A simple, clean design by an Italian architect couple beat over 3,500 entries to become the cover design for Rick Warren’s new book, publisher Zondervan announced on Friday.

Simona Dall’Argine and Simone Salardi from the design firm Kimejoe.com in Sardinia, Italy, will be awarded $5,000 for having their entry selected for the cover of The Hope You Need.

Bestselling author Rick Warren, whose book The Purpose Driven Life has sold over 30 million copies, said he picked the cover because it conveyed the simple message contained inside the book.

“The Lord’s Prayer is profound, yet simple,” Warren said. “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.”

Two weeks ago, Warren had launched the design competition via Twitter. News of the contest spread fast 3,542 entries from around the world within four days.

"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."

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Warren’s new book, The Hope You Need, is based on an eight-part sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer that he delivered at Saddleback Church in southern California earlier this year. Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church.

The book breaks down the parts of the prayer and explains the hope God offers for our broken world.

"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."

Warren has said the book is a response to the economic crisis, during which he felt people needed a message about hope.

The Hope You Need is scheduled to be available in English and Spanish in bookstores worldwide on Nov. 17.