Alan Blackman entered the world of lettering arts as a student of brush lettering at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland in the late 1950s. He is a former publications editor for the Friends of Calligraphy, San Francisco, and has served on its executive council. Since 1976, he has taught lettering classes and workshops in the United States, Europe, and Japan. His personal collection of calligraphically designed first-day-cover envelopes was exhibited at national calligraphy conferences in New Jersey in 1986 and in Oregon in 1987. Parts of this collection have also been shown in Calligraphy Review (now Letter Arts Review) and Upper & Lowercase.

Alan is most intrigued by abstract and invented lettering styles. His work is included in the collections of the San Francisco Public Library and the library of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 1994, Alan’s typeface Galahad was released by Adobe. His latest typeface, Say Cheese, follows his signature calligraphic style and definitely makes you smile.