Good to Great: Onscreen Lyrics and Notes Part I

This article was originally published on The Worship Community

Open your software of choice. Add the lyrics. Play.

So is the preparation of the typical church using lyrics presentation software. It works. The lyrics are on screen and God is sung to and about. But what if a few simple treatments could be applied between “Add the lyrics” and “Play” to take these good presentations and turn them into great presentations?

Praise God “what if” is a reality. Here are a few things to try.

Go Bold for Contrast

A thin font usually finds itself blending into the background. Even with a stroke/outline and drop shadow, the weight of the characters contrasting with the background is what makes them stand out. Even thin white text on a black background still doesn’t create enough contrast to really stand out. Try using the bold face of whichever font you have chosen and see if it becomes more readable. Now, if it looks bad bold, start looking for a new font. Whatever the case, contrast is the goal.

See these images. On the left, a normal slide. On the right, the same font bold. Of course, the bold is easiest to read but notice how much the text pops and lends itself to readability.

Branch Out

A typical church will most likely use one of these fonts - Verdana, Arial, Trebuchet MS, Lucida Grande, or (gasp!) Times New Roman. If I may suggest (beg), don’t use these ever again. There are so many other amazing fonts to use. Why use one that is seen so often that it has lost its punch? We never want to be so crazy that we distract or lose readability. We just want to add that edge of newness to relieve the stagnancy that can so easily creep into churches.

If you’re lost, look through the many free font sites on the interweb. My personal favorite is DaFont.com. Start in their “Basic Sans Serif” category. It’s got some thick, easy to read fonts your church can use to help the onscreen lyrics stand out.

If you want to learn more about typography and all the “why’s” for what I suggested and more, read the book The Non-Designer’s Design and Type Books, Deluxe Edition by Robin Williams (not the actor).

Here are some personal favorites on the left. And on the right, some fonts I’d suggest avoiding like the plague. Avoid them mostly for their unreadability but also because of their overusage and frequent bad usage. They, in a way, scream unprofessionalism.

Align to Center? Left? Right? Justify? Top? Bottom? Middle?

Do what looks best in your situation. I’m a center/middle guy (like above). But in our main services it seems to work best left/bottom. Our youth use center/middle. My last church was left/middle. It’s all preference. I will say that right aligned may work for something that is read like sermon notes but the inherent lack of readability of right aligned text causes problems for lyrics because of how fast they have to be read.
The tip here is to just try new things. Try different arrangements of text and see what best fits your church/event.

You are now ready to move on to Part II of “Good to Great: Onscreen Lyrics and Notes” as we explore choosing good backgrounds and simplifying the text for maximum readability.

Written by Chris Moncus

Chris Moncus is a design and photography nut. He spends his days creating media for St. Simons Community Church and operating Aventia Media. He is married out of his league to a beautiful lady named Amanda.

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