Discover the hidden details in Penguin’s first global brand typeface

For 90 years, Penguin has been committed to making books for everyone. Staying true to this spirit of inclusion, Penguin commissioned a custom version of Inclusive Sans, an accessible grotesque typeface, to serve as its first brand font across the global publishing house.

“We really wanted to make sure that it was accessible and inclusive, because Penguin itself started that way: it was about making reading available to everyone,” says type designer Olivia King, who designed the original font and worked on the custom version for Penguin.

Through letterform differentiation and technical considerations, combined with inspiration from Penguin’s archives, King was able to make Penguin Inclusive Sans as legible for as many people as possible while capturing the publisher’s long heritage. Watch the video to find out how King and the team embedded personality and accessibility into their approach, and the hidden references to Penguin that are baked into the design.

See Behind the Work for more behind-the-scenes insight into award-winning D&AD work, including conversations with this year's Black Pencil winners on how they made some of the year's most talked-about work.