wiedler.ch

book (design) story #186

wilhelm scheider:
die sestmö g.m.b.h.

zeitschriftenverlag a.g., berlin, 1931
printer: ernst schürmann, alkmaar
size: ?? x ?? cm
designer: walter funkat

the zeitschriftenverlag berlin published mass market paperbacks that often had flashy covers designed by modernist graphic artists – see story 169. this one features a flashy photomontage with the angled sans-serif title printed in a silhouette of a pocket pistol. the cover is signed "funkat" at the top edge.

walter funkat (1906-2006) studied at the bauhaus dessau from 1927 to 1930, then worked as a freelance graphic designer and photographer with walter gropius, mies van der rohe, and others. he lost his entire photo archive when his berlin studio was bombed in ww-ii. 1946 he became a teacher at and 1950 director of the burg giebichenstein art school in halle/saale.

the word "sestmö" is short for "selbstmörder", so the book title could be translated the suicide ltd. the author is wilhelm scheider (1894-1952).