Italian Artist Team to Have Art Featured on Book Releasing Nov. 17

Contact: Karen Campbell, 616-698-3246

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Oct. 2 /Christian Newswire/ -- It started on Twitter, lasted only four days, but nonetheless garnered more than 3,500 entries from all over the world. Today Zondervan, a world leader in Christian communications, and best-selling author Dr. Rick Warren announced the winner of the open cover design competition for Warren's new book, "The Hope You Need: From the Lord's Prayer," slated for release November 17.

The winner, the team of Simona Dall'Argine and Simone Salardi from the design firm kimejoe.com, based in Sardinia, Italy, will be awarded $5,000 for their design. The design contest, hosted by Zondervan and announced via a tweet from Warren on September 16, drew 3,542 entries despite its short deadline of September 19. Warren worked with a team of creative leaders to narrow the field and make the final decision.

"I am thrilled to present the artistic talent of Simona and Simone," said Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif. and author of "The Purpose Driven Life," the best-selling nonfiction hardback book in publishing history. "The Lord's Prayer is profound, yet simple. Not a single word is wasted. I wanted an uncluttered cover to communicate the straightforward message inside the book: Hope is available to anyone! The message of hope needs no promotion, just distribution. You don't have to promote water to people dying of thirst. You just need to tell them where to get it."

The winning concept incorporates a simple, clean look that reflects a contemporary style, but a timeless feel that will maintain its design currency for years to come.

The artists have been in business together for five years after graduating from design school, prior to working at large commercial agencies. They learned about the contest on 99designs.com, a Web site for "crowd-sourced" graphic design.

"The response to this contest was tremendous," said Zondervan CEO Moe Girkins. "We had so many creative designs to choose from that it made the final decision a tough one. But, in the end, kimejoe.com's design stood out among them all as the one that perfectly fit what Zondervan and Rick Warren wanted to convey."

"The Hope You Need" is inspired by an eight-part sermon series on the Lord's Prayer that Warren preached at Saddleback Church earlier this year. The book is based on the revered prayer given by Jesus to his disciples as a model for how to pray.

In the book, Warren breaks down each phrase of the prayer, explaining the hope God offers for our broken world. In his signature practical writing style, Warren provides inspiration to help readers overcome the resulting basic human responses, including fear, worry, guilt, forgiveness and loneliness.

"Look around and you quickly find broken hearts, broken dreams, broken homes, broken economies, broken systems and broken people," Warren said. "I'm broken in many places, and you are, too; but we all hate to admit it. So, we spend enormous amounts of time, energy and resources trying to cover up, hide and deny our human brokenness. Every so often, we run out of steam, get tired and discouragement rushes in. This book is about what to do when that happens."

"The Hope You Need" will release worldwide, simultaneously in English and Spanish, on November 17, 2009. For more information, go to www.TheHopeYouNeed.com.  

Warren is a pastor, author, global strategist and innovator, who has been called "America's Most Powerful Religious Leader" and listed among the "100 Most Influential People in the World" (TIME); "15 People Who Make America Great" (Newsweek); "One of America's 25 Best Leaders" (U.S. News and World Report); and "America's Pastor" ("USA Today"). He founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., with one family in 1980, and today it is one of America's most influential congregations with over 100,000 names on the church roll, a 120-acre campus, and more than 300 community ministries. For more information, visit www.saddleback.com.  

About Zondervan
Zondervan is the world's leading Christian publisher of books whose authors are noted for their excellence in the craft of writing as well as their worthy contribution to the ongoing global evangelical conversation. The works published by Zondervan not only confirm readers' faith and understanding, they also challenge and stretch readers' thinking. For more than 75 years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian experiences through general, ministry, and academic resources by influential leaders and emerging voices. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan publishes bestselling books, audio, video, curriculum, software, and digital products. Zondervan are translated into nearly 200 languages in more than 60 countries. Visit Zondervan Books on the Internet at www.zondervan.com/books.