Bearing the hallmark of penguins celebrated design aesthetic, there is a cover to suit everyone in this iconic collection. Penguin used a simple colour scheme, two solid bands of colour sandwiching a band of white, as very general way of identifying the genre of the book. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. Covers that were proposed but not used are also included. Examples of fonts in use tagged with penguin books. Put a hundred cool covers on your book, and you can just shut up and take my money. Louisa hares cards feature a short quote from shakespeare taken from the folio, along with a contemporary illustration. Penguin galaxys gorgeous new scifi book covers are worth. The company was founded in new york city in 1952 by aaron a.
Choose from hard or soft cases featuring superbright, highquality prints that wont fade. The secret of penguins enduring paperback covers is all in the rigorous geometry, a wise choice of illustrators and that wonky handdrawn bird published. Personalised penguin classic book cover print perfect for a wedding gift, new baby, or, fun art for the family home. Night of light by philip jose farmer david pelham was art director for penguin books during the 1970s and was responsible for a great many arresting and distinctive covers for many of the scifi novels penguin put out during that time, which is one of the great periods for scifi writing in general.
What do book covers that hardly vary have to tell authors about cover design. There are some real gems included, but frankly far too few. One of penguin s strategies was to implement standardised designs for book covers. See more ideas about science fiction, fiction and penguin books. Seven hundred penguins is another great book that shows an amazing collection of 700 book covers do not grab my images and repost them on your flickr page. The series aims to republish classicscifi titles with new covers that haveone foot in the past, and one foot inthe future. The covers chosen range from the early 1960s when penguin began deviating from their traditional colorcoded designs all the way through to the 2000s. A collection of 100 postcards featuring iconic, bizarre, and mindblowing science fiction book covers exploring the weird, wonderful world of science fiction cover art, this set of one hundred postcards includes classic images from some of the of the heavyweights of the genreh.
It was cofounded in 1935 by sir allen lane with his brothers richard and john, as a line of the publishers the bodley head, only becoming a separate company the following year. In 2010, the bbc interviewed a wiltshire man named steve hare whod been collecting penguin paperbacks so assiduously that. Penguin also boast a stellar track record in publishing meaningful titles, but lets be honest. Jun 04, 2015 a 100 postcard collection of the iconic, bizarre and mindblowing best of science fiction cover designs from 80 years of penguin s history. Turn your home, office, or studio into an art gallery, minus the snooty factor. Its sort of like a science fiction book with a great cover, but minus the book. Wollheim, daw books was the first publishing company ever devoted exclusively to science fiction and fantasy.
Eight penguin covers by alan aldridge unsubscribedblog. Penguin has produced a number of rather striking book covers over the years. See more ideas about best book covers, books and good books. The thumbnails below are ordered alphabetically by title and show how penguin sf covers have changed over the years as the books were reprinted. The original threepanel penguin covers and the subsequent minor variations are beautiful examples of design. Bearing the hallmark of penguins celebrated design aesthetic, there is a. High quality penguin books inspired canvas prints by independent artists and designers from around the world. Crazy beautiful book covers the fundamental rule of all readers is to never judge a book by its cover, but ilhether we spot a gorgeous book in someones hands or displayed in. Dick, kurt vonnegut, ray bradburyas well as celebrating. In 2018 penguin published the penguin classics book, a celebratory survey of the volumes currently in print, listing works by author location and chronologically from antiquity to world war one. Now almost 50 years and two thousand titles later, daw has a welldeserved reputation for discovering and publishing the hottest talents in.
Ace books is an american specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. Well, first of all its important to note that these covers fulfill all the criteria so far. In 1935 allen lane stood on a platform at exeter railway station, looking for a good book for the journey to london. Classic penguin scifi covers from the 1970s by david pelham. One of the many reasons penguin has been so successful over the years involves its history of creating fantastic book covers. Some covers occasionally included small illustrations relevant to their story. Famous music performances as penguin book covers pictures. So, stumbling across this labour of love and beauty a website exploring the history and cover art of science fiction published by penguin between 1935 and 1977 thanks to the penguin blog.
Penguin books was founded in 1935 by allen lane with the purpose of inexpensively producing high quality, but affordable, paperbacks. Home labs random about this is the sister site of vintage ad browser. Penguin science fiction covers past and present boing boing. The majority of our favorites, however, feature the more psychedelic artwork from the late 1970s. The idea of a collection of postcards featuring classic penguin book covers is, on the surface of it, a fine idea. Penguin classics is an imprint of penguin books under which classic works of literature are published in english, spanish, portuguese, and korean among other languages. Penguin paperback cover designs victoria and albert museum. Lane felt that the covers being designed by alan aldridge and his colleagues were becoming too commercial and increasingly tasteless. Penguin sf, for example, set itself apart from the ray guns and spaceships of its rivals with its unique pop and opart covers of the 1960s and 1970s wonderfully represented by this postcard collection of covers. Youre not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but these new penguin galaxy hardcovers make it really hard.
Over the next two years as art director, he especially focused on science fiction book covers and introduced his style which resonated with the mood of the time. Here we take a look at aldridges book cover designs and artwork that he created during his time working for penguin. I have a large collection of sf and fantasy books, and thought it would be fun to scan the covers and post them here over a period of time. Book covers presented at cover browser are republished within a fair use context. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. Five books that will help you design the ideal book cover. In 2010, the bbc interviewed a wiltshire man named steve hare whod been collecting penguin paperbacks so assiduously that hed amassed over 15,000 titles. Classic penguin scifi covers from the 1970s by david. A collection of 100 postcards, each featuring a different and iconic penguin book jacket. However, penguin did not reprint every sf title so the covers shown here are a subset of those in the main gallery.
Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the western canon, though many titles are translated or of nonwestern origin. At this time, penguin book titles were using a mixture of type size, weight and kerning. Theyre durable enough to prevent breakage, yet slim and lightweight. Founded in 1971 by veteran paperback editor donald a. One of penguins strategies was to implement standardized designs for book covers. From the 1930s and 1940s and the world famous triband design, to the covers of the 1960s and 1970s inspired by surrealism, expressionism, psychedelia and pop art, this collection charts science fictions emergence as a literary force while embracing the. Sometimes this can be because of a publishers house style. Dick as well as some of the weirdest and wonderful cult classics. Feb 17, 2016 the penguin sf titles published in 1967 perhaps give some idea of what all the fuss was about, for whereas previous sf covers had targeted adults, aldridge wanted his to reach the kids and for that something different would be needed. However, penguin did not reprint every sf title so the covers shown here are a subset of those in the main gallery most of the covers can be viewed as larger images elsewhere on this website by clicking on a thumbnail, or click on the year below a thumbnail to view all. It soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first science fiction sf title in 1953. The history and cover art of science fiction published by penguin books from 1935 to the present day. I started searching local book stores and online for some of the old penguin and pelican books. A brief history of penguin book covers by lizzy gosney issuu.
Oct 18, 2016 a series of paperback book covers forpenguins science fiction imprint,penguin worlds. Over the years penguin produced many gorgeous covers and a few clunkers, and author phil baines curates a collection that includes both. Oct 30, 2012 the secret of penguins enduring paperback covers is all in the rigorous geometry, a wise choice of illustrators and that wonky handdrawn bird published. The art of penguin sf is a beautiful thumbnail gallery of the covers of every. Penguin used a simple colour scheme, two solid bands of colour sandwiching a band. Penguin used a simple color scheme, two solid bands of color sandwiching a band of white, as very general way of identifying the genre of the book. The penguin covers successfully adapted the visual idea of the cards onto book design. Apr 04, 2020 the penguin covers successfully adapted the visual idea of the cards onto book design. Independent art hand stretched around super sturdy wood frames.
David pelhams artwork for a clockwork orange, created in 1972 for penguin books, has become one of the bestknown and longestlasting scifi book covers of all time. From classics to crime, here are over seventy years of quintessentially british design in one box. A series of paperback book covers forpenguins science fiction imprint,penguin worlds. Check out the entire collection on borgs etsy shop, and below there are our favorite designs. Launched in january 2002, it resulted directly from editorial director sharyn novembers ongoing work with teenagers in libraries, schools, and online. After doing some freelance book covers for penguin books, he was hired in march 1965 by penguin s chief editor tony godwin to become the art director of penguin. Twenty alan aldridge book covers voices of east anglia. Visit the penguin website to read more about this anniversary display. Selected by the modern library as one of the 100 best novels of all time ulysses is one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century. One of penguins strategies was to implement standardised designs for book covers.
In our top twenty we have everything from a road dahl novel and the well known superman style john lennon. Penguin series design the art of penguin book covers. Crazy beautiful book covers the fundamental rule of all readers is to never judge a book by its cover, but ilhether we spot a gorgeous book in someones hands or displayed in a bookstore, the cover piques our curiosity. Firebird is a science fiction and fantasy imprint of penguin group usa inc. Penguin shows off its sf covers books the guardian.
Rowling and terry pratchett released adult covers for their books and saw an increase in sales. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its inexpensive paperbacks, sold through woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence, bringing highquality. Unfortunately, most of the covers included here are rather dull in design. Even the iconic bands of color framing a white block that have come to define penguin were a stroke of design genius, and are now quite widely fetishized.
All orders are custom made and most ship worldwide within 24 hours. Find classic covers of your favourite penguin books, or explore contemporary designs created by awardwinning designer coralie bickfordsmith, each featuring a motif or image inspired by the book. A series of paperback book covers forpenguins science fiction imprint, penguin worlds. Penguin book covers through the years in pictures books. Weve compiled a selection of the penguin science fiction series to show you.
I think thats the overall idea behind penguin science fiction postcards. Green covers were generally for crime novels, cerise or pink to some was travel and adventure, dark blue were biographies, red for drama, purple for essays, and yellow was for miscellaneous titles. A 100 postcard collection of the iconic, bizarre and mindblowing best of science fiction cover designs from 80 years of penguins history. It includes an appendix with a selection of outofprint titles.
The orange spines that adorn the covers of this book are readily recognizable to any reader. Wyn and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns. However, penguin did not reprint every sf title so the covers shown here are a subset of those in the main gallery most of the covers can be viewed as larger images elsewhere on this website by clicking on a thumbnail, or click on the year below a thumbnail to view all the penguin sf published that year in the main gallery. Many of the images on this page come from a series that came out in 197273 that used as. May 31, 2005 the orange spines that adorn the covers of this book are readily recognizable to any reader.
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