The Godfather of handwritten lettering for graphics, Toulouse Lautrec plied his trade in a time when there was very little way of alternatives. Though hot metal press could have been used, a great deal of his poster art contains his handlettering that was often written “directly with grease crayon on the litho to avoid using type in favour of totally integrated artistic composition.” (Escrito a Mano)
The artists at the time (including Henri de Toulouse Lau Trec, Jules Cheret and Alphonse Mucha) saw applying lettering in this way as the perfect relationship between image and type, a seamless integration of the two.
Henri’s lettering itself is beautifully precise. In a poster entitled ‘La Revue Blanche’, Henri shows good awareness of placement, sizing and ordering of information. Though spacing between letters is not technically perfect, the letterforms themselves are exquisitely rendered whilst retaining all of their immediacy and energy.
The letterforms are serifed, and are perhaps simulations of an actual typeface.
Lautrec’s perhaps more famous posters, for the Moulin Rouge also see him offering hand drawn type. The letterforms he draws here are simple, sans serif in appearance, again well ordered and graphically clean, whilst in a poster entitled ‘Divan Japonais’, he is more daring, with more affected letterforms, not overly serifed or ornate, but definitely quirkier than block type. This is to perhaps hint at an oriental feel, strangely skewed and elegant in an unfamiliar fashion. This is then underscored by Lautrec’s beautifully script-esque handwriting.
What these hand drawn letterforms suggest is that Lautrec was not content to settle for existing typefaces. He must have therefore felt frustrated by the lack of expressive type on offer, and felt that his drawn letterforms captured the energy and vibe of the scene at the time, making his posters autographic and of the highest artistic standard.
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