Tundra Books is a Canadian children’s book publisher founded in 1967 by May Cutler in Montreal. It is recognized as Canada’s oldest English-language children’s book publisher and operates today as an imprint within Penguin Random House Canada’s Young Readers group.[1][2]
Design and History
In January 2017, as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, Tundra Books unveiled a new logo designed by Canadian design firm Viva & Co. and its founder and Managing Director, Frank Viva. The new mark was the publisher’s first logo rebrand since its founding in 1967 and first appeared printed on books published in fall 2017.[3][4]
Viva, who is also an author and illustrator of children’s books published by Tundra, described the goal of the project: “Our goal was to create a fresh but timeless logo that was unmistakably Canadian, one that would last for the next 50 years.”[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2017 logo features a pair of abstract antlers. Tara Walker, publisher of Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers, noted the mark’s dual reading: “I like that you can see it both as antlers and as, maybe, a whale’s fluke. It’s playful, clever, and Canadian, all of which represent us perfectly.”[1]
Kristin Cochrane, President and Publisher of Penguin Random House Canada, described the new logo as “in part, an homage to May” Cutler, the company’s founder, calling it “distinctive, playful and a wonderful nod to our northern heritage.”[3][4]
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