THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO - Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
First published in London in 1848, the impact of The Communist Manifesto has reverberated across the globe for the last 150 years. It still has brilliant insights into why capitalism is in deep trouble today, and offers clues on how humanity can regain control over its future.
There have been many cover designs for The Communist Manifesto since it’s original publication, and almost all have relied on the now familiar imagery and styling associated with Russian Revloutionary graphics and Soviet Communism. They clearly emphasise the Manifesto’s relevance as the basis for the ideals of 20th-Century Communism.
For this anniversary edition, which has an introduction by Yanis Varoufakis, we wanted to create a striking new cover design, whilst referencing the kind of public information graphics which would have been recognisable to Marx and Engels.
With the help of Rose Walker at the Inkspot Press, our designer created the entire front cover in traditional letterpress - producing a design which has its roots in Victorian printed notices, but with a quirky modern layout reminiscent of later Communist graphic posters.
With so many quotable passages from The Communist Manifesto, we also designed some full page letterpress quotes to sit within the text.
