it fall out of line and adding drop shadow, portraying literal freedom. I didn’t know where to place “John” at first, without cluttering the image, but I had tried putting “The” using negative space in the T earlier, and also realised there were four actual letters, so using negative space for “John” turned out to be a nice design fluke. I added a blur vignette to bring the focal point to the centre, and a subtle crisscross pattern in the background- akin to steel wire fences.

The font I used is called League Gothic, a great alternative to the cliche Impact.
The stock image I used for the broken chain can be found here.