Penguin Book Covers - Marber Research

Eye Magazine

Penguin books aim to bring information from the masters to the masses and make information accessible to all. Penguin have a reputation for having quality material and became desirable things to have.

Marbers new design was robust enough to be transferable to other Penguin ranges such as the Pelicans and Penguin Fiction. The design had a methodical layout with thought put into what was necessary for it to function in its simplest form, with the image taking centre stage and using the swiss style of clarity of elements. The green which was previously used was updated in a fresher shade which was more modern. Two thirds of the image was used for the image allowing it to be the focus of the cover. Akzidenz Grotesk was used to reflect Gills previous typeface making it clear and legible. Although Marber was keen on Swiss typography their use of grids he felt were too structured which did not provide enough movement within the design.

The grid was adaptable to suit the needs and information present for each book, for example the placement of the title and authors name would change based on their length. Having a good understanding of the content of each book was important in Marbers work and allowed him to summarise the books to create strong simple covers. A range of media were used to create the covers such as photography, drawing and collage. By creating multiple covers at a time, they become less precious, which allows the work to develop itself rather than forcing every work to be a good design. The use of a structured grid juxtaposes against the experimental techniques used in the images. This also reflected the contrasting themes of order and chaos represented in the stories.