Readers of Jytte Klausen’s “The Cartoons that Shook the World,” which was officially released by the Yale University Press on Monday, may find that the 2005 Danish cartoons are not the only element absent from the book.

The Yale University Press began phasing out its distinctive logo, designed in 1985 by acclaimed graphic designer and former School of Art emeritus professor Paul Rand, in books published this fall, Yale University Press Director John Donatich said.

And while it has not yet removed the logo from its Web site, the Press will now feature the word “Yale” in the University’s official typeface along the spines of new books - in what observers described as an effort to bring Yale and the press closer together.

The two organizations, which have “complementary missions,” may be trying to bring together paths that have diverged in recent years, University Printer John Gambell said.

Although Gambell said he was fond of Rand’s logo, he added that the design had plenty of critics.

“A lot of people didn’t like it,” Gambell said.

“A lot of people found it kind of asymmetrical and untraditional and kind of a little bit hard to decode.”

Yale Daily News - Yale Press Drops Distinctive Logo