Above the Fray: Bayer’s Notgeld and Designing in Crisis
Mar 6th, 2009 by capitaladmin
In 1923 the German economy was devastated by World War I and reparations made for rampant inflation. Hyperinflation set in and, as prices rose exponentially, common currency became worthless. To meet the demand, paper notes were printed almost nightly in every region, jumping from thousands to millions to billions. These marks are known as notgeld, or “emergency money.” In a normal economy currency design says little about social climate and nothing about individual opinion, but notgeld gave designers a platform at a volatile time.
The design of most notgeld, particularly in rural areas, drew on historic messages and heraldic imagery, slipping quickly into romanticized nationalism, and ultimately the seeds of Blut und Boden (examples can be found on flickr). The typography drew heavily on the past with blackletter and elaborate scripts. National iconography was rendered in any manner from delirious flourish to self-righteous idealizations in colors either dreary or fiery. The values of many of these bills — up to 100 trillion marks — were often written long-hand, sometimes without digits at all. [ Read More… ]
[ via notcot.org ]
