Is beauty a superficial distraction from God's truth, or an essential
dimension of Christian worship? The intricate ornamentation of medieval
religious manuscripts deserve more than a place in history books. This
project explores how their centuries-old visual heritage can be brought into
a contemporary Bible edition.

Before starting to design, I spent time exploring archives of illuminated
medieval manuscripts. I looked closely at their typography, page layouts,
ornamentation and illustrations, gradually noticing certain recurring
features: narrow text columns, ink-like gothic lettering and delicate
illustrations that used symbolism to convey entire stories.

Psalter, England,
1310-1320

Book of Hours, Italy
15th century

Gutenberg Bible, Germany,
1452-1455

I chose a two-column layout, occasionally breaking it up with
single-column compositions. To stay closer to the manuscript
tradition, I left out chapter headings, subheadings and verse
numbers, allowing the text to flow without interruption. For the
body text, I chose “Roslindale”, a typeface with a subtle
resemblance to handwritten lettering. Chapter openings use
“Norman”, a condensed serif typeface that fits the narrow column
and gives the book a distinct visual identity.

For the illustrations, I turned to Christian art and its use of symbolism to
communicate complex narratives through relatively simple visual elements.
I set myself a particular constraint, to depict only elements found in nature,
leaving out human figures and man-made objects. All illustrations were
created in Procreate.

Interpreting the Bible visually is not an easy task. There is always
the risk of crossing a line or misrepresenting something
meaningful to others. It was especially rewarding to hear from
readers that the work conveyed a genuine sense of respect and
affection for the text itself.

If I were to continue this project, I would like to shift some of the focus
away from illustration and explore other aspects of book design instead.
Typography, page composition, color. This would make it possible to
preserve the connection to manuscript traditions while developing an
approach that could work on a much larger scale.

Art Academy of Latvia / Semester project

Client

Academic advisor

Daniel Melse

2026

Year

LMA Design Days 2026 / Exhibition

Recognition