Letraset The Letraset business was founded in London in 1959. Letraset announced its instant lettering dry transfer product in 1960. This was the first ever sheet of “Dry Transfer”— the product with which Letraset has become synonymous. Dry Transfers represented a true revolution in graphic design — lettering could be done quickly and easily by anyone and demand was enormous. What could so easily have become a “gimmick” became an essential design tool. Letraset always ran an adventurous letter design program and from 1964 under the leadership of design director Colin Brignall, built a distinctive library of display typefaces. The rise of the Apple Macintosh and the wide availability of digital fonts brought about the inevitable decline of transfer lettering. Letraset quickly converted the best of its library into digital format and continues to this day to develop typefaces under the Fontek brand. Acquired by the Swedish Office Supplies Group Esselte A.B. in 1981 Letraset was subsequently divested to the company’s management team in June 2001. Today, Letraset provides a broad range of digital and traditional design products meeting both professional and non-professional requirements.