3 ms·

And the answer is.. not in the article.

by bux93 2y ago

JadeNB 2y ago
It's just a few paragraphs in: > Inspired by the existing Albatross Books, Lane’s nascent company wanted an animal for their mascot. Many years after the fact, designer Edward Young explained (as quoted by Hornsey) that after a couple hours of fruitless brainstorming, “we were in despair. Then suddenly the secretary’s voice piped up from behind the partition (her name, it should be recorded for posterity, was Joan Coles). She said, ‘What about Penguins?’” (Unless you mean why Ms. Coles thought of it, but that probably is beyond reasonable hope of answer.)
- gumby 2y ago
  I think there are additional factors mentioned in the article. Apart from the black/white aspect of printing (though the covers had colour): > Off went Young to the London Zoo, where the “fiercely modernist” Penguin Pond exhibit had opened the year before to general acclaim. As the article pointed out, Penguin started with a bit of left bias, and modernism (and futurism) were associated with and inspirational to the left as they embodied change, as opposed to the conservative stance of the right. While that has nothing to do with the animals themselves (who tend, like all animals, to be pretty conservative) one can imagine how, when visiting such an exhibition, the architechture could establish a philosophical penumbra for Young, especially given the times we're talking about.
jhbadger 2y ago
Another thing that may have played a role is that traditionally Penguins were published in orange covers with black and white being the only available colors besides orange. A penguin becomes an obvious mascot under these limitations (I suppose a Holstein cow could have worked too).
sandworm101 2y ago
They are publishers of printed books. How many black-and-white animals are there? How many of those have complicated stripe patterns too difficult to print in a tiny logo? Did they really have a choice?

And the answer is.. not in the article.

by bux93 2y ago

And the answer is.. not in the article.

It's just a few paragraphs in: > Inspired by the existing Albatross Books, Lane’s nascent company wanted an animal for their mascot. Many years after the fact, designer Edward Young explained (as quoted by Hornsey) that after a couple hours of fruitless brainstorming, “we were in despair. Then suddenly the secretary’s voice piped up from behind the partition (her name, it should be recorded for posterity, was Joan Coles). She said, ‘What about Penguins?’” (Unless you mean why Ms. Coles thought of it, but that probably is beyond reasonable hope of answer.)

gumby 2y ago
I think there are additional factors mentioned in the article. Apart from the black/white aspect of printing (though the covers had colour): > Off went Young to the London Zoo, where the “fiercely modernist” Penguin Pond exhibit had opened the year before to general acclaim. As the article pointed out, Penguin started with a bit of left bias, and modernism (and futurism) were associated with and inspirational to the left as they embodied change, as opposed to the conservative stance of the right. While that has nothing to do with the animals themselves (who tend, like all animals, to be pretty conservative) one can imagine how, when visiting such an exhibition, the architechture could establish a philosophical penumbra for Young, especially given the times we're talking about.

jhbadger 2y ago

Another thing that may have played a role is that traditionally Penguins were published in orange covers with black and white being the only available colors besides orange. A penguin becomes an obvious mascot under these limitations (I suppose a Holstein cow could have worked too).

sandworm101 2y ago

They are publishers of printed books. How many black-and-white animals are there? How many of those have complicated stripe patterns too difficult to print in a tiny logo? Did they really have a choice?