ABOUT

A brand identity with big social impact

National Teen Book Club (NTBC), from Speakers for Schools and Penguin Random House, is an online enrichment programme for state schools and colleges that makes reading more accessible and appealing to young people aged 11-19. Run as an after-school activity over regular four-week cycles throughout the year, to be successful, NTBC relies on sign-ups and requires a dedicated ongoing commitment from the young people who attend.

Following the launch of NTBC back in April 2021, we knew we had a fantastic one-of-a-kind offering but how could we bring this concept alive to really engage with even the most reluctant young reader?

We wanted an identity that would be vibrant, visually arresting and playful to draw young people in and pique their curiosity…

An identity that would serve to highlight all the brilliant ways the book club would:
• help young people find out about careers in publishing
• stimulate their own creativity
• and encourage them to find a sense of community through a shared experience

To help celebrate the power of the written word, our Creative Team took inspiration from the traditional editing practice of highlighting copy – and decided upon a simple but effective bright yellow accent colour to literally highlight keywords and create a distinctive framing device that would make any NTBC collateral or communications immediately identifiable.

Next, we settled on a bright, eye-catching colour palette to appeal to our youth audience and complement the diversity represented in the covers of the books NTBC would typically be featuring.

And finally, to really bring the concept to life, we developed an army of characterful illustrations that helped us to personify the books (think ‘walking’ novels) and present graphic clues to the emotions or themes they explored to entice engagement in a more playful way.

Since launching NTBC, we’ve inspired young people all over the country to get involved and “connect through enriching reads”. This academic year, almost four times more young people (23,083 students from 307 schools) have registered versus last year which proves our fresh approach is really working.