The ADLaM Story – How Alphabet Changes Culture - Part One

The first installment of ADLaM's three part series.

This installment is a development of a brief history of Alphabetic writing, why it is important to the ADLaM story, and how modern calligraphy played a part in leading up to the initial meeting with Ibrahim Barry, one of the creators of the ADLaM alphabet.  

Setting the stage: Lettering Arts and Calligraphy today

 Lisa Engelbrecht - Masthead for The Society for Calligraphy, Los Angeles CA 

Within the wider world of art and craft, the subset of the Calligraphic Arts has organizations represented in many parts of the world. At the local level, calligraphy societies and guilds hold meetings, host workshops and create an atmosphere where the art and craft of lettering can be taught. Through society newsletters and international publications like Letter Arts Review, articles on the traditions of Alphabet and artwork with innovation in letterforms provide a stimulus to artists all over the world. These societies provide the root system to foster the growth of the Calligraphic Arts and individuals within those groups use letterform as artistic expression.

Randall M. Hasson -
Lettering Demo with Brush on Canvas Board

On an annual basis, Lettering Artists from around the world with a variety of skill levels come together to participate in an International Lettering Arts Conference. Traditionally held at a College or University in the summer, these conferences provide a venue that allows for an even more participatory “conversation” around the use, adaptation and innovation in the area of Lettering Arts and letter development. Some of the finest lettering artists around the world come to teach these workshops and provide lectures. Classes range from learning to write traditional styles of alphabet to the abstraction of writing and the incorporation of text into a wider application of artwork including traditional letter formation, layout and design, painting, journaling, bookmaking, gilding and type design. Some of the best of these classes can be transformative for participants, and the evening lectures add to the insight and excitement of what is happening in the greater world of Letters.

It was at the 2013 International Lettering Arts Conference in Colorado Springs that I was privileged to be asked to give a talk about two brothers from western Africa who began using an alphabet to change a culture. This is the story of how that came about.

Ewan Clayton owes me breakfast

As my subconscious told me that the pleasant aroma of cinnamon rolls had turned into an odor a little more pungent, I became aware that Ewan Clayton had been the cause of yet another burned breakfast. Not that I can't afford to forgo a cinnamon roll, but that really isn't the point.



The cause of my distraction is Ewan Clayton's new book, "The Golden Thread" which has taken me on a fantastic journey along the origins, development and adaptation of letterforms in western society. The journey of reading Ewan's work was something I looked forward to each day. I'd find myself getting up just a little earlier each morning to get a few extra quiet moments - and I found I couldn't read without marking up the book for reference later.

One of the things I like best about Ewan's style is that he is an enthusiastic yet easygoing, lyrical storyteller. Another is that he is pays particular attention to the etymology of words. This attention to origins provided continual string of 'aha' moments for me as he delved into the historical origins of words like 'codex',  phrases like "lend me your voice" and tidbits of fact such as the reasons behind wide margins in manuscripts or some of the differences in reading from the origins of monasticism versus how we read today. Indeed, he poses the compelling (if slightly disturbing) thought that “when holding up an early piece of European paper . . . you are possibly inspecting a piece of recycled medieval underwear”.

As a lettering artist, Ewan has a keen insight into the formation and adaptation of letterforms as they progressed throughout history and cultural settings. As an example, he speaks of the evidence that the original Gutenberg press letters were designed in interchangeable parts more in keeping with how a calligrapher would actually write than being simply a fixed press image of a letter. Calligraphers and graphic artists concerned with text will find a wealth of information to connect the dots in their journey of learning about letterform. Equally as important this work holds great interest for the general student of history as well - the correlations of politics, culture and religion as tied in through the medium of the alphabet provides a fresh angle from which to look at traditional learning. Ewan has the ability to address the computer age from a position of authority; he was a consultant to that early research group PARC.

"The Golden Thread" came just at the right time for me. I had been anticipating its arrival for some time and in fact delayed finishing an article I was writing in order to make sure I had a reference to Ewan in my footnotes. I greeted the book with enthusiasm, and am equally eager to make my second, more in-depth journey though Ewan's work again in the near future.

Ewan Clayton is Professor in Design at the University of Sunderland and co-director of the International Research Centre for Calligraphy. For a number of years he was a consultant for Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) where he worked within a research group that focused on documents and contemporary communications. He is an award-winning calligrapher and has exhibited and taught calligraphy in many parts of the world.

A small sampling of links to reviews about "The Golden Thread":

The Telegraph (UK)

The Dallas News

The Scotsman

Publishers Weekly

Financial Times

Visit John Neal Books to get your copy.