STEREOTYPOLOGY/IE

This book investigates the phenomenon that even today our ideas and views of people from other cultures and countries are still shaped by national stereotypes. The starting point of this cross-border exploration by a team of 35 design students from Augsburg in Germany and Falmouth in the UK were ten national stereotypical characteristics that are ascribed to people in both countries. Contrary to what might be expected, the students were asked to look for evidence of German stereotypes in England and English stereotypes in Germany, thus subverting the stereotype’s function as an instrument of definition and demarcation. The 256 pages of the resulting bilingual “lab report” document the responses to the respective national “stereotypes” in a humorous and highly illustrational design that condenses the findings on these ubiquitous stereotypes into a collage comprising found materials and personal insights. Diagrams, photo spreads and illustrations are complemented by editorial texts and thus combine into a visually diverse presentation that turns the creative interpretation of this subject matter into an exciting read. Statement by the jury »The cooperation project STEREOTYPOLOGY/IE, which investigated the “foreign” national stereotypes in one’s own country, does not only deal with an interesting sociological subject; above all it also fascinates with sophisticated, high-quality design implementation. Featuring an eye-catching green colour, the book boasts a myriad of distinctive ideas of how to visually represent the subject in a stimulating and convincing manner.«