European Peacemaker
A hundred years ago, people were just as confused about the world as we are today. However, they were living through World War I and its aftermath – a time when ordinary people didn’t get much attention. One of those ordinary people was the subject of Carl Melchior: Jewish Champion of European Peace, an exhibition we designed for the Jewish Museum Berlin.
Jewish Museum Berlin
European Peacemaker
2019
As a salesman and financial advisor, Melchior possessed a set of skills that came in handy for helping to end the First World War. Most of the information in the exhibition was presented on huge sheets of paper that hung from the ceilings like gigantic cash register rolls. Their overwhelming size vividly evoked Melchior’s superhuman commitment to peace – a burden that ultimately cost him his life when he died of exhaustion.
Color accents, layout and typography were taken from original 1920s train ticket designs. The tickets were a reference to Melchior’s constant traveling as Germany’s representative at postwar peace negotiations. The use of extreme font styles created a strong distancing effect, while the layout provided a clear structure for the amount of information provided.
Photos: Yves Sucksdorff, Jule Roehr
