wiedler.ch

book (design) story #256

egon erwin kisch:
"schreib' das auf kisch!"

erich reiss verlag, berlin, 1930
printer: buch- und kunstdruckerei e. haberland, leipzig
size: 19 x 12 cm
designer: georg salter (jacket + cover)

the dustjacket is one of the flashiest designs by georg salter (1897-1967). the clumsily smeared handwriting in white on a spotty red background (blood?) looks loud and grungy: it literally seems to scream out – an effective little poster that can't be missed in a bookshop display!

kurt schwitters once said about typography/graphic design: most important: never do it like others do it. you should always be different from others. schwitters was not after a standard (modernist) style, but rather had a truly modern marketing approach – differentiate your product! georg salter, a virtuoso of many different design styles, seems to have taken schwitters' approach a step further – salter almost could have said: never do it like you did it last time...

salter's signature can be found on the jacket (as often), and he is credited in the impressum, too – for the jacket and cover design. however this copy is from the cheaper softcover edition without cloth cover.

the author of this book is famous journalist and reporter egon erwin kisch (1885-1948) who originated from a jewish family in prague. after serving in the austrian army in ww1 he became an active communist.

"write it down, kisch!" is a diary-style reportage from ww1; it was first published in 1922 with a different title, but this 1930 edition became more widely known.

in 1985 the gdr issued a special stamp to commmorate kisch's 100th birthday. this book came with a first day cover of this stamp laid in – it was sent from east berlin to an address in west berlin.