THE GRIMM MANIFESTO
THE GRIMM REALITY OF INCULATED REALITY
Publication Design
ISTD Competition | University Project
2022
ISTD Shaping the World Brief
Studio Leader: Nicola Hardcastle
ISTD’23 Membership with Commendation
AGDA’22 Merit Award in Student Publication
The GRIMM Manifesto is a modern adaptation of the lessons and morals regarding the human condition that can be derived from the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales.
The tightly structured publication acts as a guidebook to challenge the moral high ground of 21st century society, through the cross-over of the tales and tortures of the ‘pure’ first edition stories alongside modern self help advice, ultimately leading, you, the reader on a journey from confrontation to reflection and then finally an opportunity for action. Written for a modern audience, that find themselves amongst the wave of self help advice and moral guidance publications produced within this intersectionalised and globalised world. This publication is based at self-help enthusiasts who would consider themselves as pragmatists and realists in nature and are actively intrigued by the lessons we can learn from literature. As this text derives its content from the fantasy genre, it requires a basic understanding of fairy tales or knowledge of the Brothers Grimm and could be most appreciated by those who remain politically informed and active citizens.
FULL TEXT
The infamous Brothers Grimm Fairy tales was written in 1812 with over 200+ stories and was a pioneering text in the documentation of Western oral folklore. Written in the context of German Idealism in a pre-unified Germany, the text places a large focus on the idealization of fighting and glorification of power in a bid to praise and purify the narrative of the ‘Fatherland’ (Germany). As a text embedded in the German national identity, and consequently German common knowledge, readers must consider the fairy tale genre as one of serious literary influence when addressing the antisemitic, racist, sexist and nationalistic themes integrated amongst stories that socialise morals and values. Posing the question whether the entrenched notions of nationalism, racism and sexism subvert the integrity of the tales or still reflect aspects of our reality, that in 2022, we choose to turn a blind eye to. Considering the themes of violence and gore, abuse, nationalism, gender and moral wrongdoing beyond the surface level fairy-tale and in context of today’s self-empowered and globalized world, it serves as a reality check for adults to reassess their moral high ground and reconsider the dark reality of our ‘modern’ world. The content and intent of the publication thus aims to highlight the way in which the Brothers Grimm are to a degree pragmatic in their approach and writing style as they reflect a world closer to reality than the sugar-coated Disney versions of life. The morals and virtues in these texts still reflect on what it means to be a ‘sane’ individual and thus can be adapted to the real world and applied to the human condition.
The GRIMM Manifesto is a response to the moral high ground of the 21st century and is a guidebook of lessons derived from the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales designed for pragmatic self-help enthusiasts. The concept was to create a tightly structured publication that presents the idea of a ‘no frills’ fairytale, with the stories stripped of their sugar coating and re-represented through the self-help lens. The manifesto acts as an homage to the nationalistic origins of the Brothers Grimm Tales and their stories utilisation in Nazi propaganda.
The logical and compartmentalised presentation of the selected tales alongside the strong grid work to establish typographic order creates a clear and concise manifesto that harbours a guiding presence. The inserts within the manifesto serving as reminder that a fresh and mature perspective on old tales could lead to new insights on morals and values that we no longer learn but practice blindly.
The manifesto leads readers on a journey from confrontation to reflection and then finally an opportunity for action as they are awakened to the intricacies of the moral dichotomies affirmed by society and practiced in mundane life.
RESEARCH
STRATEGY