Vanessa Mazic - "ANNA KARENINA"

a timeless classic

This collection is part of my senior thesis project. It consisted of redesigning a book cover and creating promotional merchandise for the story.

Anna Karenina is a timeless classic that focuses on themes of love, death, religion, and society. Although the book was written in the 1870’s, I wanted the design to be reminiscent of Russian propaganda posters that would emerge in a later time period. I utilized a black and red color scheme and wanted to give the illustrations a feel similar to screen printing, with pieces of color missing from some parts. The designs were meant to be bold, minimal, and invoke this feeling of subtle discomfort. I used hands throughout the designs to showcase the different themes in the book and as a tool to push the visuals. Hands are personal and can be expressive, I wanted the meaning behind them to be that these characters are putting the events of the novel into action and are very involved with both themselves and their surroundings.

Dust Jacket

Front and Back Cover

the design interpretation

The goal of the dust jacket and merchandise design was try to incorporate relevant themes and snippets from the story into them. Each side of the cover shows a different image from the same scene; the front being Anna standing alone and the back revealing the group of people gossiping about her. It showcases her isolation by society and paints her as a focal point. The bookmark also utilized the train that brought Anna into the story and took her out of the story. I wanted it to loom over the cover and Anna as a visual reminder of what is to come. The design for the banner also stemmed from the gossiping of high society, directing their eyeless gaze at the viewer as though they were Anna. Their body positions and reluctance to come closer to the viewer showcase their scorn. The bags and bookmark used the hands to show the personal and emotional experiences of the characters. Each sticker represents a different dynamic; one being Anna's love for her child, the other being the anger and paranoia that consumed Anna and Vronsky's relationship, and the last being Levin's pursuit of love and meaning - his hand showing the physical and emotional struggle that he endures throughout this process.