The God of the Bible is a God of work. Work is how He began creation. In the first seven days of creation, the precedent is set for how humans should work: work six days, rest the seventh (Genesis 2:2, Exodus 20:9-10). Working is not only how we pay bills and take care of our families, it is also a way to honor the Lord.
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While all work is meant to serve and glorify the Lord, in the His kindness the Lord sometimes gives us opportunities that will specifically glorify Him and advance His kingdom. I received one of those opportunities a few weeks ago.
Company
SCA International is a not-for-profit organization in Canada whose goal is to share the truth of Jesus Christ and equip others to do likewise. Naturally, I was thrilled to begin working with an organization whose values so closely align with my own. My first projects for SCA involved DVD sleeves for their documentaries on abortion (shown here). Following the completion of these, they asked me about covers for an upcoming Gospel of John booklet they planned to distribute to households across Canada.
Research
Thrilled at the opportunity, I began my research. They already had a few title ideas, but they wanted my input and my ideas as well. Knowing that an effective book cover reflects the content of the book, I began doing an overview of the gospel John. Through this exercise I came up with several ideas that I then emailed to the gentleman I work with. In the course of quite a bit of back and forth, two titles were chosen.
Concept
An effective book title reflects the contents of a book. An effective book cover not only contains an eye-catching title but will also contain attention-grabbing graphics that reflect both the title and the contents. As previously mentioned, I was given two titles to create book covers for: “Can Anything Last Forever?” and “Good News.”
When someone wonders if anything can last forever, the “obvious” answer is often no. But the fact that someone is asking the question (and it’s on a book cover) may cause someone to think twice. Maybe the answer isn't so obvious after all.
When Christians think if anything lasts forever, Isaiah 40:8 may come to mind. This verse says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” The imagery in this verse causes nature to come to mind. Specifically, nature that is dead or dying. Because of this, for this version I chose to include a dead tree. The tree is also intended to correlate with the title and make people wonder, “Why is there a dead tree on a book cover? That seems to be reinforcing the point.” And thus, they would pick up the book to learn more.
I chose midnight blue as a background color to suggest night and to add contrast to the white tree. Does anything last forever? Days come and days go, but even the best days come to an end.
On the contrary, new days bring life, hope, and a chance to begin again. This is why I chose an image of a sunrise for “Good News.” The title “Good News” suggests exactly that – Good News. What could be better news than to realize that you have a debt that cannot be paid, but is completely absolved and paid for by someone else. This is the Good News of the gospel of John.
Layout
“In today’s digital landscape—more than ever—people are aware of typography, design and how the world looks around them.1” Because of this, we can see that the typography on a book cover is extremely important. The typography, in combination with the words, can either enhance or detract from the graphics on the cover and the book as a whole.
Picture someone wondering aloud in disbelief: Does anything last forever? That is what I wanted to convey with the typography: emphasizing “anything” as if to suggest this disbelief. On the other hand, for “Good News” the main image is of a sunrise. Just as a sunrise means a new day, I wanted the title to appear as if it was rising – to suggest newness of life.
Following the completion of the designs, I sent these two covers over to the gentleman with whom I am working. He then brought the designs before the board. Above, you can view the two covers I described. Please comment below with your thoughts.
