Penguin Drop Caps

It's not often, but there are times when you see something that is so striking, so elegantly beautiful, that it takes your breath away. It hasn't happened to me in a very long time. But, yesterday, there it was – a Tumblr post of a new series of book covers from Penguin Books.

A colleague pointed me to this site, and there it was: drop to your knees, gorgeous typographic design from Jessica Hische and the very design savvy folks at Penguin Books. The two were previewing a new series that appear to be reissues of classic novels: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Brontë's Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, etc., each with cover art that is an extraordinary "drop cap" (technically, an initial letter – but no matter) drawn by Hische. If you love books, or type – or just things that are extraordinarily beautiful, this is a treat that you should not miss.

Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs.