Translating ideas from Expressionist art into the medium of commercial advertising, Koch designed the rough, heavy forms of Neuland. The letters appear to have been spontaneously carved out of wood rather than carefully cut out of metal. Today, Neuland and letterforms inspired by it frequently are used to signify "Africa." Neuland has appeared, for example, on the covers of numerous books since the early 1960s about the literature and anthropology of Africa and African Americans. The association of Neuland with Africa draws on the font's folk aesthetic, its physical presence, and its dense, bold blackness. The link has become an unstated convention, a form of "stereotypography." Neuland makes one think of Africa because so many publications have used it in that context. [back]

Neuland and Neuland Inline Typefaces, 1923 Designer: Rudolf Koch (1876­1934) Publisher: Gebr. Klingspor, Offenbach, and The Continental Typefounders, New York

Negro Slave Songs in the United States Book cover, 1990, offset lithograph Designer: Morris Taub Art director: Steven Brower Publisher: Carol Publishing Group, New York Design © Morris Taub, 1990	Black Anger Book cover, 1960, offset lithograph Designer: Harold Feinstein Publisher: Grove Press, New York	Middle Passage Book cover, 1991, offset lithograph Designer: Melissa Jacoby (b. 1957) Publisher: Penguin Books USA, New York	Marrakesh Express Cous Cous Package, 1992, offset lithograph Designer: Robert Horn (b. 1950) and Allan Butella Firm: Robert Horn Design Ensemble Publisher: Melting Pot Foods, Oak Park, Illinois	July's People Book cover, 1981, offset lithograph Designer unknown Publisher: Penguin Books USA, New York

© Copyright 1996 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum