The emblem, a Renaissance literary genre which combined text and image, conveyed erudition, admonishment, propaganda, and piety with unparalleled concision and economy. It arose out of humanist circles in the early sixteenth century and quickly became established as a staple tool in religious, political, and social discourses across the major European languages. In recent years the emblem has come to be regarded by scholars working in all areas of the humanities and cultural studies as an interdisciplinary matrix of extraordinary utility in gaining insights into the mentalities and preoccupations of the early modern era. Within its apparently slender frame, the emblem embraces questions of foremost philological, semiotic, and iconographical importance, and encompasses ideas and assumptions of exceedingly far range and reach. This collection of essays attests to the pervasiveness of the emblem, both within Renaissance and Baroque Europe, and in those parts of the wider world where European influence came to bear. It seeks to follow the development of the emblem from its beginnings in various forms of bimedial artefact, from early illustrated books and hieroglyphs, to medals and ancient coins; we then witness its deployment as a propagandistic tool in the temporal and confessional disputes of Europe. Thereafter, the emblem appears in non-European contexts, emerging as a place of cultural exchange as it became assimilated within indigenous visual traditions. The latter parts of the book concentrate on the often subliminal role emblems played in diverse literary texts, as well as their ongoing vitality in praxis or in the burgeoning area of emblem scholarship within early modern studies.

Since its invention by Andrea Alciato, the emblem is inextricably connected to the natural world. Alciato and his followers drew massively their inspiration from it. For their information about nature, the emblem authors were greatly indebted to ancient natural history, the medieval bestiaries, and the 15th- and 16th-century proto-emblematics, especially the imprese. The natural world became the main topic of, for instance, Camerarius’s botanical and zoological emblem books, and also of the ‘applied’ emblematics in drawings and decorative arts. Animal emblems are frequently quoted by naturalists (Gesner, Aldrovandi). This interdisciplinary volume aims to address these multiple connections between emblematics and Natural History in the broader perspective of their underlying ideologies – scientific, artistic, literary, political and/or religious. Contributors: Alison Saunders, Anne Rolet, Marisa Bass, Bernhard Schirg, Maren Biederbick, Sabine Kalff, Christian Peters, Frederik Knegtel, Agnes Kusler, Aline Smeesters, Astrid Zenker, Tobias Bulang, Sonja Schreiner, Paul Smith, and Karl Enenkel.

This study reexamines the invention of the emblem book and discusses the novel textual and pictorial means that applied to the task of transmitting knowledge. It offers a fresh analysis of Alciato’s Emblematum liber, focusing on his poetics of the emblem, and on how he actually construed emblems. It demonstrates that the “father of emblematics” had vernacular forebears, most importantly Johann von Schwarzenberg who composed two illustrated emblem books between 1510 and 1520. The study sheds light on the early development of the Latin emblem book 1531–1610, with special emphasis on the invention of the emblematic commentary, on natural history, and on advanced methods of conveying emblematic knowledge, from Junius to Vaenius.

Antwerp and Amsterdam were among the most active publishing centres for emblematic forms in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Nowhere else was the emblematic mode more integrated into the literary and artistic culture than in the Low Countries. The essays are revised versions of papers presented at the Fourth International Emblem Conference held at Leuven in 1996. The table of contents provides an overview of the variety of topics and approaches represented in the volume.

Many years after a sea captain rescues a group of German castaways from a storm and receives a gold-and-diamond emblem from a grateful survivor, the captain's son learns of the object's link to a World War II tale about a man's effort to solve his soldier father's murder.

Logo design continues to be in the top most popular categories for graphic design books. Shows successful international logo solutions Provides useful and practical information that designers can apply to their own work Design DNA: Logos is a practical and inspirational guide to logo design, and an invaluable sourcebook for any logo designer. It works on two levels, first by showcasing over 500 successful logos from around the world and then by analyzing how these logos are constructed to communicate and convey brand value. The logos in Design DNA: Logos are organized by industry sector, and each logo is deconstructed to reveal creative solutions by examining and discussing the choice of font, color, characteristics, and imagery and getting to the very heart of its design DNA. The design briefs and company histories illustrate how and why the logo design successfully portrays its message. Case studies provide further in-depth analysis, and walk readers through the reasoning behind the design decisions that made the logo work. "Focus On" sections also provide useful information on specific elements such as typography, icons, and colors, and how to apply them to the logo design.