Emily Mae Mentock - Detroit Priestly Vocations
A website says a lot about you and your mission. When you visit a webpage, you are usually in search of information, but you are also in search of an experience, whether you realize it or not. This search for an experience is not always on the forefront of your mind but we judge digital platforms on how they can engage us and hold that engagement.
Can we receive information and have an experience with a website? Is that asking too much? Or is it just the start?
This week’s creation is an extremely unique one. This week we look at the Detroit Priestly Vocations’ new website and hear from Emily Mae Mentock, a creative who serves as the Associate Director of Strategy for the Archdiocese of Detroit, Department of Communications.
I have never identified as an artist, personally. Creative, yes! But I am a person who is greatly impacted and inspired by art of all kinds. My parents made sure I was exposed to a variety of arts when I was growing up, so I’ve always had an appreciation for it. In my career doing social media content, I learned early on that content is great, but it needs good creative work to be most impactful.
Emily
This project may not seem like an “artistic venture”, in the traditional sense, but in today’s digital world we must look at web design as a vital medium and platform for artistry. The project was a six-month process of creating with several extremely talented individuals whom Emily connected and guided through to the finish of the project.
The website is stunning and incredibly cinematic. It is resourceful and answers questions that one may have if they find themselves in a state of discernment. When I saw the site for the first time, I was immediately drawn to the gritty texture that the pages offered. Everything from the YouTube promo video to the Seminarian head shot photos has a carefully designed tone that is consistent. It has grit and character and truly wants to earn your visit.
For reference, I am a married man who lives in New York and I was on the site for about an hour navigating and having fun with the features. I think it’s safe to say that I am not the target audience that Emily and the team had in mind, yet there I was. That, in my opinion, is the power of truth and beauty at work in everyday places. It makes you stop and observe despite your relevance or lack of personal “buy in” with the material.
Emily is very quick to share the credit on this project and explained how a team would attack a task like this.
This project was 100% a collaborative team effort! This website comes from a larger effort happening in the Archdiocese of Detroit to turn from maintenance-minded work to become an outward-focused, radically mission-oriented local Church.
Emily
With the vision of Fr. Craig Giera (Director of the Vocations Office), the creative branding work of Paul Duda, web developing expertise of Phil Hetue and project management from Vicki Mellino, Emily had a great team to work with when connecting the dots on this project.
I connect all the players and guide them under one (hopefully unified!) strategy for the project that both meets the client’s needs and expectations, fulfills our mission as a Communications Department, and is genuinely excellent marketing/communications work. It’s a mix of account management, strategy, and just making things happen.
Emily
Emily is a great example of what Catholic Creatives is all about, an everyday creative who makes their entire vocation a masterpiece. Not a masterpiece in the sense of perfection, rather a piece that is dedicated to the glory of the Lord. That in and of itself makes the work that Emily does so wonderful. If you did a deep dive into Emily’s previous projects you would see a great variety of social media campaigns, articles, designs, etc. It’s work like this that captures where the future of media ministry needs to be heading.
At the end of the day, I think I see my vocation as a missionary. I’m just here to use my gifts to spread the joy of Gospel in the most effective and innovative ways that I can.
Emily
If we want people to join us in our journey as a Catholic then we must take pride in how we present the faith to everyone, on all platforms. So, let us take this creation and do two things with it…
First, observe it. Truly witness it and dive into it’s wonderful details.
Second, ask yourself “how is my work inviting others to discern a life faith? Does my invitation put forth the truth that I wish to bring to my audience?”
These are questions that must always be in our prayers and I for one, greatly appreciate the work of the Detroit Diocese team in bringing these questions/ideas to the forefront of my mind and heart.
For more information on Emily and her creative works simply reach out and connect with her via Linkedin, Instagram and/or email (mentock.emily@aod.org).
For more information on the Archdiocese of Detroit visit aod.org and Unleash the Gospel.
