D&AD New Blood Awards 2023 Penguin Book's Merchandise
Authors provide books that deeply resonate with us, not just readers, but us as people. Social media has not the divine creativity as seen in Penguin Books, merely providing a shallow feeling of company and a strong sense of distraction. To garner the attention of Gen Z in this distrait polluted world, an optimal reading environment must be built not only to entice Gen Z to read but help them flourish and become well-read actors without distraction to see the wonderful world we live in through the words of Penguin Books.
What is Gen Z looking for?
The first thing that was thought when bringing a younger audience to the joy of reading penguins' books was providing comfort and company. A study from Edison showed attention span had shrunk 25% in the last few years which led to entertainment like books becoming less popular overall. Many have changed over to other forms of media especially in Gen Z where the is a more social and comfortable environment to take in knowledge and stories.
The research on products that may affect the areas of comfortability and increased focused resulted in the production of three new pieces of merchandise. Studies show that plush toys influences both adults and children to read more while also providing comfort and companionship to the reader. Both the bookmark highlighter and the reading log have studies to show they increase the retention memory of material read and create a more in-depth experience while reading helping to promote more reading for people who don’t often read.
Penguin Book Pillow
This design was created to both attract Gen Z to reading penguin books while also providing a higher level of comfort for reading to create a more fulfilling experience for Gen Z while reading penguin books.
A reading pillow was the first book merchandise that came to mind when providing a comfortable reading environment. To innovate the generic reading pillow design for both providing company and creating a larger group of devoted penguin book readers, it was decided to design it as a penguin plush book pillow. This could create an optimal environment for Gen Z to read whether they want to read and use their plush or want to cuddle their plush and end up reading.
Penguin Bookmark Highlighter
To bring the book to life and turn them from a distraction to interaction it was necessary to bring merchandise that would immerse the Gen Z reader. Technology has become incredibly immersive so to gather thoughts and highlight what is found in penguin books and in ourselves when reading, a penguin bookmark highlighter would both provide an easy means to highlight Gen Z’s truths in the words of Gen Z’s favourite authors.
Penguin Reading Log
Additionally, a reading log could also be used to further the interest in books fully initiating Gen z into becoming readers. Gen Z love to share the thoughts on the internet, the reading log could be a way to formalise their thoughts about the books they read helping further express themselves. It is clear “Booktok” has been a staple for Gen Z readers, so this could be a way to help collect ideas and thoughts about their favourite penguin books they have been reading. This easy way of keeping notes and will also bring a higher of retaining information from the book.
Link to competition: https://www.dandad.org/en/d-ad-new-blood-awards/
