Penguin logo evolution
Designed by Edward Young, photo via The Telegraph
“It started with the simple logo and name, suggested, allegedly, by a typist who was earwigging the board meeting. Allen had already hit upon the idea of an animal logo, inspired by the template offered by the contemporary publishing house The Albatross Library. “It was the obvious answer, a stroke of genius,” said Penguin’s original designer, Edward Young. “I went straight off to the zoo to spend the rest of the day drawing penguins in every pose.” The clear logo was matched with the archetypal modern, but not too scarily modern, typeface, Gill Sans, and the now classic three-band cover, with colours related to the subject: orange for fiction, dark blue for biography, etc.”
Quoted from The Guardian.
Photo via The Fales Library
“Edward Young, who designed Penguin’s famous ‘dignified but flippant’ logo and the colour scheme for its book covers was a submariner during the war. His boat was involved in a collision which saw it sank to the bottom of the North Sea, but Young escaped by swimming to the surface.”
Quoted from jkr’s new book Champions of Design.
Penguin’s original logo designer, Edward Young, pictured above right
Edward Young’s obituary in The Guardian.
The version of the logo you’ll be more familiar with is typographer Jan Tschichold‘s 1946 modification, and subsequent 2003 fine-tuning by Pentagram‘s Angus Hyland.
Image via The Terrier and Lobster
Photo from Angus Hyland and Steven Bateman’s Symbol
Image via Penguin Logo Guidelines
A classic logo. A classic brand.
5 appreciated comments, click here to add one
Jonathan
I’m assuming you’ve seen the David Thorne evolution as well?
~J
Dec 28th, 2011
jineesha
dislike the new one. seems like a podgy, unstable penguin, with almost a tyre on his tummy . besides, i dont see how it will help the brand to change their logo to this. what are they trying to convey?
Dec 29th, 2011
Kevin Burr
I disagree. The old one seemed flimsy and wrinkled (made it look old and tired). The 1946 version was a big improvement over the 1937 version. The added weight in the 2003 version was a nice improvement as well. I also love the black (dark blue?) and orange containing shape. Gives it one more element of uniqueness aiding in easy recognition. Looks great on a book spine too. =)
Dec 29th, 2011
Caroline
I really like the very first one (1935), it seems to be more natural and better proportionated than the other ones.
Dec 29th, 2011
Humaira
I agree with Kevin. The 2003 logo is a huge improvement from the original logo. Adding more visual weight to it makes it more interesting and recognizable.
Jan 9th, 2012
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