when i speak about my collections, it is necessary to qualify and categorize. this is because when i rate my collections, i always consider which i would keep should i ever have to purge, without question it would be my letterhead collection. i have many beautiful letterheads. this bauhaus letterhead, signed by walter gropius on page two, is framed and exhibited at my home and holds a special place for many reasons. one being that i won it on ebay. yes, ebay. the second is that printed at the bottom of this letterhead are the words "wir schreiben alles klien, denn wir sparen damit zeit." translated this means "we write everything small, thus saving time." this translation comes via robin kinross' article from 8vo's issue of octavo 88.5 from 1988. doris pesendorfer, an austrian graphic designer who used to work with me, translated it as "we are writing everything in lower case in order to save time;" while a german client and friend, korbinian kohler, translated it as "we spell everything small because we can save time that way." i love these variations but what i love most is that herbert bayer, the designer of this letterhead, felt so strongly as to include it at the bottom, emphasizing the bauhaus philosophy in such a simple way. after reading kinross' article, i grabbed the herbert bayer monograph he published in 1967 and rediscovered he designed the whole book in lower case. even better, he states on the title page "footnote, this book has been set in one alphabet only, according to the theories presented in the articles on pages 26 and 78." both articles, one published in 1925 and the other in 1960, state bayer's beliefs in a universal alphabet and legibility. so, roughly 40 years later, he is sticking to his principles. in honor of "saving time," i have decided to use lower case for my blog. i hope you approve.
