You may have gathered from some of my earlier posts on this blog that I love history. In the context of art, I'm very interested in what art and design meant to different cultures at different times. One period I'm eternally fascinated by is inter-war Germany; the stark contrast between the artistic freedom of the Weimar Republic, with it's subversive caberets and vibrant expressionist, and the very ordered design of the Nazi party, with it's clean lines and exquisite tailoring. I'm always amazed by Nazi art and design; I've always believed that the power of their propaganda, their stirring music and their elegant design was key to their rise to power.
So here's a fascinating link to a rare find: a graphic design "bible" produced by the Nazi party in 1936 (click the link on the page to download and view the full book). Complete with full colour illustrations of uniforms, badges and flags, along with masses of flow diagrams, town plans and all written in a beautiful Blackletter font. Of course it's in German, but even if you don't read German (and I certainly can't) it's very interesting if you're interested in uniforms, military fashion, or symbolism. Yes, it's a bit macabre but it's incredibly interesting.
I know this isn't really related to the flora and fauna brief we're working on at the moment, but it is textiles related and there are some plants and birds in the iconography. I'm very tempted to play around with a morbidly Nazi repeat pattern. We all have those "Springtime for Hitler" moments sometimes!
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