Hasta La Ideas

When was the last time you wrote a letter? I don’t mean typed one—wrote one. Like on actual paper. If you’re answer falls somewhere between it’s been awhile and what’s a letter?, don’t worry—you’re not alone. And there’s help. UK-based graphic designer Craig Oldham has taken it upon himself to get you back on the right track and put you in touch with ye olde pen and paper again with the Hand.Written.Letter.Project. He took up the cause in 2007 when he asked his fellow designers to write their thoughts on the demise of the handwritten letter on their own letterhead.

“But the project offers much more than that voyeuristic insight into the creative minds of those we revere,” Oldham says. “More that it represents a visual narrative on the cultural transition in which we find ourselves. A transition on which your thoughts you are welcome to share, where all you have to do is to pick up that pen.”

As an ardent letter writer myself, I find the book not only charming but visually compelling. And quite a few others do too. So many, in fact, that Oldham has released a Second Edition of the book that’s double the length of the original. Some of the letters are straight forward, some are straight up cop-outs (at least I think so) and others are adorned with drawings and flights of typographic whimsy. You can see the list of contributors on the site and scroll through a few scanned entries, though I do believe the most authentic way to experience this book is to hold all its 128 pages and 8-page double gatefold cover in your own two hands.

(more…)