Dan Rhatigan: Typograph-ish. The perfect imperfection of instant lettering

→ Rub-down type from companies like Letraset, Mecanorma, Chartpak made high-quality typefaces readily available in an accessible medium that required no professional training. Its relative ease of use was deceptive: it could look clean and professional with great care, but also look raw and expressive when applied with less skill. It was a hybrid: typographic letterforms that could be applied like lettering. Its commercial success enabled an explosion of new typefaces and new graphic styles, just when social change was happening for communities who wanted to be seen and heard on their own terms.