case study

Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) is based in Lexington, KY, and has multiple locations across the Bluegrass. The church began in 1909 and has been growing for over 100 years. They believe in gathering in worship, growing in community, and serving others. With community being such a big focus of their mission, they became a welcoming environment, providing programs for all ages and stages of life, and continuing to value the strengths of being an inter-generational congregation. Record numbers of visitors has increased church membership in recent years.

Along with that growth IBC was looking for a solution to update and better highlight their “Connection Point,” welcoming visitors and helping new members get connected into the community. They were also planning to update spaces inside the church with refreshed branding and colors through a multi-phased approach. At the same time, they wanted to incorporate wayfinding and updated signage across the campus.

The church also recently started an in-house coffee shop to serve the community and needed to create a brand identity to carry out that vision. They turned to Nimlok Kentucky for the following elements:

• Arch wall, providing a striking image, while subtly leading new visitors to the “Starting Point” area
• Wall signage in the “New Guests” area
• Signage to hide an aluminum roll up door within “Connection Point”
• Interior design consult for “Connection Point”
• Wayfinding signage to identify areas within the church
• Create logo/brand for in-house coffee shop “Creekside Café”
• Experiential branding for “Creekside Café”
• Outdoor parking signage

The process started with leadership from IBC visiting the Nimlok Kentucky showroom. Here they were able to see, touch, and feel some of the elements we were proposing, as well as be immersed in our experiential graphics to understand how they tie together a central theme. The main goal was to help new guests visiting IBC navigate their first experience at the church through subtle wayfinding and directionals, while at the same time incorporating updated branding. IBC asked that the first phase be completed prior to Easter. From the initial meeting to final install Nimlok Kentucky was able to complete Phase 1 in a little over 4 weeks, working quickly and efficiently.

The result of Phase 1 was a re-branded area that was aesthetically pleasing with on-brand logos, colors, and wording, while at the same time providing that subtle wayfinding for new guests. There is now no confusion where first-time guests should go to learn information about IBC. And by updating all of the signage throughout the building with consistent branding and colors Nimlok Kentucky was able to bring a cohesive image to IBC, especially within the “Connection Point” where the room feels more on-brand, creating a space where people feel drawn together.

Related Projects