The bold tripartite design, the quartic with publisher’s name, the penguin logo and the thematic colour coding were elements that had been established since Penguin’s first designs by Edward Young in 1935.

In 1947 Jan Tschichold was hired on to take over typography and production and, in so doing, to raise the publisher’s design and production standard. Tschichold, with his experience in asymmetric typography, passion for standardization, acute attention to detail and fine sense for spacing, elevated the quality of Penguin’s designs through subtle refinement and rigorous consistency.

His contributions included: the use of Gill Sans (previously Bodoni Ultra Bold) for the publisher’s name, optically letterspaced capitals, a thin rule between title and author, a subtle redrawing of the penguin logo and the consistent use of space.

Tschichold’s sensitive reforms to the horizontal grid design (retained by crime titles until the early 1960s) raised the standard by which paperback covers would be judged and helped secure Penguin’s place as an enduring publishing icon.

Resources:
For more on the design and history of Penguin Books, see Penguin by design: A cover story 1935-2005 and Seven hundred penguins in the bibliography.

24/08/10 – A second selection of matchbox labels produced by the Solo match factory in Lipnik, Czechoslovakia, on the occasion of the National Spartakiad held in 1960. The text, “Nacvicujte s nami,” translates as, “Train with us.”

30/07/10 – National Spartakiad matchbox label designs from Czechoslovakia circa 1959. The Spartakiads were mass sporting competitions created by the Soviet Union originally meant as an alternative to the Olympic movement. Competitions took place either in the summer or winter and brought together competitors on regional, national and international levels.

27/07/10 – Teak and limba wood toy monkey with articulated joints designed and produced by Kay Bojesen and his workshop in Denmark c. 1951. Available today complete with Henri Rousseau themed packaging through Rosendhal.