Brand refresh puts a spring in the step of Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit
Beatrix Potter’s venerable tales of a mischievous rabbit have been brought up to date with a contemporary brand refresh to introduce the character to modern audiences.
Peter Rabbit first hopped to the attention of children over a century ago, making an evolution for the bunny long overdue.
To mark the 120th anniversary of the brand next year, Penguin Random House Children’s has commissioned a full refresh of The World of Peter Rabbit that places the anthropomorphic character at the heart of a foot-thumping world-building identity.
Edinburgh design agency CreateFuture was entrusted with this task while remaining true to the source material, preparing a wealth of updated assets in the process. Led by a reinterpretation of the signature Peter Rabbit pose by illustrator Chris Mitchell, the new branding includes the title font from the first edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, as well as Beatrix Potter’s signature.
Paying the utmost respect to the hallowed history of the timeless classic, CreateFuture creative director Dave Ward said: “We felt a duty of care to Beatrix Potter’s legacy; to 120 years of memories held by the fans and to ensure that Peter Rabbit remains relevant and loved by the next generation and embraced by new audiences. Striking the balance between heritage and modernity was always going to be challenging, [but] we are very proud of the result and hope the fans are too.”
A brand tool kit comprising a custom Hop, Skip, Jump design system allows specific audience demographics to be targeted from a soft and muted palette for infants through to high-impact primary colours for older groups. Each is founded on distinctive animal and insect illustrations intended to convey the sense of charm and mischief associated with the character.
Izzy Richardson, global owned brands director at Penguin Random House Children’s, added: “The result is a subtle and contemporary refresh of our ‘running rabbit’ logo complemented by a new design system that can be used across marketing and promotional touchpoints for the brand. It brings energy and adventure to The World of Peter Rabbit, offering our family audience a dynamic and exciting Peter Rabbit experience.”
As part of the brief, CreateFuture also redesigned the ten year old website at www.peterrabbit.com.
Content created with:
Penguin Random House
Find out more