Balbusso Twins Return to Gilead for Folio Society’s Illustrated Atwood Set

The visual language Anna and Elena Balbusso first developed for The Handmaid’s Tale is returning in a new Folio Society set. Due November 3, 2026, the edition brings the twins back to Margaret Atwood’s Gilead with new illustrations, a custom clamshell box and Italian leather bindings. For designers, the interest lies in how a visual interpretation can become part of a book’s identity, then be reworked for a later edition.

The set combines The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, Atwood’s sequel, in a limited run of 750 hand-signed copies worldwide. The twins designed the presentation box, and the volumes include new contributions from Atwood and The Testaments author Naomi Alderman. The publisher plans to unveil the new illustrations on November 3, 2026.

A visual system built across two books

The Balbusso Twins describe the world they are making for the books as a “surrealist nightmare.” Their approach brings together strict geometry, physical materials and fine art, connecting the past and future of Atwood’s fictional setting. Those elements suggest a visual system shaped by controlled forms and tactile surfaces, suited to a story in which power and appearance carry weight.

The twins’ first Folio Society edition of The Handmaid’s Tale appeared in 2012. They say their research for that project helped form the personal style later seen on the cover of Directory of Illustration 37. The return to Gilead also draws on an established body of work around Atwood’s books: the pair created cover artwork for a 2023 The Testaments edition in a collection published by Corriere della Sera. That cover and their other earlier projects shown here are separate works, not part of the upcoming set.

“Those red handmaids born before any screen… Our red handmaids were born five years before the TV series, defining a unique dystopian iconographic milestone that served as a global blueprint for designers, artists, directors, and illustrators alike. After 15 years, returning to Gilead felt like a natural homecoming.”

— Anna & Elena Balbusso

The Blood, a screenprint poster created for Dark City Gallery in 2018. It is not part of the upcoming set.

Cover artwork created by the Balbusso Twins for Directory of Illustration 37.

Cover artwork for The Testaments in the Corriere della Sera collection, 2023. This work is not part of the upcoming set.

Handmade media, finished with digital tools

The twins’ process combines pencil, watercolor, gouache and tempera with digital technology. That mix lets the work retain visible evidence of drawing and paint while being prepared for a finely finished printed edition. The new set will also include a previously unpublished original artwork made specifically for The Handmaid’s Tale, alongside new work for The Testaments.

Production follows the same attention to material detail. Grafiche Veneziane, described as Venice’s oldest operating book printer, will print the volumes. They will then be transported across Venice’s canals by gondola and hand-bound in leather by the Italian bookbinder Graphicom. The custom box, original artwork and binding make the edition’s physical construction part of its design proposition, rather than a neutral container for the illustrations.

Atwood’s visual world, seen by the illustrators

Atwood’s introduction for this edition describes the book as inherently visual: “The Handmaid’s Tale is a very visual book. Those who lack power always see more than they say.” She also connects the Balbussos’ work to “the feel and the colour palette of the thirties and forties,” and to Gilead’s attention to propaganda and public presentation. Those observations give readers a way to understand the palette and imagery as choices tied to the book’s themes.

Alderman’s new foreword describes the story as a force that keeps trying to push itself back into the modern world. Together, the two authors’ contributions place the illustrations in conversation with the novels’ continuing reach, while the twins’ return brings their earlier visual research into a new, paired edition.

The artists behind the edition

Anna and Elena Balbusso are Italian illustrators based in Milan and represented by Shannon Associates. Their work spans illustration, fine art and design. They have illustrated more than 50 books, including editions for The Folio Society, Beehive Books and Suntup Editions. Their illustrated titles include Pride and Prejudice, Atlas Shrugged, The Great Gatsby and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

The twins were named among the Norman Rockwell Museum’s “Illustrators of the Decade” for 2010–2020. Their listed honors include four Gold Medals from the Society of Illustrators New York, the V&A Illustration Award for Best Book and the 3×3 Best of Show. Their work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Economist.

Anna & Elena Balbusso’s portfolio · Agency portfolio · Instagram: @balbusso_twins

For illustrators and art directors, the set offers a useful case study in extending a recognizable visual approach across related books. The new images and full presentation will be visible when the publisher unveils the edition on November 3, 2026.