Tue March 19, 2019
Inventing the Adlam Script / Designing Type for a Society in Flux
SEE EVENT DETAILS
Letterform Archive is pleased to host a panel discussion on Inventing the Adlam Script / Designing Type for a Society in Flux at the SFPL Main Library, Koret Auditorium (100 Larkin St, San Francisco) on Tuesday, March 19 at 6:00pm–7:30pm. The panel brings together inventors of the Adlam font Abdoulaye and Ibrahima Barry with two American type designers, Mark Jamra and Neil Patel who are developing the first multi-weight, multi-style typeface for Adlam.
In 1990, brothers in Guinea, Abdoulaye and Ibrahima Barry aged 10 and 14, invented an alphabet for their native language, Pular. While Pular was spoken by millions of Fula people who had dispersed across Western Africa, it had no writing system of its own. Within a few years of its invention, the boys’ script spread like wildfire, as a culture embraced a new literacy. The alphabet is called ADLaM (or Adlam) an acronym for a phrase meaning “the alphabet that protects a people from vanishing.”
Inventing the Adlam Script / Designing Type for a Society in Flux will discuss the culture of the Fulani, how Adlam is used, and the design challenges in bringing typographic diversity to a new writing system. While the foursome has been working on this project for many years, this will be the first time they are meeting to discuss the project in a public forum. Most recently, the brothers gave their first-ever talk at the Google headquarters.
Hosted by Letterform Archive, an organization dedicated to the history and preservation of communication and writing, the panel showcases a very rare example of a 20th century invention of a writing system.
show less
In 1990, brothers in Guinea, Abdoulaye and Ibrahima Barry aged 10 and 14, invented an alphabet for their native language, Pular. While Pular was spoken by millions of Fula people who had dispersed across Western Africa, it had no writing system of its own. Within a few years of its invention, the boys’ script spread like wildfire, as a culture embraced a new literacy. The alphabet is called ADLaM (or Adlam) an acronym for a phrase meaning “the alphabet that protects a people from vanishing.”
Inventing the Adlam Script / Designing Type for a Society in Flux will discuss the culture of the Fulani, how Adlam is used, and the design challenges in bringing typographic diversity to a new writing system. While the foursome has been working on this project for many years, this will be the first time they are meeting to discuss the project in a public forum. Most recently, the brothers gave their first-ever talk at the Google headquarters.
Hosted by Letterform Archive, an organization dedicated to the history and preservation of communication and writing, the panel showcases a very rare example of a 20th century invention of a writing system.
Letterform Archive is pleased to host a panel discussion on Inventing the Adlam Script / Designing Type for a Society in Flux at the SFPL Main Library, Koret Auditorium (100 Larkin St, San Francisco) on Tuesday, March 19 at 6:00pm–7:30pm. The panel brings together inventors of the Adlam font Abdoulaye and Ibrahima Barry with two American type designers, Mark Jamra and Neil Patel who are developing the first multi-weight, multi-style typeface for Adlam.
In 1990, brothers in Guinea, Abdoulaye and Ibrahima Barry aged 10 and 14, invented an alphabet for their native language, Pular. While Pular was spoken by millions of Fula people who had dispersed across Western Africa, it had no writing system of its own. Within a few years of its invention, the boys’ script spread like wildfire, as a culture embraced a new literacy. The alphabet is called ADLaM (or Adlam) an acronym for a phrase meaning “the alphabet that protects a people from vanishing.”
Inventing the Adlam Script / Designing Type for a Society in Flux will discuss the culture of the Fulani, how Adlam is used, and the design challenges in bringing typographic diversity to a new writing system. While the foursome has been working on this project for many years, this will be the first time they are meeting to discuss the project in a public forum. Most recently, the brothers gave their first-ever talk at the Google headquarters.
Hosted by Letterform Archive, an organization dedicated to the history and preservation of communication and writing, the panel showcases a very rare example of a 20th century invention of a writing system.
read more
In 1990, brothers in Guinea, Abdoulaye and Ibrahima Barry aged 10 and 14, invented an alphabet for their native language, Pular. While Pular was spoken by millions of Fula people who had dispersed across Western Africa, it had no writing system of its own. Within a few years of its invention, the boys’ script spread like wildfire, as a culture embraced a new literacy. The alphabet is called ADLaM (or Adlam) an acronym for a phrase meaning “the alphabet that protects a people from vanishing.”
Inventing the Adlam Script / Designing Type for a Society in Flux will discuss the culture of the Fulani, how Adlam is used, and the design challenges in bringing typographic diversity to a new writing system. While the foursome has been working on this project for many years, this will be the first time they are meeting to discuss the project in a public forum. Most recently, the brothers gave their first-ever talk at the Google headquarters.
Hosted by Letterform Archive, an organization dedicated to the history and preservation of communication and writing, the panel showcases a very rare example of a 20th century invention of a writing system.
show less
Date/Times:
Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library
3 Upcoming Events
100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
The Best Events
Every Week in Your Inbox
From Our Sponsors
UPCOMING EVENTS
Great suggestion! We'll be in touch.
Event reviewed successfully.