DDR CI

For 40 years there were two German states. They shared a terrible past. One launched the first and only attempt to build a socialist society in Germany. Next door, the economic miracle started.
The renowned design researcher Andreas Koop (“NSCI”) analyzes the stylistic means of the GDR’s visual identity and reconstructs, as it were, the manual of the workers’ and farmers’ state: from the coat of arms to the national colors, typefaces/typography, and print media, to architecture and public staging. The focus is on graphic design and the representation of power.

Koop works free of Ostalgie and personal judgement—full of respect for the victims of the Stasi and for those who courageously took to the streets on Mondays. An approach to the GDR through its self-portrayal!