Australian Specials reflect the Pelican Spirit
Since 2012 Penguin Australia has been reviving an old and trusted name: Penguin Specials. These are a new series of small books on contemporary politics, social issues, history and fiction.
Written by some of our most exciting thinkers and storytellers, Penguin Specials are small books filled with big ideas. Escape, learn and explore, all in the space of your lunch break.
The visual styling of these Specials recalls the Pelican brand, the Penguin company’s non-fiction imprint – see below for a comparison. Pelican faded from view in the 1980s and has been revived recently but only in a fairly half-hearted manner. These Australian Specials are labelled ‘Penguins’ but resemble Pelicans, a point probably lost on younger readers.
Penguin Specials have a notable history
The word Special has a particular meaning in Penguin history. Starting in 1938, the three year old company initiated a new series of topical paperbacks on current affairs as the world headed towards war. Printed in bright red with their own cover grid, they sold in vast quantities.
In the early 1960s the Penguin Specials were revived in the shadow of the Cold War, the nuclear threat and the Berlin Wall. The new cover designs used the same red colour as before combined with black & white documentary photographs.
The Australian Specials maintain the serious purpose of these earlier Penguin Specials. They give a sense of the Australian political zeitgeist but also extend to subjects about China. The A-format paperbacks are up-to-date, informative and cheap, selling at AU$12.99, the price of three coffees.
Penguin Specials fill a gap. Written by some of today’s most exciting and insightful writers, they are short enough to be read in a single sitting. Penguin Specials are small books filled with big ideas. Escape, learn and explore, all in the space of your lunch break. Specials can provide a thought-provoking opinion, a primer to bring you up to date, or a striking piece of fiction. They are concise, original and affordable. (Penguin blurb)
The Lowy Institute Papers
The Lowy Institute is “an independant, non-partisan international policy think tank“ based in Sydney. Penguin Specials have published eighteen titles under the name Lowy Institute Papers. They are “peer-reviewed essays and research papers on key international issues affecting Australia and the world.”
The China series
The Penguin Special imprint has three separate series of books about China. These were published by Penguin Australia despite there being a Penguin branch in Beijing. They cover both contemporary and historical topics and are an important outlet for Chinese subjects for the English language market.
The Pelican DNA
The cover design has obvious links with the past. With its clear and sober grid and emphasis on plain type and flat colour, the three-part vertical grid obviously recalls the original 1935 Penguin cover. There is more than a hint of the 1950s vertical grid, and the back cover is taken directly from the 1950s Pelicans, the non-fiction brand. When you pick it up, you know it’s a Penguin book.
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This screenshot shows some of the range of subjects and the varied colour dressing of the covers. The complete list, from which these examples are taken, can be viewed on Penguin Australia’s website here.
A profusion – or a confusion – of colours marks the various series: Pelican blue for Australian non-fiction, dark blue for Lowy Institute Papers, dark red for The Hong Kong Series, patterned yellow for the China Specials, green for the Zheijiang Series and on it goes. The Australian Penguin Special imprint is an admirable and an ambitious publishing venture that unfortunately loses some of its identity in the visual fragmentation of the branding.
PENGUIN SERIES DESIGN 