Heidi
Service
Book Cover Illustration
When Page generously asked me if there were any classic lit projects on my bucket list, I pitched Heidi as one of the great classics of my own childhood and to my absolute delight it was on their list of wishful projects as well.
Heidi is the story of a young girl living with her estranged grandfather in the alps, before she is whisked away to a strict and unhappy townhouse in the city by her aunt.
This is a tale of friendship and a little girl who feels most herself when she is helping others and running barefoot in the alpine mountains.
Concept Development
For the cover illustration, I wanted to convey Heidi's strong affinity for nature and the unlikely home she has found for herself there. I also wanted to make nods to the key themes of friendship and Heidi’s ability to uplift those around her. Life, both in nature and in the people around her, is more abundant and colourful with her.
The art director loved concept number 1, showing a world split between the oppressive townhouse and the open alps, and number 6, featuring a winding road symbolic of Heidi's long journey home, marked by a cattlebell iconic of the alpine goatherders Heidi befriends along the way.
In the end we agreed that number 1 was conceptually stronger and a more unique take on the classic when looking at previous cover designs.
