Reklama (1990, No. 2)

Entering the final stretch of the Soviet era, this 1990 issue of Reklama charts a radical leap into Western-style consumerism, corporate branding, and provocative media layout. The dramatic cover—featuring a high-contrast photograph of a woman’s high-heeled shoe explicitly nodding to the style of Helmut Newton—sets the stage for an issue fascinated by global design philosophies and market economics. Inside, the journal profiles the sleek, legendary industrial design work of Hartmut Esslinger’s Frogdesign alongside modern product photography showcasing colorful consumer tech like roller skates and portable audio players. This international outlook is paired with an extensive look at the blossoming domestic private sector, reproducing bold, geometric logos for joint business ventures like Intercomp, the Camellia cafe, and emerging sewing cooperatives. Capturing a crumbling state apparatus trying to decipher capitalistic market systems, it frames these visual portfolios with theoretical essays on advertising ethics, the financial realities of freelance design, and European integration. The journal ceased publication in 1991. Its final issues were produced as the Soviet Union collapsed and the state ministries funding the publication—specifically the USSR Ministry of Trade and the Interdepartmental Council on Advertising—were permanently dissolved. Now, this magazine is all in Russian and presumably you won’t be able to read any of it without your phone doing the translating, but it’s a rare and fascinating thing from the collection of Steve Heller.