7/26/2023 0 Comments Dot to dot picture of a bibleIn the case of narrated texts, that was relatively simple, but for the lyric parts it was rather tricky. On each double page there is a drawing of a situation corresponding to the content in question. I learned a lot about the texts in connection with that effort, but it became even more exciting as I began to illustrate the pages. Then there was the question of the commentaries, which were very carefully selected, adapted and cross-referenced, until it all matched on each one of the 432 pages. First of all the text of the bible had to fit, in order to leave enough space for the illustrated middle section. I was allowed to produce a bible! The book of books – and thus the crown of all print designing! My collaboration with the publisher was very close, because content and form had to experience a symbiosis if the book was going to remain understandable. Our purpose was to make the Bible accessible to a readership that seldom or never reads the Bible and to design it so that one can read it through in one go, without it becoming boring.įor me this book was the greatest challenge of my professional life. But our aim was to draw an easily understandable continuous thread through mankind’s history with God: from the first ray of light in Genesis to the vision of the second coming of Christ. Time and again that was the most difficult part, which as it will rather quickly become clear to experienced Bible specialists when reading the Y-Bible. And it was decided to design our edition as selections from the Bible, which meant to abbreviate it. With the exegetes we clarified the tricky passages and extended an invitation to reflection with many quotations and incentives. We meditated with young people on the passages which are particularly close to their hearts. The work on the content was an intensive challenge for the authors and the publisher. And I said to myself: Ok, now stay the course. So, not only an informative, instructive book, but also an inspiring book. And incidentally to illustrate the entire book with stick figures – which was my job, besides layout. The idea was to develop a bible with commentary for adolescents and young adults which not only was supposed to make the text exegetically understandable, but also let celebrities from the Church, the cultural or business world, and – most importantly – the faith-witness of young people have their say. Then, about three years ago, the initiative arrived from the editorial staff of the YOUCAT Foundation. Yet, the biggest of those was that it fulfilled in the highest degree my yearning to visualize precisely the subject matter that I myself stand for. My work till then dealt with local or regional contract jobs, whereas the YOUCAT project introduced me to a new, unexpected global dimension and with it also a completely new expectation of serious, clear communication with particularly complex subject matter. I won’t do less.įor me the encounter with the emerging idea of a youth catechism almost seven years ago was the beginning of a completely new chapter in life and in my professional career path. And I thought about my own mini-bible, chock full of dense, small-print, precisely type-set text, and it dawned on me, that if it becomes a reality, that I am permitted to develop a Bible, then it has to be done right, really right. It can go wrong big-time.Īlright, I then thought with sincere respect and not a little sheepishness, it would be better not to get too over-confident if the project comes up. To keep the entire body of the text in view, to make it all legible, not to leave anything out, and then the corrections – it can drive you crazy. This mini movie provides us with verses that remind us of our freedom in Christ.Cologne () When the YOUCAT Foundation and I first set out together to develop a Bible for young people, an experienced publisher said to me: Think it over seriously! A Bible isn’t easy as it might seem.
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