Pentagram has designed the new brand identity for Skittledog, a new imprint from illustrated book publisher Thames & Hudson.

Skittledog was set up by seasoned publishing duo Zara Larcombe and Roly Allen, who approached Pentagram partner Angus Hyland to be the imprint’s new creative director. 

Hyland’s first task was to create the brand identity for Skittledog. This centres around a new logo in the shape of the letter ‘S’ which depicts the double-spined creature (also known as the spurdog, mud shark or piked dogfish). The hand-drawn bespoke wordmark has been drawn to harmonise with the shape of the fish, with high-contrast thick and thin strokes that mirror the Skittledog’s undulating form. The diagonal of the ‘K’ and the ear of the ‘G’ echo its tail and fins.

Angus explains: “A skittle-dog is a colloquial name for the spiny dogfish; the seriously undersized shark sometimes found swimming around the base of Brighton Palace Pier. 

We loved the name, which felt like it positioned the imprint as a second cousin to the regal dolphins in the T&H cartouche. The logo was drawn up to spell out the initial, while also creating a symbol emblematic of craft and character with a touch of edginess.”

From beautifully illustrated activity books and how-to’s to innovative puzzles and gifts, the Skittledog list will build on Publisher Zara Larcombe’s previous publishing successes in producing creativity-themed titles.

Skittledog will launch in March 2023 with ‘Join the Dogs: A Satisfyingly Difficult Dot-to-Dot Book’, the first in a series of mindful dot-to-dot books. The season’s lead title, ‘Yoga for Stiff Birds’, is a surprising take on yoga practice from illustrator Marion Deuchars—this is joined by ‘How to Train Your Skateboard’, covering everything a beginner needs to know to get started with skateboarding and Leila Duly’s ‘Beautiful Planet’, an intricate nature-inspired colouring book.