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The smelly zoo trip behind a famous pictorial mark

Penguin Books · Books, media and stationery

In 1935, 21-year-old Edward Young drew Penguin’s logo after a trip to London Zoo. The story goes that he remarked how much the birds stank.

The branding lesson

Penguin’s own history of its logo tells how 21-year-old Edward Young was “dispatched to London Zoo” in 1935, and repeats the often-told story that he “remarked on how much the birds stank.” Asked in 1962 who drew the early penguins, Young annotated the sheet of logos with his initials and wrote: “All these are my own humble efforts.”

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Brand
Penguin Books · Visit Penguin Books
Image
Penguin Books and the Penguin Archive, University of Bristol
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Books, media and stationery
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