Flight of the Pelicans

(Est. 1937) "Pelican Books is a non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books. Originally founded in 1937, Pelican Books combined important topics with clear prose to create inexpensive paperbacks for a broad audience. Before being discontinued in 1984, Pelican Books published thousands of accessible, stimulating books covering a wide range of subjects from classical music to molecular biology to architecture. The imprint was relaunched in April 2014 with the first five titles appearing in May." (Wikipedia)

Design by: In-house
Cover design: Matthew Young
Logo: Richard Green
Art direction: Jim Stoddard

Opinion/Notes: Not sure how I missed this back in February/March when it was announced. It's a lovely update for the two pelicans which are now very neatly tied to the iconic penguin and its little puffin sibling. The covers are pretty sweet too in all their minimalist glory.

Related Links: It's Nice That interview with Penguin designer Matt Young

Select Quote: When we came to relaunch the brand, we had a great opportunity to update the logo for a new era, and to reintroduce the flying bird to the covers. The flying version just felt like such a great fit for what these books are all about — taking an interest in a new subject, taking flight, spreading your wings, etc. It's got momentum, it's moving forward.

The two new logos were drawn by Richard Green who works in the Art Department here at Penguin. The big challenge was making sure that the new logo looks at home as part of the Penguin family, alongside the famous Penguin and Puffin logos, whilst also being a recognisable evolution of the Pelican logos that have come before.