Naming | Identity | Tagline | Branding | Style guide
How do you rebrand a best-selling children’s book series, putting “Who Was?,” “What Was?” and “Where Is?” all under one umbrella? SJI answered the question when it named Who HQ for Penguin Books, turning the brand into a destination for young readers and educators alike. After conducting deep dive research sessions with all involved parties at Penguin, we set about mapping the brand DNA, differentiators, and voice.
Logo / Naming / Tagline
We conceived of the new brand as a place, a central location where kids could imagine meeting, and launching journeys of discovery. This idea manifested itself in the new name Who HQ, as well as in the tagline “Your Headquarters for History.” Central to the idea was that the “headquarters” could exist wherever Who HQ lives, from online, to stores, to classrooms and libraries. We designed the new logo to be suggestive of both directional signage as well as a flagpole, further reinforcing the idea of Who HQ as a location.
BRAND GUIDE
From that central concept we created the foundation of the new brand, including the brand DNA, differentiators, brand voice, and sample consumer and trade copy.
THE BOOKS
While the covers were unchanged because of their great recognizablity to kids and educators, we redesigned the spines and backs to communicate the new umbrella brand. Each sub-brand was color-coded with unique spine and back cover designs, and updated with Who HQ indicia and patterns.
POINT OF SALE
Point of sale materials were created using bright engaging graphics to encompass the range of books under the Who HQ name.
WEBSITE
The new brand guidelines were then adopted by Penguin for their renamed website WhoHQ.com, the Amazon online storefront, and all other digital touchpoints.
Who HQ is being rolled out in-store, and in schools near you.
Once again, SJI hit it out of the park! I couldn’t have thought of stronger, more capable hands to entrust with building a brand narrative around our best-selling non-fiction series. SJI brought together a stellar team to deliver a smart and engaging destination from which we can continue to expand our brand across multiple platforms.
—Daniel Moreton Associate Publisher, Penguin Group USA
