Penguins and Pelicans

Don't you just love old Penguin and Pelican books? Do you remember these? Fabulous covers with bright, bold illustrations.


Like many, I prefer books from the 60s/70s. This Pelican has to be one of my all time favourites from university.

I know it's not fresh news, but if you're a book lover and are interested in seeing how jacket design has changed over the years, Things Magazine has created a fantastic gallery of Pelican books dating from the 1930s to the 1980s.
I also found a really interesting post on the development of the classic Penguin logo over at one of my new favourite design blogs delicious industries.




UK graphic designer Littlepixel has produced some great work reimagining classic records as vintage Penguin books. Really first-class.


I was also drawn to Julian House's prints shown at his first exhibition "The New Spirit Happening" seen over at the brilliant Analogue Books' store. Julian is co-founder of Ghostbox records who records under the name The Focus Group. He is an acclaimed graphic designer with Intro, known to most for his work with Primal Scream, The Prodigy, Oasis, Stereolab and Broadcast.
Julian's exhibition took the form of a "collection of ephemera, screen prints and moving image that hints at the supernatural phenomena and events taking place at the new spirit hall in Belbury, a fictional provincial English town". Definitely a strong Penguin influence there!