The Great Gatsby

Book cover redesign for the exemplary novel of the Jazz Age

Illustration, Typography

December 2020

Overview

The publishing company Simon & Schuster wanted to redesign the book cover of the third novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, originally published in 1925. This book sheds light on the decline of the American Dream in the Jazz Age. The book cover redesign aims to make the novel appear more exciting to high school and university students, ages 16 - 25.

Solution

Five prevalent ideas that tell the story were taken into consideration for The Great Gatsby book cover redesign—love and hope, wealth, society and class, isolation, memory and the past, dissatisfaction. To convey these ideas, the cover features a wealthy young woman on her way to a fabulous party, but there is a lack of connection between her and the place where she is going. The whole place was built for her, but she still doesn't seem to be excited. Cylburn, a semi-connected script, reinforces the elegance on the cover. This is paired with the geometric serif Lorin and the iconic Art Deco face, LTC Broadway, to take readers back to the Roaring Twenties.

© Anna Karpova 2025