Scattered. Broken. Exiled.
God’s people saw their home and temple destroyed, yet God promised to rebuild what sin had ruined. Exile & Return traces their journey through hardship and restoration, showing how every trial was part of His greater plan.
This study reminds us that God is always building His kingdom and His people. Even in exile, He invites us to join His redemptive work. BSF’s creative team wanted to evoke all of this through their visuals for Exile & Return.
Behind the Artwork
The Exile & Return brand reflects a longing to rebuild, with bold type, a nostalgic burnt-orange palette, brickwork, and broken and restored pillars.
The Cover
The lesson book cover combines the typography and the brand metaphors. A key consideration for our team when developing a study brand is ensuring that everything works across all our supported languages. We have Spanish- and Chinese-speaking consultants who provide guidance when needed.
Pillars and Flowers
The broken pillar with flowers represents the new life and hope within the chaos of exile and the ruins of Israel’s former home. The flowers we used in our illustrations are based on indigenous Middle Eastern flowers our team discovered during the research phase of the process.
Living and Dead Leaves
The alternating leaves metaphor you see in the border represents life and death, hope and despair. If you look carefully, you see that the shape of the dead leaf in this frame is also the shape at the tops of the broken pillars.
Ornate Borders
This is just one of several ornate borders. These are used in conjunction with other visual metaphors (leaves, crowns, rings, and so on). Each section of the study has a unique border to support it.
