Anne of Green Gables
Bringing a Classic Coming-of-age Character Into the Current Age
Discipline
Book Cover Design
Tool
Adobe Illustrator
Objective
Anne of Green Gables is a classic Canadian novel written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. For the book’s 115th anniversary, I designed a new cover for the story, aimed at reaching a new and young audience.
My goal was to leverage iconic imagery from the story that is already familiar to many, but present it in a fresh and modernized style to catch the eyes of unknowing readers who might be encountering this timeless tale for the very first time.
Process
The typography-forward design incorporates letters into the illustrations to symbolize the love of reading and writing the book has fostered over its 115-year run. Vibrant orange colours reflect the novel’s “carrot-top” description of the protagonist, Anne, paired with greens that represent the Green Gables setting in Prince Edward Island. To ensure the cover would stand out both online and on physical shelves, I chose a white backgroung to maximize contast and a friendly, easy-to-read typeface.
I used Anne’s red braided hair as the central visual, conveying the text’s focus on a young female character. Illustrating the hair alone, rather than the full character, sparks curiosity — people need to pick up the book to discover the girl behind the braids!
