PRH unveils new branding

Penguin Random House has unveiled its new global logo, a wordmark design described as delivering “global consistency with local flexibility”.

The logo (see below) features "Penguin Random House" written in Shift Light font and framed on the right and left with vertical lines.

The wordmark logo will also be used by Penguin Random House US as its company logo. Penguin Random House UK will use the wordmark alongside the famous Penguin image (pictured above).

Worldwide, PRH has 250 divisions, imprints and brands, and the symbols of each can be paired to sit alongside the wordmark in what PRH is calling a “brand system” (see images below). Imprint, division and brand logos will continue to be used on their own on book spines and covers.

In a letter to staff, PRH UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon said that it had been “a fascinating and complex creative challenge to design a brand system which recognises the diversity and individuality of the Random House imprints alongside Penguin’s more unified brand approach”. The new company brand system will be “evolutionary not revolutionary”, and the company will be looking “at how this new visual identity can be used to help the consumer find our books more easily online”, he said.

PRH c.e.o. Markus Dohle said: “The basic idea and vision behind Penguin Random House is to find that balance and that synthesis between the 250 creatively and entrepreneurially independent publishing houses and the leverage, scale and possibilities, and reach, of a global player, and based on that company story, that brand narrative, we created our new brand system.”

Dohle added that the question of what the new company would look like was the most asked question when he did his “town hall” tour of PRH offices after the firm’s creation.

The logo, which PRH has explained in an animated video, will be rolled out immediately on the PRH global website, and in the coming weeks and months on emails, local websites and stationery.

New signage will also be installed in PRH buildings, although dates for these changes have not yet been scheduled.

The new logo was designed by Pentagram, a New York-based design consultancy, which has also worked on accounts for Faber & Faber, Phaidon Press and Canongate Books, as well as non-publishing companies including Sotheby’s and Tiffany & Co.