Cornerstone imprint Windmill unveils new logo for 'broader, bolder' publishing

Cornerstone has revealed a new logo for its literary imprint Windmill, marking the start of a "broader, bolder" chapter as it begins to publish in hardback and launches an "ambitious" classics re-issues programme.

The new logo features an original lino cut of a windmill, in a nod to the logo of sister imprint William Heinemann yet with "a hand-crafted, human feel". It was designed by Henry Petrides, a book cover designer and illustrator based in London, who currently works as a senior designer for Penguin Random House.

The refresh follows the hiring of Charlotte Cray from HarperCollins to take up the newly created role of publishing director last summer, when it was revealed Windmill would become a full hardback imprint in addition to retaining the paperback publishing from its sister imprints Hutchinson and William Heinemann. The first hardback on the list, Cunning Women, is due to publish April 2021.

The publisher has said the imprint is "quickly becoming a fabric of bright and bold literary voices in both fiction and narrative non-fiction" and a Windmill book will now be one that "forensically explores relationships and presses the emotional edges of our lives whether that be through laughter or tears".

Highlights for 2022 include the debut novel from poet Olivia Gatwood, Whoever You Are Honey, and the "moving" nature memoir from beachcomer Sally Huband, Sea Bean.

The relaunch also includes rolling out a re-issues programme, shining a spotlight on "past, forgotten and future classics" from Cornerstone's catalgoue. Under Windmill editor Laurie Ip Fung Chun, the imprint will be reissuing Olivia Manning’s The Balkan Trilogy, Jeanette Winterson’s gothic tale The Daylight Gate and Helen Dunmore’s ghost story The Greatcoat. "Bold, striking new cover designs for a new generation of readers to discover" are promised.

Cray, publishing director for Windmill Books, commented: "It gives me so much pleasure to see this perfectly-formed, beautiful logo appear across the growing Windmill list. As we venture into hardbacks and re-issuing classics we needed a symbol of what this new broader, bolder imprint would encompass; a nod to the heritage of the imprints in Cornerstone; but with a hand-crafted, human feel too—and we’ve struck gold with Henry Petrides’ design."