I finally got around to reading “The DaVinci Code” when it came out in paperback. My parents objected (my mother now is reading it “out of curiosity”), I received stares from big-haired women in public when I toted it around, and - in the end - I wondered what all the fuss was/is about. It’s a novel based on some fact, and a good novel at that…although I thought the ending was a bit stretched. I’ll see the movie if it isn’t banned in my town, because I like Tom Hanks, and because I’m a huge fan of John Langdon. No, I don’t mean Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks. I mean John Langdon, professor of advanced typography and logo design in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
What does John Langdon have to do with “The DaVinci Code”? John is the master of the ambigram, also known as an inversion, where a graphical figure that spells out a word not only in its form as presented, but also in another direction or orientation. John’s ambigrams, or his play with words, symbols, and typography are exemplified in his book, Wordplay: The Philosophy, Art, and Science of Ambigrams. Look at the book upside down, if you can, and you’ll see “wordplay” is just as legible at 180 degrees as it is right-side up.
Dan Brown, author of “The DaVinci Code,” met John after he was introduced to Wordplay, and years later he asked the artist to design an ambigram for Angels and Demons, a self-produced musical CD (Brown was an aspiring songwriter before he became a novelist). When Brown penned a novel by the same name, John designed its cover. This friendship led Brown to hire John to create logos and signs for “The DaVinci Code” movie. Look for the logo for the Swiss bank, the fictitious Depository Bank of Zurich, and other signs throughout the film. Heck, you may have to watch the film a few times to study all the symbology. Or, before you stand in line or spend a ton of money for tickets, just read John’s explanation on how he created the logo for the Bank of Zurich and the opening title credits to the movie.
Wordplay includes some of John’s best work, including short essays that play with your mind as much as his typographical stylings. When you discover that his strongest influences were Salvador Dali, the cubists, M.C. Escher, Rene Magritte, the psychedelic poster artists (especially Rick Griffin), and Herb Lubalin (John is in his sixties - my generation), then you’ll know why Dan Brown was intrigued with his philosophy and creativity. In celebration of his connection to “The Da Vinci Code,” Drexel University is hosting an exhibition of John Langdon’s ambigrams, entitled, “Robert & John: The Langdons in the World of Dan Brown.” The show is in the Rincliffe and Anthony J. Picture Galleries on the third floor of the Main Building at Drexel in Philadelphia (32nd and Chestnut Streets) from 15 May - 23 June. A reception and presentation by Professor Langdon will be held in the Anthony J. Drexel Picture Gallery on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at 6 p.m. For more information on the exhibition, contact Jacqueline DeGroff, curator of The Drexel Collection, at “degroff at drexel.edu” or 215-895-0480.
You can read more about John Langdon, view some of his work, and ponder his philosophy at his Website. You might also want to read the news article about his relationship with Dan Brown in the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel.
I may have to drive to Fort Wayne, Indiana to see the movie…
