It wasn’t only the fields of architecture and fashion that were galvanized (sorry, couldn’t help that pun: the Eiffel Tower was built of steel. Galvanized? Get it? … OK, never mind…)

During the Art Deco period typography began to play a more important a role in graphic design than during previous eras. In the Art Nouveau period, typography was an add-on, almost an afterthought, but during the Art Deco period, lettering and fonts and the way they were used, began to change not only poster design, but the way in which people reacted to posters in general.

New typefaces were developed and integrated (like the ubiquitous Helvetica – and if you haven’t seen the documentary about it, you really really should ), and poster designers Like Julius Klinger began playing with lettering in ways that had only been imagined before. Half doodle, half brainstorm, these Klinger works for his client Tabu are almost like a window into the working mind of an artist.

Even travel posters began to be carried away with typography (ok, promise I will stop with the puns…)

And just in case you might have thought that typography (and typographers) went the way of the Dodo bird, let me introduce you to the very dashing Jean Baptiste Levee – a Parisian with an acute sense of design, a lovely smile, and a very accomplished portfolio AND our new favorites Playtype, an online font shops and Danish concept store!