ESV

The Bible is the most wonderful book ever, and not just because it's a good book, but because it is the very word of God to all of us.  Isn't that amazing?  Listen to this verse from 1 Timothy:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

When you think about it, it's so good that Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for us.  And it makes reading Scripture an astounding privilege.  Every time we read God's word, we get to read the words God Himself has spoken.  Wow.

One thing I love is my ESV Study Bible.  The ESV (English Standard Version) is a great translation of the Bible, and the one I've used for a good long time.  The notes in the ESV Study Bible are so helpful, too.  Several times, the notes have really helped me see and understand something new about God.

I highly recommend the ESV Study Bible.  They're not exactly cheap, but it is so worth the investment.  They come in different editions, and I've made a little collage about it.  You can click on each image to be taken to the version's Amazon page.






I also wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the graphic design of the ESV Bible.  Of course, no graphic design could ever come anywhere close to being as important as the content of the ESV Bible, which is God's very words, but graphic design can be a good tool to help people be drawn towards that content and not be distracted from that content.  The ESV does this very well, and I thought I'd explain why I think they do.

First, the logo for the ESV translation.

Sorry for the small size - the logo I found on the internet was rather tiny.  Hopefully you can still see the logo well.  I like this logo.  The typography in particular is great.  The way the monogram is intertwined is well done, and I like the way the end of the "S" is the same width as the end of the "V."  The gold/brown color is very good, too.  I think that the way the logo looks like a seal is very elegant.

The main thing that's great about this logo is that it's not distracting.  Sometimes, logos are meant to grab your attention, but I really don't think that was the intention of this graphic designer.  The goal of this logo, I'm assuming, and the goal that it accomplishes is to point the viewer to the Bible.  However, the fact that the logo is well designed is important.  It sends a subtle message with its professional look to increase the ethos of the translators - it's a visual signal that the translators care about accurately translating the words of Scripture, which is something of essential importance.

This logo, however, is only present on the traditional version of the ESV Bible, without the study notes in the ESV Study Bible.  But the graphic design of both types of Bibles is something that is well done.  Here's a picture of each.

The one on the left, the standard ESV Bible, has graphics that compliment the logo I talked about above.  Like the logo, the graphics look professional and yet unassuming - they don't scream for attention, but draw the reader's attention to the title and the fact that this book is the Holy Bible itself.

The ESV Study Bible, on the other hand, takes a different approach to the graphics.  Although the graphics for this Bible are more colorful and bold, they still don't detract from the most important thing: the Bible itself.  I think the main way this design accomplishes that is through the use of simple shapes.  The use of triangles and squares is interesting, but simple.

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into some of the graphics of the ESV Bible.  And I want to take one more minute to say yet again what an amazing tool the ESV Study Bible is.  If you don't have one, I'd highly recommend it!