Letters Only brings together Latin-script typographic posters that renounce geometric forms and illustrated images as well as compositionally ordered fields of color and other non-type design elements. This publication seeks to highlight the formal potential of the medium.

The typographic, or “script,” poster first enjoyed a heyday around 1915, with the discovery of the letter as a design element. Enlarged upon with examples influenced by the Bauhaus and its successors, such posters continue to be produced to the present day. Technical developments in the spheres of design and printing have concurrently influenced visual expression. This historical overview of the typographic poster highlights a variety of trends as well as the effortless skill of scores of designers from around the world who chose to employ a purely typographic approach. 

Includes the essay, “Language is Letter is Language,” by graphic design and typeface design historian Emily King

Designed by Lars Müller Integral

Published by Lars Müller

In German and English

Softcover, 96 pages, 114 full color illustrations, 6.5 × 9.5 inches

ISBN: 978-3-03778-206-4