The evocative aesthetic of the Penguin paperback is one of the great design stories of publishing. Not content with creating a distinct graphic identity that has endured over seven decades, Penguin is also one of the most forward-thinking commissioning bodies, responsible for a vast body of innovative and epoch-defining illustration.
As the purely typographic covers were slowly superseded in the mid 1950s, the small canvas of the Penguin book become a showcase for British illustration design, with the 'golden era' of the 1960s and 1970s regularly referenced by art directors and pop cultural archivists.
Mass market book design is no longer a reliable source of excellence, but as the Penguin Collectors Society's new monograph, Penguin by Illustrators, ably demonstrates, with a modicum of care and attention, the giddy heights of the past can easily be emulated, if not surpassed. Steve Hare has brought together a portfolio of covers, old and new, together with presentations by some of the best-known names associated with modern book illustration, including David Gentleman, Dennis Bailey, Romek Marber and Quentin Blake. The book features many classics and also charts the recent revival in illustration-led publishing, with work by Phil Hale, Victoria Sawdon and Coralie Bickford-Smith demonstrating the paperback's ongoing role as a place for artistic expression.
In other Penguin-related news, to mark their 75th anniversary this year, the publisher has released a box of 100 postcards, each featuring a different, iconic Penguin cover.
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An architect’s own home offers a refined and leafy retreat from its East London surroundingsStudioshaw has completed a courtyard house in amongst a cluster of traditional terraced houses, harnessing the sun and plenty of greenery to bolster privacy and warmth
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Finlandia Hall bistro blends culinary indulgence with reborn modernismFinlandia Hall bistro opens in Helsinki, adding a foodie dimension to the Finnish modernist architecture marvel by Alvar Aalto
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Reimagining remembrance: Urn Studios introduces artistic urns to the UKBridging the gap between art and memory, Urn Studios offers contemporary, handcrafted funeral urns designed to be proudly displayed
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Daniel Arsham’s new monograph collates the works of the auto-obsessed American artist‘Arsham Motorsport’ is two volumes of inspiration, process and work, charting artist Daniel Arsham’s oeuvre inspired by the icons and forms of the automotive industry
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Era-defining photographer David Bailey guides us through the 1980s in a new tome not short of shoulder pads and lycraFrom Yves Saint Laurent to Princess Diana, London photographer David Bailey dives into his 1980s archive in a new book by Taschen
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Inside Joan Didion’s unseen diary of personal relationships and post-therapy notesA newly discovered diary by Joan Didion is soon to be published. Titled 'Notes to John', the journal documents her relationship with her daughter, husband, alcoholism, and depression
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Carsten Höller’s new Book of Games: 336 playful pastimes for the bold and the boredArtist Carsten Höller invites readers to step out of their comfort zone with a series of subversive games
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Distracting decadence: how Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy shaped Italian TVStefano De Luigi's monograph Televisiva examines how Berlusconi’s empire reshaped Italian TV, and subsequently infiltrated the premiership
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How a sprawling new book honours the legacy of cult photographer Larry Fink‘Larry Fink: Hands On / A Passionate Life of Looking’ pays homage to an American master. ‘He had this ability to connect,’ says publisher Daniel Power
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New Jay-Z coffee-table book dives into the Brooklyn rapper's archives'Book of HOV: A Tribute to Jay-Z' is a hefty tome for a hefty talent
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Discover Eve Arnold’s intimate unseen images of Marilyn Monroe‘Marilyn Monroe by Eve Arnold’, published by ACC Art Books, is a personal portrayal of an icon
