Karel Martens: Love Letters

Love Letters is a selection of 46 envelopes for the letters that Dutch graphic designer Karel Martens sent to his love, Lous, between 1962 and 1963.

The envelopes were all manually crafted using printing ink and a spoon to create the pattern. Printed during his military service, when Martens was stationed in the drawing room of the Welfare Service at the Prins Hendrik Barracks. A sweet meditation on paper, ink, color, and pattern and a testament to creativity and love in less than ideal circumstances.

While Martens was deployed, he was tasked with designing a poster titled “Don’t croak about military service matters, the enemy is listening."

Designed by Karel Martens
Published by Roma Publications, 2024
Softcover, 96 pages, full color, 6.3 × 8.7 inches

When Karel Martens began studying art in the late 1950s, graphic design did not exist as its own course of study. Today, he is widely recognized as one of the most important practitioners of that very discipline, as well as a highly influential figure in the visual culture of the Netherlands.