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Ladybird
When Henry Wills opened his bookshop in Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1867 he probably didn't anticipate that he would go on, together with his partner William Hepworth, to found Ladybird and with it one of the most iconic imprints in publishing. Similarly when Astley Baker Davies animation studio created and produced Peppa Pig they couldn't have predicted the global success of this little anthropomorphic female pig, and her family and friends. Known and loved the world over, Ladybird books and Peppa Pig, enjoy phenomenal brand recognition. Therefore, when we were approached by the Penguin Group, to produce bespoke rugs for their global chain of children's Ladybird bookstores we knew one of biggest challenges would be the accurate representation of the iconic Ladybird and Peppa herself and their associated brand colours.
Representing the iconic Ladybird
In 1914 Henry Wills and William Hepworth published their first children’s books under the ‘Ladybird’ imprint bearing the soon to be iconic Ladybird logo. Registered in 1915 and initially rendered with open wings the Ladybird has undergone several re-designs from the more familiar closed-winged Ladybird of the 1950’s to the latest version produced in 2006 which we were asked to reproduce.
After discussion with Penguin we recommended New Zealand wool for its hard wearing and naturally flame retardant character; adding a stain inhibition treatment to increase the rugs durability and stain resistance. We also recommended a heavy pile weight, to allow us to create the level of detail required and special dyeing of the wool used, to match the clients Pantone reference exactly and achieve the distinctive Ladybird red.
One of the New Zealand Wool Ladybird rugs showing the distinctive ‘Ladybird’ red. This was able to be matched exactly by our skilled dyers who dyed the wool specially for Penguin.
Ladybird is currently celebrating it’s centenary to coincide with which The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, is holding an exhibition ‘Ladybird by Design.’ Sharing it’s title with the recently published book by Professor of Illustration and Dean of the School of Design at the London College of Communication, Lawrence Zeegen.
For more information on Ladybird books please visit their website: www.ladybird.co.uk
