Bonnier celebrates Manilla Press launch with bespoke Swedish design

Bonnier Books UK celebrated the launch of its new literary imprint Manilla Press this week with the publication of Stacey Halls’ second novel The Foundling and revealed its new logo and accompanying pattern commissioned especially for the imprint.

Manilla Press' logo has been designed by art director Nick Stearn, who explained it is based on a 19th century Gustavian Mora clock at Nedre Manilla villa—the home of the Bonnier family—in Stockholm,. "It stood out to us when we visited the house and we thought it would be a perfect motif for Manilla, conjuring up both a sense of the company‚Äôs heritage and the concept of time," said Stearn.

A bespoke pattern, also inspired by the mansion, was commissioned by Bonnier Books UK, has been designed by Swedish visual artist and illustrator Klara Bartilsson. It will be used to adorn stationery such as invitations, postcards and notebooks.

"I wanted to put my eye on every detail and at the same time imbibe the soul of the place," said Bartilsson. She added that, because of the house’s rich history, the pattern had to be "seamless not only in design, but also in the presentation of a timeline" while taking inspiration from Swedish pattern traditions.

The next book to publish on the list will be The Future We Choose: How to Survive the Climate Crisis by Christina Figueres. The imprint is led by Margaret Stead and is intended to comprise just eight titles a year, spanning polemical writing, memoirs, popular science, social history and novels from voices around the world that tell "stories for our times".