Visualising the historical origin of our alphabet through the changing shape of letters

Anyone who can read knows the 26 letters of our alphabet. But where do those letters come from? How long do they exist? And who designed them? Autobahn and Bette Westera take you back to the time of our distant ancestors, who made a drawing if they wanted to 'write' something. Slowly but surely, their drawings changed into the first letters. If you look closely, you can recognize our current alphabet.

And guess what? A is not for Apple at all, but for Ox! After reading this book you will understand how this came to be. You will also understand why, whenever we send each other emoji's, we actually do the same as our distant ancestors over 5000 years ago. An educational and special letter book for all ages!

Free typeface and book orders

Visit www.aisvanos.nl or our shop to order 3 free typefaces!

https://www.aisvanos.nl

Editorial

The story of our alphabet has been told and portrayed before, but rarely as inspiring as here.

Pjotr van Lenteren – De Volkskrant

A great combination of history, language and (graphic) design! And above all: a fantastic book for education about the origin of our alphabet!

– Leesbevordering in de klas

Design, drawings and text form one whole, this entire book breathes the basic principle of the often awarded Autobahn: "text is image".

Diet Groothuis – Writer & Poet

Workshop letter carving

During the Mooie Kinderboeken Festival (Beautiful Children's book Festival) in Amsterdam, Autobahn hosted a letter carving workshop for children. The letters could be drawn on stones with a template and then cut out with a gouge. We have used a soft stone (aerated concrete) so that it is easy to work with. In a playful way, children were introduced to how the letters of our alphabet originated.