Free CM Stuff» Design

The Jackpot of Motion Graphics!

Andy Johnson — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:00:13 +0000

When my friend told me today about Red Ferris Wheel, I almost plucked my eyeball out in sheer excitement. Zach Fonville has provided us with a host of free still images and motion backgrounds. It is a HUGE collection! Download them now for your worship environments!

Free YM Stuff?

Andy Johnson — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:00:53 +0000

Apparently Free CM Stuff is not an original idea!

A youth pastor friend of mine, cued me in to Pastor2Youth. They have a ton of games, links, media, and object lessons that we can steal and use in CM.

Now humble yourself and admit it, it is possible to learn from youth pastors!

Contest ends soon: You have until this afternoon to get your name in the hat for the Sovereign Grace CD’s. Hurry!

Christian Video Magazine

Andy Johnson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:00:42 +0000

Christian Video Magazine is a free online magazine geared toward providing Christian viewpoints on the use of video and media in ministry settings. Here’s a quote from their site on what they do:

The purpose of Christian Video Magazine is simple. We want to provide our readers with articles that cover everything about using videos in the church, on their websites, and for ministry. How do you use them? How do you stream them? How do you create them? How do you project them? Where can you find them? Who is creating them? How will they impact mobile computing? What about background loops? And how can we make the best use of all of the fantastic Christian music videos?

You can either receive their magazine in a truncated email format or look at all of their articles in PDF or HTML format online. If you utilize videos in your ministry or want to keep up with relevant topics in the media industry, this is a good resource to check out.

Prezi–Stunning Presentations

Andy Johnson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:00:20 +0000

Have you heard of Prezi yet? If not, you need to go check it out and see if it could be beneficial to any presentations you give. Unlike cues or slides, Prezi utilizes a “canvas” concept where you zoom in on various aspects of your presentation. It’s quite unique.

The free account from Prezi is a little limited, but still offers you a great deal of flexibility as well as allows you to add pizazz to your presentations. While the free account allows only online presentation development, you still get offline presentation capabilities. This means you can download your custom presentation and present it without a web connection.

Use Prezi for:

Kids church messages
In-church recruitment advertisements
Volunteer trainings

Add a little pizzaz to your ministry promotions

Andy Johnson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:00:03 +0000

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

Check out Image Chef to get photo frames, moving bumpers (like above), and word mosaics. You can email them or embed them in your site.

Get your mind on design…or Dzine

Andy Johnson — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:00:55 +0000

Several years ago, I realized that my design skills just weren’t cutting it. In a nutshell, the stuff I produced as newsletters and promotional material was junk. I decided to learn from others who know what they are doing (a generally good rule of thumb in any circumstances!). I’m no pro, but most of my stuff looks decent. One of the tools I use to inspire myself and get free fonts and logos is dzineblog. It is a great tool that I peruse on a weekly basis.

And if you want to read some great articles on the basics of design, check out Kenny Conley’s series on the topic. Just go to his site and search for design, there are about 8 posts on the series.

Create “Word Clouds” for Your Ministry

Andy Johnson — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:44 +0000

With Wordle, you can create really cool word clouds for your ministry like the one above. Since it is a Java Applet, getting it to be an image file (.jpg or .gif) is a bit difficult, but here’s what I did.

Create the Wordle
Print it as a PDF
Open the PDF and use the snapshot tool to copy the area you want to use
Paste the copied area into Publisher or graphics editing program
Save the copied picture as a .jpg or .gif using, right click–>Save As Picture

Happy Wordling!

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Get Muddy…with Free Media!

Andy Johnson — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:49:54 +0000

Muddy River Media is a nice little site for countdowns, looping effects, a few videos, and some sermon theme packages. It’s definitely not a gold mine, but the work they have done is quality and it is a well designed site. I hope that others will catch onto what they are doing and support Mark Fogarty’s work. Something like this has great potential in the market of highly priced media material.

Pardon the Interruption

Andy Johnson — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:35:40 +0000

I wanted to interrupt our little series to tell you about a free webinar on church websites. I found this over at Church Communications Pro.

I have seen some really shotty children’s ministry web pages so this webinar is certain to help some of you out. You do have to sign up for it ahead of time. Here’s a quote from their blog entry:

Join WebDesign.com co-founders Cory Miller and James Dalman for a special webinar titled 4 Keys to Effective Church Websites on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. Learn the essentials of highly effective church websites with two experienced church marketing professionals.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/342534819

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Week 3, Day 7–21DFM

Andy Johnson — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:00:18 +0000

Yeah…I’ve been out for a few days! My doctoral work was very heavy last week, so I apologize for my “Freed Up” slackness!

But this week we resume the 21 Days to a “Freed Up” Ministry!

Today…a HUGE listing of free videos, looping backgrounds, and countdowns. Take a look at this page from Church Tech Talk.

Know a place where readers can get more free loops and countdowns? Just comment below.