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Ever since the creation of the first Penguin paperbacks in 1935, their jackets have become a constantly evolving part of Britain's culture and design history. Rich with stunning illustrations and filled with detail of individual titles, designers and even the changing size and shape of the Penguin logo itself, this book shows how covers become design classics. By looking back at seventy years of Penguin paperbacks, Phil Baines charts the development of British publishing, book cover design and the role of artists and designers in creating and defining the Penguin look. Coupling in-depth analysis of designers - from Jan Tschichold to Romek Marber - with a wide-ranging look at the range of series and titles published - from early Penguins and Pelicans, to wartime Specials, fiction and reference, this is a distinctive picture of how Penguin has consistently established its identity through its covers, influenced by - and influencing - the wider development of graphic design and the changing fashions in typography, photography, illustration or printing techniques.… (more)
User reviews
*cough* er… was I drooling? Anyway. What you get inside this book is a history of the evolution of Penguin cover design, some of the motivations for lines and imprints introduced, how they both changed and changed with the market, the impact of the war on titles released, changes to the typography both inside and on the front covers of each line; none of which, of course, would mean anything without a history of the company itself, which is given in rather a necessarily potted form; as Baines says in the introduction, there is not enough space to include a complete catalogue of covers – by extension there is not enough room for a full biography of each member of the board, although Allen Lane is given plenty of … oh, god… coverage. Sorry.
The book covers used to illustrate these changes are chosen well and there’s no chance of flipping pages without stopping to actually examine each cover… Baines is also not afraid to point out flaws as he goes. Penguin’s story is one I find fascinating anyway, but I think it’s accessibly written and anyone with the vaguest interest in books or graphic design would be won over by the constantly evolving approach to not only catching the paperback reader’s eye with artwork, but catching their imagination with a brand that they would always feel had the best shelf appeal.
It's an interesting wander through the different cover art and uses of the logo. Now I want to find a copy of the Penguin Knitting book by James Norbury, I love the penguin logo on that book as much as I like the look of the book, I reckon there's entertainment potential there.
A book for book, printing and typography geeks.