➽ Introduction:

Graphic design is a term often misunderstood, yet omnipresent in our lives. When I mention that I study graphic design, I am frequently asked, "What does that involve?". This question highlights that not everyone is aware of this profession, which, among its many functions, has historically been used for both informing and manipulating. Maybe the little information was caused by the lack of importance Romania offered to arts and culture in the last decade, or maybe because it was not considered important in any way. Either way, this oversight has influenced not only how Romanian people perceive design today but also how they engage with visual culture and communication.

In Romania, graphic design remains an understudied subject, despite playing a significant role during periods of major political and cultural transformation. In the 20th century, the field underwent dramatic changes, from interwar modernism to communist censorship and post-communist freedom, with graphic design being shaped by these forces. The history of Romanian graphic design remains largely undocumented, partly due to the reluctance of the communist regime to record it, as doing so might have meant acknowledging the Western influences that had once shaped Romanian design ¹ . STOENESCU, Arina . n.d. "Politica Tipografierii În Contextul Românesc 1508–1989. Diversitate, Identitate Și Uniformitate Politizată În Tipografia Românească." Therefore, the impact of cultural exchanges and political changes on Romanian graphic design deserves closer examination.

As a graphic design student who was born in Romania but has only a limited understanding of the country's graphic design heritage, I am studying my roots through my fascination with periodical publications: The Woman Almanac (Almanah Femeia), The Village Almanac (Almanahul satelor), Science and Technology (Stiinta si Tehnica), The Automobile (Automobilul), The Store Almanac (Almanahul Magazin), The Flame Almanac (Almanahul Flacara), The Spark Almanac (Amanah Scânteia), The Brave Ones Almanac (Almanahul Cutezătorii), Romanian Illustration (Romanian Illustration), and Ileana. These publications serve as my primary research materials, offering valuable insights into the history of Romanian graphic design. My speculative research aims to shift focus on this century of design, understand magazines as a series of design decisions with specific goals and reasoning, and create a dialogue of power, politics, and design.

Aye, George. "Design Education's Big Gap: Understanding the Role of Power." Medium, October 11, 2022. https://medium.com/greater-good-studio/design-educations-big-gap-understanding-the-role-of-power-1ee1756b7f08 ↩︎

➻ Contextualization:

My interest was sparked by the magazines I discovered during my most recent visit to Romania. The periodical magazines spanning from 1900 to 2000: The Woman Almanac (Almanah Femeia), The Village Almanac (Almanahul satelor), Science and Technology (Stiinta si Tehnica), The Automobile (Automobilul), The Store Almanac (Almanahul Magazin), The Flame Almanac (Almanahu Flacăra), The Spark Almanac (Almanahul Scânteia), The Brave Ones Almanac (Almanahul Cutezătorii), Romanian Illustration (Ilustrațiunea Română); provide clear insights into the changes that occurred over time.

To properly understand the beginning of the 20th century, one must look back at the history of the late 19th century. In the early 1860s, the country transitioned from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin one³, Bobar, Raymond. 2012. "Romanian Literary Magazines from the Second Half of the 29th Century."FOI, 2012. ↩︎ and in 1866, Carol I appeared as the new ruler of Romania. Under his leadership, they declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877. This ushered in a period of modernization and growth, accompanied by the emergence of the middle class and an avalanche of writers and painters⁴. The production of books was rising, and with it appeared a series of periodical publications, some of them making it to the 20th century.⁵ FOI . 2018. "Piața de Câte În România Înainte Și După Primul Război Mondial," 2018. ↩︎ Still trying to standardize Romanian diacritics, using French accents as the hat for ă, typographical evolution was becoming evident.

Until 1947, Romania was a constitutional monarchy with clear influences from Western artistic movements, adapted to Romanian politics. For example, Art Nouveau is exemplified in the magazine Ileana (1900-1901), which was a significant publication for this style.⁶ "FOI. 2018."Revista de Artă 'Ileana,'" 2018. https://issuu.com/andreea.mihaiu/docs/foi_1?utm. ↩︎ The magazine was one of the first artistic publications produced in Romania, emerging from a Romanian artists' community "Societatea pentru Dezvoltarea Artelor in Romania - Ileana".⁷ The magazine's role was to develop a dialogue with European art⁸ by inviting Western artists to collaborate, having magazine covers reminiscent of contemporary Venice or Munich publications. Due to Romania's open borders, influences were visible, not just Art Deco but also Constructivism from Russia and Bauhaus from Germany.

Another magazine that stood out to me is Ilustrațiunea Română (Romanian Illustration). I had the opportunity to obtain one issue and later discovered more in online archives. Even though there is little to no information about this magazine, I know of the production period from 1914 to 1939. The design of the magazine, as well as the topics, speaks enough about the clear influences of Western ideologies.

Subsequently, when the communist period began in 1947, circumstances drastically changed. The borders were closed, and influences from abroad became far less visible over time. All independent typography shops and liberal press outlets were shut down.⁹ Vasile, Cristian. "Propaganda and Culture in Romania at the Beginning of the Communist Regime." In Stalinism Revisited: The Establishment of Communist Regimes in East-Central Europe, edited by VLADIMIR TISMANEANU, 367–86. Central European University Press, 2009. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7829/j.ctt1281tc.17.↩︎ The printing industry was nationalized, and every publication required approval from the Communist Party. With propaganda being the main goal of press nationalization, the PAD (The Propaganda and Agitation Department) was a tool for creating a Soviet-style culture monitored by the Communist Party.¹⁰ Its primary objectives included suppressing cultural diversity and enforcing political censorship in arts and education, forcing artists to adopt Marxist-Leninist ideology.¹¹ Creative unions were reorganized to enforce ideological conformity (e.g., Socialist Realism as the only accepted art form), and cultural criticism targeted influential figures, for example Tudor Arghezi.¹²

The communist regime aimed to create a uniform cultural and intellectual environment. Romanian intellectuals complied due to harsh repression by the secret police and their manipulative strategies. Under constant surveillance by agitators and spies, creating anything outside the rigid rules was extremely difficult. Those who managed to do so and were discovered would risk falling out of favour with the authorities, with grave consequences: Artists who publicly disavowed the communist regime faced the removal of their materials from school curricula, prohibition from producing new works, and imprisonment. Some would just disappear.¹³ Codrea-Rado, Anna. 2017. "Making Art in Communist Romania." The Paris Review. December 15, 2017. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/12/15/making-art-communist-romania/.↩︎ The regime's repressive measures effectively shaped a compliant intellectual culture with minimal resistance and a heavy reliance on Soviet models.

Despite the severity of the political scene during communism, Romania had one of the biggest book exchanges in history.¹⁴ Pascu, Artemisa, and Andrei Grosu. 2024. "MONOSPAȚIAT W/ LOCAL DESIGN CIRCLE & Simona Noapteș." Podcast. Black Rhino Radio. https://blackrhinoradio.com/radio/shows/monospatiat/episodes/monospatiat-2024-07-16-simona-noaptes.↩︎ Romanians created works for abroad, but they also received publications, unfortunately, most books were sent from the Eastern side of Europe.¹⁵ Any materials brought from abroad from the Eastern Bloc were only scientific or technical books that would not interfere with or question communist principles.¹⁶

➸ The Changing Role of Photos and Illustrations

The pre-communist era is crucial for understanding Romania's cultural evolution, as it reveals the dynamic interplay between tradition and modernity. Although publications from this period are poorly documented and preserved, the available magazines demonstrate a desire for modernization. They played a vital role in modernizing public discourse by introducing European trends and styles into Romanian culture, particularly through their modern design, photography, and journalistic approach.

The printing processes available at the time, letterpress, lithography, and early offset, presented limitations in the production of these magazines.¹⁷ "Patrimoniul Istoric Si Arhitectural Sibiu, Romania." 2020. Patrimoniul Istoric Si Arhitectural Sibiu, Romania. 2020. htts://patrimoniu.sibiu.ro/istorie/detaliu/74.↩︎ Even though most printing was done in black and white, these constraints fostered innovative approaches to typography, illustration, and image composition.

My research, though limited, will focus on a series of magazines from the periodical publication Ilustrațiunea Română (Romanian Illustration). While precise information about its founding is scarce, references trace its origins to 1929. Issue 1(1929) includes an introductory editorial stating the publication's goal

(author's translation). Examining its content suggests that the magazine aimed to popularize, and bring readers closer to, contemporary events, culture, and society. Emerging in a post-World War I market, it capitalized on increasing urbanization, literacy growth, and a budding middle class eager for news and entertainment. It advertised global developments, reflecting a society eager for transformation. The excursions to Paris, Vienna, Venice, and Milan were always found on one of the pages, with tourism and travel being frequently mentioned topics. The magazine covered both national and international news, political developments, and cultural events. Art and entertainment such as theatre premieres, film stars, and notable artists were usually mentioned, as well as the fashion column highlighting the latest trends drawing attention to local and foreign designers.

The magazine opened with a large image that usually represented a portrait of a celebrity related to the issue in question. Additional images and illustrations were interspersed with the text to provide context, especially regarding international events. The layout was dynamic, with playful photo positioning, creative cropping, and layered collages to enhance visual complexity. Towards the end of the magazine, a section containing advertisements, often in the form of illustrations, appeared alongside a creative "Jocurile noastre" (our games) section, which included inventive approaches to rebus puzzles.

The publication aimed to reshape perceptions of the West, portraying it as a goal, and presenting it as an aspirational future. The Romantization of the West cultivated an aspirational desire for modern European standards, influencing public opinion and tastes. The portrayal of famous personas on the front page, often highlighted royal events and figures in a highly favourable light, reinforcing a sense of national pride and unity under the monarchy. The magazines were not operated under strict political directives; however, they did reflect and foster certain ideological leanings, namely, pro-monarchy sentiment and Western admiration, thus acting as a tool to create a discourse around it.

Hence, the images and illustrations in Ilustrațiunea Română (Romanian Illustration) were far more than simple decorations: they became the vocal point behind the magazine's modern appeal and helped shape an emerging Romanian visual identity before the communist era.

The changes in the design of the publications became extremely clear when the communist party ultimately established itself, and it was impossible not to tie the changes with the political shifts. Every piece of print created and circulated inside Romania was either printed or carefully chosen. Based on the findings in my research materials, it seems that all printed items were meticulously designed with a distinct objective: they were intended to create a narrative of the virtues and grandeur of communism. It is important to understand that all things produced then were a form of propaganda, using any type of visual elements to shape collective identity and political loyalty. The magazines were meant to reach every layer of society, making sure the message comes across everywhere.

Striking colours and bold covers marked the most noticeable changes. We can associate the usage of colours with the modernization of printing techniques, but it is more important how the colours were applied, more than their mere appearance. All design elements aimed to capture attention: the usage of primary colours and bold, distinctive visuals meant to divert the public from the grim realities of communism. All the graphic elements depicted liveliness and optimism. Many graphic details appear repeatedly: colourful borders meant to isolate and offer importance to the articles/pictures, circled or highlighted parts of text making clear the key points, arrows and numbering/bullet points wanting an easy and precise way of reading or looking at the magazines and, minimal white space. The intention was to deliver massive amounts of information in a visually forceful way, leaving little room for imagination. The repetitive use of certain design motifs was to reinforce the ideological messages.

Oana-Ilinca Rinovan in the article "Visual Imagery and Propaganda during Communist Romania (1948–1989): Picture Postcards as a Tool" emphasizes that in Eastern Bloc countries, the printed page became a canvas for official ideology. This article specifically discusses how these images used for postcards created a visual discourse about the prosperity of the communist regime.²⁰ ILOVAN, Oana-Ramona. 2024. "Visual Imagery and Propaganda during Communist Romania (1948–1989): Picture Postcards as a Tool." Www.connections.clio-Online.net. June 17, 2024. https://www.connections.clio-online.net/article/id/fda-133261.↩︎

We can reasonably assume the pictures used in postcards aim for the same goal as the pictures and illustrations featured in the periodical publications. At the beginning of the 1940s, illustrations were still prominently used in publications. However, with the advancement of printing techniques, photographs became increasingly dominant within their pages. They wanted to narrate a clear perspective of the (wanted to be seen as) modern, beautiful Romania that exists because of them.²²

To properly understand the role of photographic content the communist-era publications examined in this thesis must be separated on two categories: scientific/technical ones, such as Știință și Tehnică(Science and Technology) and Automobilul (The Automobile), which focus on innovation and technology, and cultural/social/political ones, like Alamanahul Flacăra (The Flame Almanac), Almanahul Scînteia (The Spark Almanac), and Almanahul Femeia(The Woman Alamanac), which cover topics ranging from politics and propaganda to lifestyle, culture, and rural life.

Alamanahul Flacăra. 1979. The Image Appears to Depict a Scene from a 1979 Edition of Almanah Flacăra, Showing a Moment of Public Admiration and Appreciation. The Caption States: "Vibrant Expressions of Esteem and Love from the Residents of the City of Corei." Book. Almanahul Flacăra.↩︎

On the other hand, if we talk about cultural and political magazines, the imagery changes completely, and the visual discourse is modified with it.

Upon opening one of these cultural/political magazines, readers were often met with portraits of the then-dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu. Typically, these photographs depicted a resolute leader, evoking seriousness, and power. Lighting, coloration, and golden framing were employed to underscore his perceived perfection, one that you want and should be proud of having. Sometimes, the first pages would include a series of staged images wanting to show a false reality, trying to keep it close to the viewer, recalling an emotion.²⁶ Florkin, Julien . 2023. "Propaganda Techniques: Unmasking the Scary Art of Manipulation in the Digital Age (+5 Examples)." Julien Florkin. May 3, 2023. https://julienflorkin.com/psychology/social-influence/propaganda/.↩︎ Such images might depict Ceausescu and his wife visiting factories, taking pictures with workers, Elena Ceausescu receiving flowers from another woman and often highlight interactions with children. All these pictures want to portray this perfect but effortless moments, so they look human and loved by the society, also visible in Figure 6. These visuals aimed to forge an emotional link, deploying compassion, love, admiration, or fear,²⁷ so the audience can view them as portrayed. After the overly propagandist images, the magazine showcased different types of citizens being happy: woman cleaning, hugging their kids, breast-feeding; all the pictures represent an idealistic heteronormative obedient society in which the mother's role was to create offspring and family and the father was a provider. Towards the end of the magazines are the advertisement spreads, showing modern people dressed in fancy and expensive clothing, vacuums, expensive carpets, electronics. Although unattainable for most of the Romanian populace, their inclusion suggested an alignment with international standards, subtly discouraging readers from questioning their own social or economic realities.

The communist regime wanted to shape citizens into efficient workers and loyal subjects who do not question authority or imagine alternative social structures.²⁹ Eyal, Jonathan. "Romania: A Hermit under Pressure." The World Today 45, no. 5 (1989): 85–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40396109.↩︎ They wanted economic control, relying on the workforce for prosperity, predictability, and order as well as disciplined labour.³⁰

The role of illustrations and photographs has evolved over time. In the pre-communist era, they were used to contextualize a reality distant from Romania, while during communism, they served to construct a false reality. Visual imagery has maintained its power and influence, though today it's easier than ever to create deceptive realities. For instance, artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies now enable the rapid creation of manipulated images and scenarios, being used to manipulate, and shape information for public consumption. Creating staged scenarios to showcase leaders' falsely portrayed beauty is no longer necessary, it can be accomplished with just a few clicks and tweets.

➨ Understanding change through typography and layout

In the previous chapter, I have addressed the importance of graphic elements, images, and illustrations as tools to influence and help the design reach the needed goal, whether we talk about the pre-communist period or the communist era. To fully understand the goal of the magazines, as well as their influences, we must equally understand the pivotal role of typography in shaping the look and reception of magazines.

Going back to the pre-communist era, as photography and illustrations were vehicles of modern expression, typographical choices also mirrored broader cultural shifts toward modernization.

In the between World Wars period, Bucharest had many publishing houses and printing presses employed over 6,000 workers.³¹ FOI. 2019. "Cercetare Carte Veche 1930 -1940," 2019. https://issuu.com/andreea.mihaiu/docs/foi_2.↩︎ Book printers used typefaces from all historical periods, such as Garamond, Caslon, Baskerville, Didot, and Imprint.³² Many books featured locally cast typefaces that, while resembling classic designs, had slight variations due to wear.³³ Small print shops, setting type by hand, reused worn letters, while larger presses with casting machines produced fresh, sharp letters automatically.³⁴ This period was a flourishing one for the typography industry in Romania being marked by the moment when the the first Romanian characters where casted at the Turnătoria Bugra (Bugra casthouse) by Vigil Molin.³⁵ STOENESCU, Arina . n.d. "Politica Tipografierii În Contextul Românesc 1508–1989. Diversitate, Identitate Și Uniformitate Politizată În Tipografia Românească." https://doi.org/10.35923.↩︎

Looking back at our initial material, we can see that all the magazines of Ilustrațiunea Română (Romanian Illustration) use a modern serif, the serif was used in European prints at the time. The headings as well as the text, used a similar serif, sometimes in bold or all caps. Due to the limited options of typefaces available, you can often see mixing display variants for headlines. Moreover, a used option was the handwritten titles, being quite playful and casual, adding a new layer of expressive quality and making it more personal.

The typographical decisions reflect the in-between period, meeting the modernist, western influences with the traditional print. They demonstrate how the pre-war magazines balanced mass-produced, standardized typography with handcrafted, expressive touches, reflecting both the technical realities of letterpress printing and a growing desire for modern, engaging layouts.

When the Communist Party finally became established, all that was printed became standardized because of the nationalization of the production process³⁷ Vasile, Cristian. "Propaganda and Culture in Romania at the Beginning of the Communist Regime." In Stalinism Revisited: The Establishment of Communist Regimes in East-Central Europe, edited by VLADIMIR TISMANEANU, 367–86. Central European University Press, 2009.↩︎, the typefaces used were the same, the layout was similar, the repletion was a motive in all the magazines produced in that period. The message was obvious, do not question what the important information in the text was. The main ideas were clear, the size of the text, the circled / highlighted text pointed to where to look. We could argue that this repetition and standardisation was technical, but maybe it was a necessity; a way to institutionalize people's discourse, making it easy to control. The standardization of the magazines was caused by the disregard of the communist party to the typographical scene.³⁸ STOENESCU, Arina . n.d. "Politica Tipografierii În Contextul Românesc 1508–1989. Diversitate, Identitate Și Uniformitate Politizată În Tipografia Românească." https://doi.org/10.35923.↩︎

The communist publications that I examined used a serif font that closely resembled Times New Roman. The headings typically appeared in all-caps, bold, sans-serif, though they sometimes varied between serif small caps, cursive, and occasional hand-drawn titles. Headlines were often dynamic, commanding large portions of the page, sometimes enhanced with bright colour outlines or small illustrative accents to draw attention.

Despite its orderly arrangement, the layout was densely packed. Spreads attempted to maximize every inch of space, with awkwardly cropped images and text extending to page edges. Opening these publications meant facing an overwhelming flood of information, from cover to inner cover to first page, with colours, graphic elements, and text competing for attention. The experience left readers no room to pause or reflect; each glance revealed new information. The lack of space in these magazines was a result of the major changes in the economical scene in Romania and the lack of importance to the typographical matters, causing a lack of paper, forcing the information to be as condensed as possible, the designers sometimes having to use condensed fonts or to make 4 pages newspapers.⁴⁰ STOENESCU, Arina . n.d. "Politica Tipografierii În Contextul Românesc 1508–1989. Diversitate, Identitate Și Uniformitate Politizată În Tipografia Românească." https://doi.org/10.35923.↩︎

The magazines were mass produced and their making prioritized quantity over quality, as the Communist Party wanted to save as much printed material as they could.⁴¹ Misprints were common, with text sometimes so misaligned it became nearly illegible, yet the magazines continued to circulate. These imperfections, which now hold their own unique beauty, revealed the regime's desperate push to disseminate their message, regardless of presentation quality. This reflected a broader pattern in communist governance: the end goal of controlling citizen behaviour mattered more than the means of achieving it.

The magazines' production quality reflected clear editorial priorities: front pages featured bold, colourful propaganda images, middle sections used minimal single-color printing, and back sections returned to vibrant colours for advertisements and idealized depictions of life.

In both the communist and pre-communist eras, mass-produced magazines feature column body text, engaging titles with striking typography, elements still widely used today. The shifts in type choices have evolved over time. When examining layouts, mass-produced publications today resemble those from the pre-communist era in terms of white space and spatial organization. However, there is less need now to overfill pages with excessive information, as production has increased, there are now 200 magazines covering the same topic, whereas before, there was only one. Today, the competition over the market position is a daily reality. While the phenomenon of information overload existed in the past throughout these magazines it shifted to the overwhelming nature of today's age via digital and analogue outlets, the information being more saturated than ever.

➙ A personal note

My grandmother was a teacher during communist times, and you can always hear a nostalgic note in her speech that era; she was lucky. She was trained to love and teach communist principles, embracing order and the worker mentality. Some of my magazines came from her collection, and she explained to me how many people in the big cities had subscriptions to these magazines delivered directly to their homes.

She always mentions, when we talk about my thesis, how happy and proud she was when she and her class appeared in Cutezatorii (The Brave Ones). She organized a pioneering activity with the students, where everyone wore their specific uniform while gardening in the flowerbed. Every class had their own flowerbed to tend. She took a picture and sent it to the publication, along with a description. The editors changed and rewrote her text to say, "Students who love gardening and flowers, love life and what's beautiful." My grandma considered the description beautiful.

Hearing these kinds of stories always shocks me or at least puzzles me, especially how much pride and normality my grandma sees in them. She would tell me how everyone was wearing their uniforms even outside of school and how students were showing respect and gratitude towards the teachers and never questioned authority. The students in high school had their registration number on their hats, thus they could be easily identified. All the students then were good students, in my grandma's beliefs, students now don't show respect and misbehave. The fairytales told by the communist party are in parts my grandma's reality. Not questioning authority and taking things for granted gave her a sense of stability, that nowadays, she believes has been lost.

➛ Conclusion

As I look back on my research, it becomes clear that graphic design and editorial illustration have never been just visual add-ons; they have always been powerful tools shaping both perception and reality. Delving into these Romanian periodical publications, from the elaborate Art Nouveau-style covers of Ilustrațiunea Română (Romanian Illustration) to the heavily curated images of communist-era magazines, highlights the way design choices are deeply intertwined with political ambitions, cultural identities, and social aspirations. All decision making per se when we communicate, can be of a political aftermath, images and texts are the very medium for marketing, and conveying messages, sometimes, unfortunately also propaganda.

The magazines that I collected and investigated were used to inform, encouraging a dialogue of the Romanian population with the West during pre-communism, and ended up creating false narratives without a broader perspective throughout communism. The false narrative was a false prosperity caused by the communists, reality being a severe repression, censorship, and the suppression of individual freedom.

Thus, the magazines transformed from an instrument to inform citizens to one that manipulated citizens. Design had the ability to both mirror societal changes and to steer them in certain directions. Whether the magazines are reinforcing a monarchy's grandeur, encouraging a budding middle class to embrace modern ideals, or carefully constructing a vision of communist prosperity⁴² STOENESCU, Arina . n.d. "Politica Tipografierii În Contextul Românesc 1508–1989. Diversitate, Identitate Și Uniformitate Politizată În Tipografia Românească." https://doi.org/10.35923.↩︎, the publications shape how readers interpret and engage with the world.

This limited archive and the political contextualization brought some light onto this missing piece of Romanian design history. Looking at these magazines I was able to understand the visual language and what design decisions were based on, creating a perceivable dialogue between design and politics. The speculative research challenged my understanding of design choices while also revealing the historical obstacles Romania had to navigate.