EDLD 5366 Graphic Design

Assignment 1.2

This week’s assignment in EDLD 5366 Digital Graphics required us to look at ancient texts online and analyze them in terms of their graphic communication. The book I first looked at was the Bible from Ethiopia. This is found in the British Library website. I must say the British library website is awesome. The ability to view these texts while turning the pages as if they were in front of you places them in your lap. The website is found at www.bl.uk.

This Bible was written on sheep skin and has wooden covers embellished with patterned leather. My first impressions are that those that created this Bible desired to work hard to give as many details about the script as possible in the designs and pictures within the text. The pictures were just as important as the words of the text. It all appears so tedious and precise. The narration stated that the text would take eight months to create. The colors used were all found within Ethiopia except the indigo, which was imported from India.

The four principles of design were evident within the Bible from Ethiopia.

Contrast: Two different colors of ink are used for the text itself. Black is used for the main text and red is used for section titles and numberings. On some page pairs, the text on one page contrasts with the illustration on the other. In the drawing of Moses on page 3, the blue and red robe contrast with the orange background. In each illustration, where people are standing, their feet are often on top of the lower portion of the frame drawn. To contrast the “good people” drawn in the illustrations, the shepherd and the thieves on the cross do not have the gold halo.

Repetition: The leather of the cover is dyed red and the inside lining has red stripes. Illustrations are repeatedly given their own page. Elaborate embellishments surround the text on most pages. The same colors are used throughout the illustrations: green, black, blue, red, and gold. All of the birds drawn in the illustrations are drawn as if they were standing without their wings outstretched. This is true even when the birds are upside down. Each illustration in the text is surrounded by a frame of gold with the background color. Most individuals drawn in the book have a yellow circle behind their heads. This may be to signify the holiness of the individuals drawn.

Alignment: On the leather cover, four ribbons of patterns in the leather surround a stamped cross in the center. The cross is in the center to emphasize its importance. The cross tells the future person who finds this text its purpose - to tell about the resurrection and life of Jesus Christ.

Proximity: The cross on the cover is in the very center to show you the cross is central to the message of the text. Mary is standing with Joseph at Jesus’ death shown on page 24. In this picture, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea – the men who followed Jesus – are together on the right side of the page. Mary and Joseph are together in the center grieving over Jesus. Two mourning women are together on the left side. And each upper corner contains angels Gabriel and Michael, who are showing their grief by peeking through their fingers to watch Jesus’ death as if it is too hard to watch.

The creator of this Bible made the effort to use very durable parchment that survived centuries of weathering and movement. The transcriber used charts, text, illustrations and framing all to emphasize and give value to the accounts given in the text. The transcriber also was very selective in his choice of scripture to write out. He chose the first eight books of the Old Testament which give the creation of man and the establishment of the Hebrew nation. He also chose the four gospels to give the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.