The aim of this brief is to nurture and encourage anyone who is interested in following a career in design, which includes but is not exclusive to students on design courses. I can submit a design for either adult fiction, adult non fiction or a children's book but before I select a book I need to research Penguin to gain a scope into the famous book publishing house.
Penguin Books is a British publishing house, founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large audiences existed for serious books, Penguin also had a significant impact on public debate in Britain, through its books on politics, the arts, and science. They seek out and champion diverse author voices and bring their stories to readers everywhere, readers tastes are constantly changing so they have to engage with information in new and exciting ways. They aim to lead the field, creating formats that bring ideas and stories to life in compelling and contemporary ways. From traditional printed books, ebooks and audio books to interactive apps, blockbuster films, TV shows, radio, theatre productions, live events and social media.Penguin is the place where people who love books, ideas and writing can do the best work of their lives. Creativity drives everything they do.
The Penguin timeline:
1915: The first Ladybird children's books published. Their low price and distinctive design are key selling points.
1935: Allen Lane publishes the first Penguin books, realising his vision to make quality books available to all at low prices. The books cost sixpence (the same as a packet of cigarettes) and are colour-coded: orange for fiction, blue for biography and green for crime. The first batch includes books by Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie.
1936: By March 1936 - 10 months after the company’s launch on 30 July 1935 - 1 million Penguin books have been printed.
1937: Allen Lane launches a non-fiction imprint after overhearing someone at a King’s Cross station bookstall mistakenly ask for “one of those Pelican books”. The first Pelican book is George Bernard Shaw’s The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism.
1940: The first four Puffin Picture Books are published with the aim of helping evacuated city children adjust to life in the country. Titles such as War on Land are such a success that they are quickly followed by fiction. One title is Worzel Gummidge, which, like many of Puffin’s books, go on to become a popular TV programme.
1942:Penguin sets up the Armed Forces Book Club, to bring entertainment and comfort to soldiers cut off from friends and family.
1946: Launch of Penguin Classics with Homer’s The Odyssey, translated by E.V. Rieu, who becomes the first editor of the Penguin Classics list.
1959–60: Penguin Books faces trial under the Obscene Publications Act for publishing D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
1964: Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is published.
1969: Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar is published; a copy has been sold somewhere in the world every 30 seconds ever since.
1985: Penguin publishes Allen Carr’s The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, which becomes number 1 in the non-fiction book charts in nine countries and remains the highest-selling book on quitting smoking worldwide.
1995: Penguin launches its first website (www.penguin.co.uk) and brings out Penguin 60s to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary.
2008: Penguin publishes its first-ever ebooks. Titles include A Room of One’s Own, King Lear and Utopia.
2009 : Kathryn Stockett’s The Help is published and goes on to sell over 7 million copies.
2010: Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals becomes the fastest selling non-fiction book ever in the UK.
2012: Penguin Ventures launches a new animated series of Peter Rabbit, which sells into 15 territories globally.
From researching into Penguin I gained a number of key words and ethos of the publishing house, such as inexpensive paperbacks, books on politics, the arts, and science, diverse author voices, bringing their stories to readers everywhere and bringing stories to life in compelling and contemporary ways and creativity drives everything. These ethos have left an impression on me that Penguin are the past, present and future of book publishing, their innovative ways have meant that people continually read their books today and will continue to do so.
Whilst browsing Itsnicethat I came across an article that is relevant to this brief I believe, Penguin recently reissued Richard Dawkins books with unique covers which illustrate evolutionary variation.
Three of Dawkins ethologist and anthropologist seminal works are wrapped in one of thousands of unique jacket covers, in support of an online interactive creative project designed to explain the topic of genetic variation and “witness evolution in action.” The simple, bold designs communicate the singularity of genetic selection, with each and every copy of the three books in question carrying a unique variation of its respective motif, The Blind Watchmaker will carry unique “biomorph” insect wireframes; Climbing Mount Improbable features shell designs; Unweaving the Rainbow bears the design of light wavelengths, varied in pattern presented in their appropriate corresponding colours.
Lead creative technologist at Penguin Mathieu Triay has intentions to engage audiences, using the covers as both a clever marketing tool and as “an interactive entry point to Dawkins books to entertain and inform a new generation of readers, gamers, designers and curious minds,” tying together the ideas expressed in the books by offering a visual and practical tool towards understanding the complex processes of evolution tackled throughout Dawkins’ prolific career.
Reading through the article was profound evidence that Penguin engage with information in new and exciting ways as I found out in previous research, when looking at the covers of Dawkins three books I imagined an interactive book cover design that communicates numerous messages. This also opened my eyes to the possibilities of this brief, Penguin are looking for innovative ideas that are aiming to lead the way in book publishing and change the way people look at books.
No comments:
Post a Comment