Journaux de guerre, 1939–1944. Les compagnies de fusiliers II/22 et I/222 aux frontières jurassiennes
The military diary entries of a captain in the Swiss army during the 1940s have been compiled into a classical-looking book with a grey hardcover and red quarter cloth binding which inside is rich in detail and intelligently organised. Between an academic introduction and a concluding commentary section, both printed on white paper, are more than 600 diary pages on very thin grey paper. The consistent design, featuring a serif font of uniform size, two weights and various indents, underlines the bureaucratic nature of the entries, which often describe repetitive activities at different times of the day. Numerous caricature-style drawings of a soldier serving in the same company are placed irregularly throughout the book, breaking up the text. The foil-embossed gold text on the spine and cover at one point runs in seemingly uncontrolled fashion over the title image, which can be read as a clue to the design approach in the book’s interior: although the design does not reinterpret the material, it is subtly unconventional.
