Jacket Designs:

The jacket designs of the Steinbeck titles are striking and immediately atmospheric, suiting the books' subject and setting. Jim Stoddart, Art Director for the series, explains:

"As a high profile new series for Penguin, we had to prove that Penguin was worthy of such titles and able to present them in a fresh way. So we worked hard to try and capture the essence of Steinbeck's California and yet avoid all previously used cliched Steinbeck black & white images.

It was important to reflect the period and atmosphere of each book, but at the same time try to make the titles work well together as a series. These were tied together with slightly surreal images and saturated colouring, a visual take on the text. It was with this in mind that the different cover images were pulled in from different sources, some commissioned, some found, so long as they all filled the brief."