penguin books (1)
TRANSCRIPT
Penguin books |Design consistency| Presentation
PowerPoint slide titles
1 -‐First sold in 1935, books for the masses sold at Woolworths for the price at the time they cost a sixpence, equivalent to a packet of cigarettes. They were supposed to be disposable objects . They were an instant success. Pleasantly designed, easy to read and accessible. The public loved them.
In 1935 Allen Lane came up with the concept of the Penguin paperback, bringing out a host of the colour-‐coded titles that summer (orange for fiction, blue for biography, green for crime), with works by Ernest Hemingway, André Maurois and Christie herself part of the launch list.
2-‐ Colour scheme
This was to easily define the genre and distinctive typography. Penguins established a brand identity readers could trust
Orange and white = general fiction Green and white = crime fiction Cerise and white = travel and adventure Dark blue and white = biographies Yellow and white = miscellaneous Red and white = drama The rarer purple and white = essays and belles lettres ( a category of writing)and Grey and white = world affairs.
The colours made the books seem collectable, and were aesthetically pleasing
Penguin classic editions
1984 (book) epitomises the genius of the design (colour coded orange fiction). It was first published for the mass market in 1954, and the first version had the classic generic penguin look
In America the books in colour looked like mini movie posters (i.e. the 1950s version 1984). The marketing elements had to go up against other book covers in the concession stands. A lot of the book covers were misleading, the characters on the front cover didn’t link to the characterisation by Orwell, but sold it to the American public.
1960s penguin under pressure, they needed a unified look, 1984s eye cover = big brother, lead character?
In the mid-‐60s saw the rise of paintings for the front covers, but they didn’t really relate to the story.
1984 had 3 covers in 12 years, these changing covers showed a willingness by penguin to explore and experiment and to make mistakes.
1972 covers reflected society at that time. It was the most shocking and famous and iconic cover, soviet fears etc.
Clockwork orange by David Pelham, the film was banned – the cover was a graphic design emergency done over night so that they wouldn’t miss the deadline of the film
The cog eye represents so much from the book and can be interpreted differently, big eyes from the drug laced milk he drinks, goes to jail and becomes a cog in the state machine, eyes wide from being forced open due to his brutal rehabilitation scene. (Maybe get photos from each part of the film) –
1984 -‐ without the book title or author only on the side – front cover pipework back cover broken up to show anarchy.
Penguin books are a mix of graphic designers.
Penguin shows its modern and still relevant publishing by holding a competition for designers to be the next designer for the company as well as getting a job there.
Would a better choice have made for a better reading experience as well?
It’s interesting to notice the frequency with which classic paintings by great masters, that generally have nothing to do with the novel they are chosen to represent, are so often the choice for cover designs – and are an uncannily perfect fit. Penguin Classics is one publisher that relies heavily on this technique, finding classic portraits that seem to perfectly represent the character in a novel.
In my opinion, the best book cover designs often lean toward simplicity and minimalism.