Design Concepts - Editorial Design// Dr. Greg Bahnsen & Presuppositional Apologetics

The assignment was to pick out an article that we are interested in and to make an editorial design for that article for another publication. The editorial aesthetic is supposed to match a real publication. This article choice and the design should showcase our abilities and perspectives as designers. 

I deviated from both of these specifications in thoughtful ways and have detailed both the how and the why below. 

Notably: I did not use a specific publication's designs as a reference point to mimic, and I didn't choose a pre-written article. 

Most of the things I'm interested in aren't in mainstream publications and tend to be in essay form rather than articles.

Instead I decided to use the transcript from a talk given by the late Dr. Greg Bahnsen who was a Christian apologist and philosopher and who really revolutionized Christian apologetics.

This posed several challenges. The publications that would be interested in the subject matter of the article are not interested in cutting edge design and aesthetics--and vice versa: publications that place a premium on aesthetics have no interest in (let alone promoting) the Christian worldview.

However, Dr. Bahnsen gave Christian apologetics a thematic and philosophical facelift so I thought I could continue on by doing so aesthetically.

(continued below)

</I> the tattoo on the face reads "Logos" -- this is not plural of the english 'logo' as in a company's logo but the greek λόγος -- The Word: in Christianity it is the second part of the godhead, Jesus Christ who is the word made flesh. λόγος is also where we get the word 'logic' from. </I>

First off I had to make some minor alterations to the transcript to make it suitable for print. For instance: when I pulled it from youtube it was without punctuation and emphasis. However, I was able to utilize type in such a way that I could re-create the lyrical quality, rhythm, and intonation that Dr. Bahnsen invokes in his lecture.

Secondly: I needed to give an overview and introduction so the reader has context and knows what to expect. The article is going to move very quickly and talk about some incredibly complex topics. To do this I wrote and introduction on the first two landing pages of the editorial (above). The illustration was also by me, using two photos from unsplash  and adobe photoshop to add on tattoos and whirling smoke.

I also wrote a contextual aside at the bottom of page 5. I was familiar with an argument that Dr. Bahnsen was referring to in shorthand (this talk is only an excerpt from a much longer talk) so in the formatting I found a way to press pause and explain the crucial point Dr. Bahnsen was referencing. 

The idea for the design was to have each spread be completely novel and unique and yet the article as a whole completely cohesive.

I achieved this by utilizing a variety of grid structures, playing with asymmetry, pull quotes, type hierarchy, eye-bounce, type as illustration, rhythm, geometry, and dimension.

Thank you so much for reading through this and visiting my portfolio.