Markant ... What A Great Logo!

April 10, 2016

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj157/dick168/Markant%20logo_zps1x7ncei6.jpg

It appears to be hand-done in a cross between Blackletter and Fractur . It feels like a modernized version that would have been developed in the 30s. Plenty of punch for the DDR.

I just received a 1950s Soenecken Meisterschreiber from Yesteryears Fountain Pens, an excellent source for German pens. Evelien, knowing I am a nut for ephemera also included a 1936 Osmia catalogue on disc, a map of the German Occupation Zone indicating towns and transport routes with the Goldring imprint, and these two objects from Markant. The sponsored bag from the East Berlin tourist office and a Markant catalogue for 1960. I am guessing the date from the stock number. Stock numbers of printed merchandising materials are all too familiar to those of us who toiled in the vinyards.

URL=http://s271.photobucket.com/user/dick168/media/Scan_zpskaclmify.jpeg.html]http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj157/dick168/Scan_zpskaclmify.jpeg[/url]Markant

Evelien also included many other items of Markant ephemera. Certainly enough that together with the logo, I am now feel compelled to collect representative samples.

And so I am posting here for two reasons:

1. Is there a history of Markant available? Or have readers posted information or, indeed, their memories, of this leading DDR brand here on the blog. Very little comes up with a search on either this blog or a general search of the gesamte elektronische Universum.

2. Could readers suggest representative models of styles and price points that would give an interesting design view of the pens of the DDR period. I am not a collector who needs every model of every sku. Hopefull,y 10-15 items could present a picture. My own starting point would be to use the catalogue as a guide. I believe the 160 may have been introduced in 1960.

But the collective wisdom of the readers of this blog has proven to be the best source for information time and time again!

Thank you!

Dick

April 10, 2016

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj157/dick168/Markant%20logo_zps1x7ncei6.jpg

It appears to be hand-done in a cross between Blackletter and Fractur . It feels like a modernized version that would have been developed in the 30s. Plenty of punch for the DDR.

Thanks for sharing the cool stuff. It has a German Expressionist feel to me.

April 10, 2016

It certainly does!

Thanks for sharing the cool stuff. It has a German Expressionist feel to me.

However, Dix, Grosz, Nolde etal were making ironic statements on WWl and the Weimar Republic.

Irony is not what this logo is about. This logo is about strong use and success and a powerful brand coming to the people. That is why I see Fraktur as the base:

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj157/dick168/AntifaPublishing--Propaganda-1999_zpsztottbql.png

Fraktur appeared regularly in Germany up through the start of the 20th century when it became viewed as 'old fashioned'. With the advent of the Nazi Party however, Fraktur was seen as the type face of the true statement of the German character. Thus began its' modern use in propaganda.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj157/dick168/nazi-propoganda-01_zpsz80gneoo.jpg

This point could not have been lost on the designer tasked with projecting an image for a project of the DDR. While the name Markant means 'outstanding' or 'distinguished', there are many, many fonts designed to project this word.

Poster of NSDAP in Weimar Republic saying "The red war" ("Der rote Krieg"), 1930 apr.

Text: "The red war - mother or comrade? - Human being or machine? - God or devil? - Blood or gold? - Race or (bleep)? - Folksong or jazz? - National Socialism or Bolshevism?"

My Note ... "mischling" means "hybrid" with all the sadness and horror that the policy brought. In Italy driving the Autostrada in the 70s,' Sangue Misto'

graffiti were common on the underpasses. A version seems to be appearing in Europe at this time.

(orig. German:

Der rote Krieg - Mutter oder Genossin? - Mensch oder Maschine? - Gott oder Teufel? - Blut oder Gold? - Rasse oder Mischling? - Volkslied oder Jazz? - Nationalsozialismus oder Bolschewismus?")

For the complete text and explanation, please go to http://www.hist-chron.com/eu/3R/propaganda-2wk-ENGL.html

I recognize this is quite a digression from the information I am seeking on the history of Markant and the representative samples necessary for a small presentation. The heritage of the logo type face style is too interesting to pass by.

April 11, 2016

Dick, I understand you are posting this out of historical interest and not because of political ideology.

Let it be shown here to abhor members of this dreadful ideology.

D.ick

April 11, 2016

Dick, I understand you are posting this out of historical interest and not because of political ideology.

Let it be shown here to abhor members of this dreadful ideology.

D.ick

Thank you, RMN, for understanding exactly my intent!

The power of typography as a tool may be of interest to readers.

Dick

April 12, 2016

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj157/dick168/IMGP2881_zpslb7dfz9n.jpg

Fractur is still around. Perhaps to key an important announcement or information. This wall sign is in tile at the Olympic Stadium stop on the U-bahn. The stop is in Bauhaus style. The Stadium has been reconstructed in the monumental Neo-Classic Albert Speer style ... an architectural style used for propaganda purposes as well as the font style.

Poster's Note: I know I get carried away with details when hitting on a subject that in one way or another I worked in for 40 years.

But, please ... forgive me and post any thoughts, sources on Markant's history and model numbers for a selection of representative pens and pencils.

April 13, 2016

As one who spent fewer than 40 years employed in advertising, but vividly remembers episodes in which The Men On Top changed their minds radically, I can hardly forbear to point out that this applies to the association of Nazism with Fraktur. That was indeed the way at the beginning. But they changed their minds. In 1941 they issued a statement associating Fraktur with, alas, Jewishness, and requiring a transition to roman type.

The reasoning is unclear in my mind, and in some other people's minds, possibly including the people commanded to make a 180-degree turn. But yes, by the time "tomorrow the world" was being attempted in Russia and elsewhere, the right kind of type face was no longer Fraktur.

As both my reading and the linked Wikipedia article indicate, the movement to get rid of Fraktur began well before the founding of the Nazi party. Roman types were more modern, in that view.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_dispute

Edited April 13, 2016 by Jerome Tarshis

April 20, 2016

An ad from the 70's at Christmas time.

My idiomatic German is (bleep). Come to think of it, so is my GI German, but can a reader give me the headline ? As close as I can figure is

And now even more ...

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj157/dick168/Scan_zpsqyjticdg.jpeg

I could really use some background on the brand and its models per my request in the opening post

Did the pen have a good reputation? Was it seen as a true German brand? Was it popular?

What DDR brands were the desired brands? How about Heiko? I'm did the crossword with a Heiko D 448 I have just received. It is an attractive two-tone metal/ black plastic with a nib about half-way revealed rather than 51-style. Writing is smooth with a bit of flex to add some character to my handwriting about some fox and a dog.

Please, any thoughts?

April 28, 2016

Dick, I don't know the brand myself.

I speak German reasonably...

That sentence is hard to translate,

Basically is says just: "and now lastly..." Noch means here it is an additional quick task. Noch translates difficultly in English. Sometimes it means something like "still": Noch haben wir Zeit: We still have time. But that wouldn't fit here.

Before another word it can mean: even:more Noch schöner - even more beautiful. It is an extra step: Hard-harder-hardest ---> hard-harder- even (noch) harder- hardest.

But not as a stand alone as it is used here.

Dutch "nog" has almost the same meaning.

D.ick

April 28, 2016

Coming from Western Germany, I can't help you with the brand, but I really enjoyed your getting carried away... :-)

Regarding that first sentence, I'd translate it as "And now, finally... [i.e., for the last Christmas present I buy this year; let's get this pen, and then I'll finally get to go home and put my feet up]". This ad is interesting in that it illustrates the GDR's split relationship with Christmas: on the one hand, anything Christian was ideologically suspicious, but on the other hand, Christmas was celebrated widely, and was too good an economic opportunity to miss. So there's no mention of Christmas in the ad, nor are there any explicitly Christian symbols. But there is a guy with presents, and some pine trees that may or may not be Christmas trees...

April 29, 2016

Thank you, RMN and MUSchuelke for the translations!

The problem is 'noch', doch (as we used to say in Schwabia, kind of like the Canadian 'eh?)?

And now lastly and and now finally both work well with the illustration for a sense of satisfied humorous relief that the shopping (and notice the shopper is a man) is complete!

My shot was much more brand aspirational, I suppose in keeping with my Parker Pen experience.

Thank you both again for taking the time to to give me such good translations. And an explanation of the mixed messages of Christmas for the purveyors of goods in the DDR.

I wonder if any FPNers are from the former DDR and might have some views and/or info on Markant ...