Penguin Orange Classics
Penguin Books is easily one of the most recognized book publisher in the English literature world. The simplicity of the book covers have not changed much since the 1930s, as they were created for casual readers to easily pick up a book and start reading. The bright orange color that has become synonymous with Penguin Books also makes it stand-out among a pile of books. The consistency and simplicity of the horizontal band design by Edward Young also allows a lot of room for any new variations on the book cover design, such as the Penguin Orange Collection books that redesigned the classics in 2016.
System.
The book design is already split into 3 horizontal bands, making it very symmetrical and easy to find a sense of balance in the design.
Hierarchy.
The covers consistently have the title and author in the same location, so readers will immediately know where to look for this information when picking up a Penguin book.
Typography.
The original typeface set for the Penguin book covers by typographer Jan Tschichold was Gill Sans, and though the covers have varied typefaces, the title and author name on the cover are always displayed in a sans-serif font. The book text is always in a serif font.
Color system.
Penguin books originally classified its books by its genre—orange and white covers for novels, green and white for crime, red and white for adventure, blue and white for biographies. The color system of the book covers consist of one bold, solid color that serves as an accent color, with one white band running horizontally through the center.
Negative space.
The book covers are minimalistic in providing only the exact information readers need when picking up a book. The spacious design makes the covers look very clean, and guides the eye smoothly.
Like Leyden Lewis points out in this article, I don't believe that doing what everyone else has been doing is always the best. I think having different perspectives can diversify designs, and create more interesting and unique things to look at. What I like to look at first when thinking of a design problem, are the constraints, the problem to solve, and if I can bring my own story into it.