Chris Wright started designing hand-lettered verses in 2012 to help him memorize Scripture.
At first it was a personal project to hold himself accountable for memorizing Fighter Verses passages. “I learned about them earlier that year and was writing them on 3x5 cards to keep in my pocket. It helped me to memorize and meditate on them,” he said. Later that year, he and his new wife, Carly, realized “it was going to be Christmastime and we didn’t know what we were going to do for gifts.” Inspired by vintage signs and packaging, he thought it might be fun to draw Scripture in that same style and use it to give as gifts to family and friends that year. That’s when Chris started drawing verses. They never foresaw it turning into a business, but as he drew more, friends started asking for custom designs, and gradually it turned into what it is today.
The Wrights sat down with me recently to share the beginnings of Scripture Type, their family-run business. Chris said his drawings “were very funny looking” in the beginning. But the more he drew, the better he got. When Chris and Carly were newly wed, they were living in a friend’s basement with lots of free time. Back then he could draw a new design every week. But the pace slowed as his responsibilities, and their family, grew.
Having children gave Chris new reasons to keep designing. “One of the first things that we did with our girls,” Chris said, “was these little business cards that had different verse drawings I had done.” They made up hand motions to go with each card. Just the shape and color of his art was enough for them to know which verse it was. They were memorizing even before they could read.
At ages 10 and 12, they still have those verses memorized. Now they help pack and ship orders for the business.
“I have sweet memories of memorizing these verses together with the girls,” Chris recalls. And some passages, he says, have also been really helpful “in unexpected times where life happens and you're thinking, Oh, this is how it's played out in real life. Or this is why this is so important. It’s like the actual application of these verses that you're memorizing.”
Scripture Type had always been run on the side of a different full-time job. After praying about it for 10 years, God providentially led them to make the transition into doing Scripture Type full time. Since then, there's been enough demand to keep them going, but also challenges “to keep us dependent on God at the same time.”
Opening their home for foster care overlapped with launching Scripture Type full time. “It has gone nothing like we had envisioned or planned (as it rarely seems to do),” they share on their blog. But through it all, they’re seeing God do “a much greater work than just letting things go quickly and smoothly. He’s teaching us to wait on Him, trust in Him, and be faithful to what He’s called us to in the day we’re in.”
Since Scripture Type's beginnings, the Wrights have thought, “Wouldn't it be cool just to have our decorations be Scripture, like in the Deuteronomy 6, where they filled the doorpost of their house with God’s Word, so they see it and talk about it with their children?” They wanted it to be part of their every day environment. Thanks to the artistry of ScriptureType, now other people can, too.
Four years ago, Scripture Type created the custom Psalm 78 illustration pictured above to help Truth78 celebrate Psalm 78 Day. This year they’ve released the illustration in new colors. You can download the new version, as well as previous versions, here: Green | Red | Black | White
This week, July 8-11, you can get 20% off any of the Scripture Type art prints in honor of Psalm 78 Day. Just go to Scripture Type and use the code TRUTH78 at checkout.
