PROJECT: BIBLE MONTH - ANNUAL PROJECT x 3 YEARS
CLIENT: LWPT/THE METHODIST CHURCH

Bible Month is produced annually as a resource for churches, youth groups, children and individuals. Each year the focus is on a different Biblical book, with the aim being to really celebrate it and help encourage a deeper engagement with Scripture - it is a toolkit that can be rolled out across 4 weeks of preaching, small group work, and all-age engagement, at any point during the year.

Bible Month is published by LWPT (The Leaders of Worship and Preachers Trust) in association with The Methodist Church. Find out more here

I have created the illustrations for Bible Month for the last 3 years.

OBJECTIVE

To create an illustration for each of the 4 featured passages in the individual publication, as part of the Bible Month learning resource. As mentioned, each year the focus is on a different book from the Bible - the latest for 2023 is the Book of Revelation, 2022 it was the Book of Isaiah, and 2021 the Gospel of Mark.

Each time, I am supplied with reference points for the key ideas associated with each passage to help me in developing concepts for each illustration, which by their nature contain lots of subtleties, nuances and points for discussion.

The illustration style and colour palette is left for me to develop, and I really enjoy the fact that the Bible Month team are happy for me to put a slightly different spin on the style each year, which helps to keep things fresh!

For the last 2 years there has been a directive that where appropriate the illustrations should feel contemporary and with a modern context of our lives today, rather than of ‘biblical’ times.

BIBLE MONTH 2023: 30 Days with the Book of Revelation

Some of the language and references in the featured passages from Revelation were quite dark and sinister. Part of my challenge was to reflect this, whilst also ensuring the images were accessible and appropriate for all ages, and generally not too dark!

This year’s illustrations feel like a development in style from those of 2022 - utilising quite a graphic approach in terms of the various elements and iconography, still with a handcrafted/organic feel to the way shapes are drawn. I applied a paper texture to the illustrations, which I think adds a nice, tactile feel.

BIBLE MONTH 2022: 30 Days with the Book of Isaiah

A bold and colourful approach for the 2022 set of illustrations...

My process involved using a mix of analogue and digital technique: Cut paper shapes and drawn elements, pieced together and coloured digitally using Adobe Illustrator on my desktop Mac, and then combined with some further drawing done on the iPad. I like working in this way as the images retain some of the subtleties that come form a handcrafted approach, but that it also offers me flexibility and freedom to develop the images visually. The resulting images are all vector.

Pictured below are some double page spreads from the 2022 publication, to show the illustrations in context. Design by Dan Nolloth

SEE MORE | Previous case study for Bible Month 2022, featuring a little about the process of creating the illustrations and my initial sketches > here

BIBLE MONTH 2021: 30 Days with the Gospel of Mark

As with every project, I began with developing sketches for the illustrations. Having been given some initial page layouts for reference, I had a rough idea of the space available for my illustrations.

Once the sketches were approved, I worked them up using a combination of drawing on the iPad, some hand-created textures and elements, pulling everything together with Adobe Illustrator.

Pictured below are the illustrations in context, each featuring on a double page spread in the 2021 resource publication. Design by Dan Nolloth

SEE MORE | Previous case study for Bible Month 2021, featuring my initial sketches > here

CLIENT FEEDBACK

” I want to thank you for everything you’ve done and designed for us over the last 3 years. It’s been a joy and a breeze to work with you and the illustrations you’ve produced for us have been a fabulous asset not just to the Bible Month booklet but to the wider campaign that we run each year.

I’m particularly proud of the simple but effective animations we were able to produce for Revelation this year, using your initial designs; these have collectively chalked up nearly 10,000 views since going live just 8 weeks ago!. I’ve also been hugely impressed and blessed by the way you’ve brought fresh eyes and creative insights to the text and produced illustrations that illuminate it in new ways – even for people like me who have spent years studying them!”

- Michael Wadsworth, The Methodist Church

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