Letter Love

Typographic treats in the form of perforated pull-out postcards including works by design giants Saul Bass, Seymour Chwast and Takenobu Igarashi

San Francisco museum Letterform Archive boasts a curated collection of over 100,000 items related to lettering, typography, calligraphy and graphic design that spans thousands of years of history. Since its establishment in 2015, the Archive has offered viewers hands-on access to its staggering collection.
For those who can’t make the pilgrimage to San Francisco, Letter Love provides an entertaining glimpse into the world of Letterform Archive. This affordable volume compiles 40 postcards ranging from the 18th to the 21st century that were carefully selected from the Archive’s vast special collections library, and celebrates the many ways that letters can surprise and enchant. The sample evinces the impressive breadth and depth of the Archive’s holdings, showcasing the 26 letters of the alphabet as well as 10 numerals and four punctuation marks.
Each postcard in Letter Love spotlights a scene-stealing character by design favorites such as Saul Bass, Seymour Chwast, Hansje van Halem, Imre Reiner, Jean Midolle, Takenobu Igarashi and Hermann Zapf. Printed with metallic ink and presented in a unique perforated booklet, the postcards tear off to reveal an illustrated catalog that shares reproductions and details about the art. In removing the postcards, the reader is invited to use them however they wish: send them in the mail, create word compositions or keep favorites to display as art. The tactile effect is a playful approximation of sifting through the actual archive. Both delightful and practical, Letter Love makes an ideal gift for design and lettering enthusiasts.
Artists and designers include: Vincent de Boer, Armin Haab, Peter Malutzki, Hans Donner, Sylvia Trenker, Louis John Pouchée, Julien Priez, Angel de Cora, Tauba Auerbach, Maurice Dufrène, Tezzo Suzuki, Kuwayama Yasaburo, Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, Tom Carnase, James Edmondson, Ross F. George, Roger Excoffon.