Printed matter

Illustration

At its core, Love Letters challenges the idea that everything must be optimised for efficiency. It suggests that everyday systems can be softened—reshaped to prioritise care, tenderness, and moments of human connection. Here the most mundane documents are used to offer a small gesture of kindness.

Do you know that feeling—stress mixed with relief?
You can feel it, for example, when you’re in a shop and want to pay with your credit card but for some reason the card gets declined, and you start stressing about how you’re going to pay… while a huge line forms behind you. But then it works, and a wave of relief washes over you.

The same feeling comes when you see a letter in a blue envelope… you already picture a payment demand. For those who, like me, are still learning Dutch, that waiting and uncertainty is stretched out by those extra few seconds it takes me to translate the letter to make sure whether trouble is coming, whether it’s a new bill, a payment reminder, or taxes… and then that sweet feeling of relief arrives when it turns out it’s nothing serious, just some information, you don’t owe anything and you don’t have to pay any penalty.

The Love Letters initiative was born out of the need for these pleasant messages. Don’t be fooled by the color of the envelope—it’s just a love letter. A letter to wish you well, pat you on the shoulder, and whisper: keep going.

The first Love Letter was sent to a friend who had been facing a series of stressful official letters. Since then, the project has expanded: Love Letter messages now appear on envelopes, receipts, invoices—small everyday documents that usually serve pure efficiency. Here, they also carry tenderness, reassurance.


Love Letters explores how design can soften everyday systems, and create tiny pockets of relief in places where we least expect them.