Penguin fires off catalogue revamp

Ammunition has created catalogues for the Penguin Press and Penguin General divisions of Penguin UK. The catalogues will be sent out to buyers, retailers, agents and shareholders in a marketing exercise that also serves as a showcase for the Penguin range and formed the core of the publisher’s presence at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week.

Ammunition was appointed in June following an unpaid, three-way pitch. It has produced catalogues for Penguin’s sister company, Puffin, for the past three years, as well as undertaking individual campaigns for Penguin titles at various times.

‘Penguin has a long-standing commitment to typographic excellence and is a design-oriented company, so we were very excited to pick up this commission,’ says Ammunition managing director Gabbi Cahane. ‘For us the starting point was about making the books the heroes,’ he adds.

Cahane says the Penguin general catalogue employs shifts in colour to convey Penguin’s diverse range, while the more sober press catalogue’s typographic landscapes highlight Penguin’s capacity to ‘bring words to life’.

Penguin director of marketing operations Tora Orde-Pawlett stressed the need to give each catalogue a separate identity, while keeping the overall brand look’.

Ammunition has also created the advertising and point-of-sale designs for Penguin’s flagship, 1000-strong classic titles, including press, poster, on-line and ambient ingredients.

It is thought that the fee for the catalogue design was relatively modest, though both parties stress the value to Ammunition in being associated with the Penguin brand. The account was previously held by NB Studio, but Penguin is keen to rotate the creative input.