[unkown author] 1960-1997. rot. Stuttgart:Bense, Max and Walther, Elisabeth

rot was a series of avantgarde publications published in Stuttgart by Max Bense and Elisabeth Walther. Authors and other contributors were, by and large, associated with the famous Stuttgart school or Stuttgart group.

Almost all issues are in the German language. They feature texts by artists, writers, philosophers, designers. Topics include art, typography, graphic design, concrete poetry, philosophy. Some are translations of essays by Charles Sanders Peirce. Concrete poetry and art, semiotics, and aesthetics are prominent areas.

Between 1960 and 1997, 62 booklets were published. Their format is a 15 by 15 cm square (with a few aberrations). The design remained stable almost all the time. The back cover displayed a quote from Ernst Bloch: “Es gibt auch rote Geheimnisse in der Welt, ja, nur rote.” (There are red secrets in the world, really only red ones.)

A detailed list of the series: here