Penguin Books has such a place in the hearts of readers and collectors that quite often merchandise is produced to celebrate their enthusiasm. Coffee cups, tea towels and posters, complete with familiar Penguin graphics and illustrations, are sold for their nostalgia, their beauty and in part for their sheer Englishness (or Britishness, if you insist).
A new Penguin artefact, a calendar, is full of Penguin art and information and features commercial illustrators of the postwar years. When in the 1950s Penguin freed itself from typographic grids it began using cover illustrations, first timidly and then confidently, and this change turned its products into objects of visual art as well as of literature. This calendar celebrates the change.
Created by Gwilym Lloyd as part of his ongoing series of art calendars, it is available for purchase from Paprika Print.
Vibrant large-format calendar with high-resolution colour images showcasing the book-covers of Penguin Books and celebrating some of the artists who were key to evolving the cover design of their famous orange fiction series. Featuring giants of illustration such as Paul Hogarth, David Gentleman and Milton Glaser and lesser known artists who have since become unjustly forgotten.
Measuring 297mm by 382mm, printed on high quality 250gsm paper with a silk finish and covers in 300gsm Brompton Felt this calendar features an introductory foreword on Penguin and brief biographical details of the illustrators featured.
The calendar showcases the Penguin fiction titles of the 1950s and 60s that appeared in orange livery. The layouts show both the vertical cover grid designed by Jan Tschichold and the 1960s Marber Grid. As the calendar demonstrates, it was a distinctive era for commercial illustration, before the advent of pop art and psychedelia.
PENGUIN SERIES DESIGN 