This is the final post in the Barton Damer Interviews, a brief series designed to spotlight the visual media of an artist serving the Church in an innovative way.  Barton's work, an artistic feast for those hungry for new and creative ways to express faith, is easy to access through the links found below and throughout this series.

In concluding the interview, I asked Barton what he sees as the future of faith-inspired media. 

The future of Christian media is going to happen outside of the church walls if things don't change.

Media is hot right now and a lot of churches are buying into it because that's what makes them "innovative."  I have to wonder if media will become the bus ministry of this era.  Everyone used to have a bus ministry, right?  We weren't reaching people if we didn't have a fleet of buses and a full-time staff person to service the buses.  And it's the same way these days.  It's common to have HD projectors and and a motion graphics guy on staff. 

If media is going to remain a valuable part of the way churches serve and share the gospel, we need to start seeing media as a ministry…  not as an accessory or simply a marketing tool for better announcements in church.

Part One: Motion Reel, Digital Art & Motion Graphics and Motion Graphics Reel

Part Two: The Creative Media of Barton Damer / Bio & Current Status

Part Three: BartonDamer,  In His Own Words

Part Four: The Future of Christian Visual Media

How important do you think visual media will be for the Church?

ECHO Live VJ clips from barton Damer on Vimeo.

Background and Training Yes, I know you've been waiting for it, in his own words…..

I began truly seeking the Lord around 16 years old…  but a very large movement in my life from the Lord was when I was 18.  I was taking Public Relations as a major and blew out my knee skateboarding. 

For over 2 months, I limped around on crutches while I waited to receive surgery over Christmas break back home.  While laid up, I was taking an entry level art class that was required as part of the major I was studying.  So, I poured all my free time into my art projects, having no idea I could draw anything other than skulls & bones off of skateboarding graphics from the 80s!  That injury really allowed me to pause and reflect on what God wanted for me rather than what I wanted for myself.  The rest… is History.  I changed my major to Commercial Art.

Even though I went to school, i would consider myself "self taught" when it comes to the computer. I had good training with traditional techniques but back then photoshop was on like version 2 or something like that and our teachers didn't even know much about it.

Today, I use illustrator, photoshop, after effects, cinema 4d, and final cut pro. I used to build websites using flash and dreamweaver about 6 years ago, but realized I hated it pretty quickly. I like developing the graphics for web, but making it function properly is not my gig.

I had done frame by frame animation for the speaker intros so I basically copied and pasted all the frames (8 frames/second) and put them onto a shirt. the video is here:

http://gallery.mac.com/bartondamer#100074/Tim-20stevens-20WEB&bgcolor=black

or here: The Whiteboard Session Speakers

Part One: Motion Reel, Digital Art & Motion Graphics and Motion Graphics Reel

Part Two: The Creative Media of Barton Damer / Bio & Current Status

Part Three: BartonDamer,  In His Own Words

Part Four: The Future of Christian Visual Media

Barton Damer Interview, Part 2

In this ongoing series of posts, I explore the creative genius of Barton Damer, a leader in innovative graphic arts, design and media.

Barton began his career at a secular design firm in the Washington, D.C. area.  (The story of his conversion to Christianity will be in the next post.)  After a couple years he felt called to use his gifts within the church setting.  Over the course of more than 7 years, Barton honed his artistic skills for print, web, video and motion graphics.

The latter part of those years, he spent working within a local Washington, D.C. congregation, Mclean Bible Church, where he was involved in creating media content as well as live production.   Mclean, located just outside D.C., is a church that serves about 12,000 weekend attenders.  You know it's near and dear to my heart since some of my closest friends are members there and when visiting them I've blogged my trips.   I now have the explanation for why some of Barton's artistic style has seemed vaguely familiar.

While at Mclean, Damer was able to create content for main services, youth events, and the young adult services, better known as Frontline.  He was also part of a team that launched the very first offsite McLean location. 

Today, Barton Damer is a Creative Director at RT Media Group.  RT Media maintains four points-of-presence on the web: Igniter Media, Collide Magazine, Worship House Media, and Echo Conference.

Additionally, Barton works with various agencies and freelance clients.  He is also a creative contributor for tutorials written at Gomediazine.com – real world advice from working artists and designers. 

Remember, you can view more of Barton's work at Barton Damer.  And here's a handful of his video clips (Truveo Clips tag: Barton Damer).  But of course, enough of the facts; let's get on with the interview…..  next post.

Part One: Motion Reel, Digital Art & Motion Graphics and Motion Graphics Reel

Part Two: The Creative Media of Barton Damer / Bio & Current Status

Part Three: BartonDamer,  In His Own Words

Part Four: The Future of Christian Visual Media

Recently, COLLIDE Magazine published an article I wrote (Technology and the Virtual Church) and used some cool graphics with it that caught my attention.  Somehow, they felt familiar, like I'd seen the style before.  In fact, I was certain of it.

Then I realized I'd seen similar artwork at conferences, on t-shirts, in video and in magazines lately.  Surprisingly, I've traced all of it back to a single artist – Barton Damer.   I wanted to familiarize myself with his work so I interviewed him. 

Barton is a a thirty-something resident of Dallas, Texas, who, besides being a skateboarding enthusiast, is setting the world of Christian graphic arts on it's occasionally uncreative ear.  You can count on seeing a lot more visual media authored by him in the near future. 

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this glimpse of his work, Barton's Motion Reel, Digital Art & Motion Graphics; it's your teaser in the first of a four part series.  And, it's well worth the visit.

Part One: Motion Reel, Digital Art & Motion Graphics and Motion Graphics Reel

Part Two: The Creative Media of Barton Damer / Bio & Current Status

Part Three: BartonDamer,  In His Own Words

Part Four: The Future of Christian Visual Media

Sermon Cinema is a valuable resource for creating a multi-media experience that easily reaches the iGeneration.

Kyle Thompson and Marc Harper are the Co-Founding Directors and Content Producers of Sermon Cinema. After hearing a sermon on reaching a sight and sound generation in 1993, Kyle later created a consulting and production company to meet the increasing media needs of churches.

Their theory is simple. People learn and retain more from what they see, hear, and feel.  As church leaders, it’s each of our responsibility to reach out to people who aren’t Christians and train up those who are.  Whenever it makes sense, why not use the power of cinema to supplement your teaching, preaching, and reaching?

“Preach the Gospel always and if you have to, use words” – St. Francis of Assisi

HT – Greg Atkinson Church Video Ideas

What do you think about using multi-media in church?