Each of the 90 postcards in this box represents a unique collaboration between art director, designer, editor and author, with input from colleagues in sales and in marketing. In every case the aim was to produce a design which connects with a reader, which stands out on the shelves and – more recently – online and is true both to the spirit of the book and the author’s intentions. That so many of these covers were designed in the last century and still speak so strongly is a tribute to the vitality of this collaboration.

The box represents the work of a sequence of talented and inspirational art directors and their teams, from Jan Tschichold in 1947 to Richard Bravery today, including Germano Facetti, Alan Aldridge, David Pelham and John Hamilton. Each of them combined their individual talents with the design trends and aesthetics of their eras, drawing increasingly on the energy and creativity of the wider culture and counter-culture, and altering the balance of brand and book.

All these 90 covers are drawn from the archives of the Penguin General division – a tight-knit group of imprints comprising Viking, Hamish Hamilton, Fig Tree, Sandycove and Penguin Life, each of whom publish in paperback under the Penguin banner. We have chosen these 90 book designs collaboratively and we hope you will find a postcard within for every mood and every occasion.