Iron Fists: Branding the 20th-Century Totalitarian State Steven Heller Iron Fists: Branding the 20th-Century Totalitarian State is the first illustrated survey of the propaganda graphics created by the totalitarian governments of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Soviet Union, and Communist China. Te iconography produced by these regimes is universally recognized as their "brands": the swastika and aggressive typography of Hitler's Germany, Italy sreamlined Futurist posters and stylish Blackshirt uniforms, the stolid Socialist Realism of Stalin's USSR, and Mao's Little Red Book and porcelain figurines from the Cultural Revolution. Written by the eminent designer and design historian Steven Heller, who has long collected design objects from these periods, Iron Fists focuses on graphic materials such as posters, books, magazines, and flags. Heller explores the use of logos, the development of regime-specific typefaces, and even the slogans used to both rally and terrorize the populace. Delving into the history of once-innocent antecedents in heraldry, color symbolism, and sacred and secular symbols, he demonstrates how these elements were put to disturbingly effective use in selling the totalitarian massage. Steven Heller, co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author and co-founder of the MFA in Design Criticism programs at New York's School of Visual Arts, was a senior art director at the New York Times for 33 years. He Now writes a column for the paper's Book Review section. Is a contributing editor to Print, Eye, and Baseline, magazines, has written and edited more than 100 books, including Paul Rand and Merz to Emigre and Beyond, also published by Phaidon.