Skin care meets literature as Bulldog and Penguin collaborate on limited edition sets

Launching exclusively at Waitrose stores in the UK this week, Bulldog’s ‘Classic Reads’ gift with purchase features a selection of classic British novels paired with four Bulldog skin care products.

The men’s natural skin care brand is no stranger to the gift set world having previously offered washbag gifts as well as travel tins in the past.

And beauty books or ‘fashion bibles’ are not alien to our industry either, but this combination of men’s grooming and classic literature  is something new aimed at celebrating Dads on Sunday June 21st, 2015.

“The ‘Classic Reads’ Father’s Day campaign is a very exciting promotion for Bulldog and we are delighted to be partnering with Penguin Books,”​ says Bulldog founder Simon Duffy.

“We hope that every dad who receives one of these fantastic gift sets will enjoy the skin care benefits of Bulldog products and a well-deserved chance to rediscover a great selection of Penguin Classics.”​

Classic titles​

The limited edition ‘Classic Reads’ gift packs select four treasured Penguin titles to pair with a Bullbog moisturiser or face wash, with H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as the four chosen books.

“In our 80th anniversary year, we’re delighted to be partnering with another great British brand to reach new audiences for these iconic works of literature,”​ adds Sam Voulters, Penguin Classics Brand Manager.

And the fun didn’t stop there for Bulldog’s design team as Chris Falkner explains that the UK brand’s in-house design team got the privilege of remagining the four iconic covers for the limited edition set.

“Drawing inspiration from Swiss design, and conventions from Bulldog’s own brand aesthetic, the covers all feature elements lifted from the pages of the books. Sherlock Holmes’ loupe along with an hour-glass symbolic of The Time Machine are obvious visual links,”​ says the Bulldog designer.

“More subtly the two-coloured division of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the view of Earth from Mars, influenced from The War of the Worlds make up the striking designs hinting at the books’ topics.”​

The designs take inspiration from the stories themselves, with circular hoops representing Sherlock Holmes’ magnifying glass and a split page colour representing the split personality conflict between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

An hourglass signifies the passage of time in H.G. Wells’ Time Machine, whilst circles represent different planets in War of the Worlds.