Penguin publishing company is one that is dedicated to good and innovative design. This is exemplified through their logo evolution starting from the very beginning of the company’s inception.
The penguin logo was originally illustrated by Edward Young, an office junior at the up and coming paperback publishing house back in 1935. The penguin is based on and meant to echo the sentiment “flippant, but dignified.” Since paperback publishing in the 1930s was largely associated with pulp novels Penguin strived to provide more affordable and highbrow literature to the masses.
Penguin used design to create a visually appealing and informative line of covers, these covers would go on to become instantly recognizable as part of the Penguin brand. The covers, initially designed under the instruction of Penguin founder Allen Lane, are known for their attractive colors, particularly the bright orange. The colors served as a way to distinguish between genres. This practice of color-coding would continue to current Penguin design as a way to distinguish books by source language instead of by genre.
This isn’t the only way Penguin categorized its books. Between 1937 and 2007 Penguin used spinoff logos, Pelican Books and Puffin Books to promote books aimed to educate and for young children respectively. Though the pelican name and logo are no longer used, Puffin Books is still in operation and going strong. The covers for both Penguin and Puffin Books no longer have to use a similar and easy to print cover format given advances in the printing technology, however, this doesn’t mean that the brand recognition tied to them was gone. On the contrary, the visual language that was built up upon for 85 years has been applied to their brand identity at large.
Penguin Books was a company founded by good design and good intentions. The fact that they were so design forward in the early stages of development served them well. The classic design from the 1930s has survived and endured until the present. Very few brands can relate to this, and even fewer can credit a well-designed logo and visual identity to their success.
Works Cited
1000 Logos. “Biography of the Alan Fletcher.” 1000 Logos The Famous Brands and Company Logos in the World, 1000 Logos, 2016, 1000logos.net/biography-of-the-alan-fletcher/.
Kohlstedt, Kurt. “Classic Penguins: How Minimalist Book Covers Sold the Masses on Paperbacks.” 99% Invisible, 99% Invisible, 3 Aug. 2019, 99percentinvisible.org/article/classic-penguins-how-minimalist-book-covers-sold-paperbacks-to-the-masses/.
Minchin, Adele. “Puffin Children’s Books Changes Its Logo for the First Time in 40 Years.” Penguin.co.uk, Penguin Books, 20 Mar. 2009, web.archive.org/web/20090320145745/www.penguin.co.uk/static/packages/uk/pressoffice/releases1/090403_puffinlogo.pdf.
Penguin Books UK. “’Be My Cover’ Design Exhibit Featuring 100 Penguin Random House Book Covers Launches in Turin.” Penguin Books UK, Penguin Books UK, 19 May 2017, www.penguin.co.uk/articles/company/news/2017/may/be-my-cover-design-exhibit-featuring-100-penguin-random-house-bo.html.
Pulp Librarian. “The Story of the Art of the Book Cover.” Twitter, Pulp Librarian, 7 June 2018, twitter.com/PulpLibrarian/status/1004761355323367424.Sagar, Julia. “The Tale behind the Penguin Logo.” Creative Bloq, Creative Bloq, 21 Nov. 2013, www.creativebloq.com/logo-design/tale-behind-penguin-logo-11135355.
