The papers of Carl Ernst Hinkefuss document the career of this graphic designer, as well as broader developments in German commercial graphic design in the early decades of the twentieth century. The archive is comprised primarily of original trademark and logo designs and related materials, some created independently by Hinkefuss, and some in collaboration with his business partner, Wilhelm Deffke, under the aegis of their company, Wilhelmwerk. Other items in the archive relate to the journal Qualität, the clearest expression of Hinkefuss's attempt to integrate the worlds of commerce and design, and to his children's book, Mein Vogelparadies.

Carl Ernst Hinkefuss (1881-1970) trained as a painter, graphic artist, and architect at the Königliche Kunstschule and the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin at the turn of the century. While still a student, Hinkefuss became interested in the idea of artists collaborating with the business world, and after graduation he became a commercial graphic designer. From 1905 to early 1910, he worked in the advertising and publicity departments of several firms in Berlin and Dessau, and then later in 1910 set out as an independent publicist in Berlin.

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