When two of the worlds largest book publishers merged together in the summer of 2013, I don’t imagine I was the only one who was a tiny it worried at the potential loss of one of the globes most recognisable and best loved mascots.
A sniff of a deal valued at around £2.4bn, Random House and Penguin joined forces to help counter the challenges of the digital world.
Both had brands with real value and plenty of nostalgia, but here in the UK, that cheeky penguin chap sat on the orange field, he has massive clout.
But what would happen to the brand now the company had become Penguin Random House (PRH)? It seemed good news that they’d put penguin first at least, perhaps he would stand out as the new brands logo, confident that he could do so.
Well PRH with a little help from Pentagram New York put fears to rest today by revealing their type driven new logo. Combined PRH has 250 divisions, imprints and brands each with its’ own logo or marque and these will remain, paired with the PRH word mark sat to the right.
So Penguin books will keep their penguin. And for that matter so will the Puffin puffin remain.
And better than that, in the UK, the Penguin penguin remains at the heart of the brand receiving his own little treatment. Now I’ve said penguin enough methinks.
It’s a simple enough solution, delivered in a smart manner that retains all the history of the two main names as well as the sub brands (Dorling Kindersley was the other I recognised immediately) but brings them under the one roof successfully.
Set in Shift Light the main mark has enough character to stand alone (give me that ‘g’ and the ‘u’ any day) and is enough typewriter but not too courier, the serifs are a delight.
The video below shows how it works in 50 seconds or so, note the nice Penguin animation.
So go Penguin Random House, take on the world of the e-Book.
God speed thee.
