Jill Russell Loves Penguin Classics Red Series Paperbacks

By Venus Zine Staff
Published: November 12th, 2010 | 12:00am

Penguin is already known as the rock star of book publishers among designer types, and the new Red Series from Penguin Classics, out just in time for holiday shopping season, doesn’t disappoint. The publisher teamed with (Product) Red to reissue some of their favorite books of all time in beautifully designed, heavy-on-typography paperback editions.

This series comes on the heels of other design-y projects, including Penguin Ink, a series of six favorites with special edition, tattoo-inspired covers; amazing foil-stamped and linen clothbound, ribbon-marker adorned Hardcover Classics; and my favorite, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Classics line. (For the latter two, Penguin cover designer Coralie Bickford-Smith deserves serious props.)

Half the profits from the sale of the Red series titles will go to the Global fund for HIV, a much-welcome added bonus—but my favorite thing about them is much more superficial. These books look amazing and they’re paperbacks. While it's hard to resist buying beautiful cloth-bound hardcovers to display in your permanent collection, they can be a little cumbersome to, well ... read. Especially on buses, trains, and planes.

So I say, stick these versions of The House of Mirth, Silas Marner, and more into your favorite book nerds' stockings this year. They’re festive, fit easily into bags and purses for commuters, and inject a dose of good design into the everyday.

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Jill Russell is Venus Zine's editor in chief.