Artist · Designer · Typographer · Researcher

Adam
Yeo

I design typefaces and visual systems rooted in African writing traditions — so that scripts like Bété can be read, typed and used today, not only kept in archives.

Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, University of Bondoukou, Côte d'Ivoire

See the work Get in touch

Matemasietypeface on Google Fonts

Bétéscript proposed to Unicode

CambridgeVIEWS Visiting Fellow, 2026

StanfordSILICON advisory board

About

Dr Adam Yeo is an artist, designer and typographer, and Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Bondoukou, Côte d'Ivoire, where he leads the Arts, Design and Multimedia programme. His work moves between art, design and research, and focuses on African writing systems: how they are drawn, how they survive, and how they can live in digital form.

He is best known for his work on the Bété syllabary, an Indigenous script from Côte d'Ivoire, which he has helped document, digitise and bring to international attention. A script that cannot be typed on a phone or a computer is at risk of being forgotten; type design is one practical way to keep it in use.

He holds a doctorate in graphic design from Nanjing University of the Arts (China) and was a post-master researcher at the Atelier National de Recherche Typographique (ANRT) in Nancy, France.

CV in English · PDF CV en français · PDF

Education

2022–2024
Post-master research programme, ANRT, Nancy (France) — a typeface for the Bété script
2016–2021
PhD in Graphic Design, Nanjing University of the Arts (China) — third prize for doctoral excellence
2013–2016
MA in Art & Design (Illustration), Central China Normal University, Wuhan
2004–2008
BA in Painting, École des Beaux-Arts, Abidjan

Education · Bondoukou · 2026

Centre ACDI Bondoukou

Founder of a centre for art, design and innovation offering painting, ceramics, computing, graphic design and AI workshops for children, teenagers and adults.

Visit the centre

Services

My Design Expertise and Skills

My work focuses on typography, visual research, and graphic design, exploring the relationship between writing systems, culture, and visual language, with a particular focus on African scripts such as the Bété script system.

Typography Design

Designing typographic forms and systems that explore the structure, rhythm, and visual expression of writing systems.

Writing Systems Research

Investigating the historical, cultural, and visual dimensions of scripts to inform contemporary typographic and graphic design practices.

Visual Language Development

Creating visual systems that translate linguistic and cultural elements into coherent graphic expressions.

African Script Studies

Exploring and analyzing African writing systems, such as the Bété script, to highlight their aesthetic, cultural, and intellectual significance.

Experimental Typographic Design

Developing innovative typographic compositions that push the boundaries of form, structure, and visual communication.

Type Design

Type design · Google Fonts · 2024

Matemasie

An ultra-bold display typeface with rounded edges and top-heavy letterforms, inspired by the Adinkra symbol Mate Masie — “what I hear, I keep” — a sign of wisdom, listening and knowledge. Free and open source.

View on Google Fonts

Type design · Unicode · since 2022

Bété typeface

A digital typeface for the Bété syllabary, created by Frédéric Bruly Bouabré. Developed at ANRT and with the Script Encoding Initiative (UC Berkeley), it supports the proposal to encode Bété in Unicode.

Unicode working document

Publication · Stanford SILICON · 2026

Adam Yeo: Bété Typeface

A 28-page booklet on the Bété typeface, published by Sming Sming Books in partnership with SILICON, Stanford University.

Type design · Google Fonts · since 2023

Extended Latin for African languages

Contract type designer for Google Fonts, extending Latin character sets so that African languages can be written correctly in digital type.

All typefaces →

Bété

Research

Typography and type design for African scripts · the Bété script and graphic symbols of Côte d'Ivoire · digital humanities and Unicode encoding · digital cultural heritage.

2026 –
Research Affiliate, VIEWS project (Visual Interactions in Early Writing Systems), Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge — Visiting Fellow, Lent Term 2026: “Writing as image: a comparative visual study of the Bété and Chinese scripts”.
2026–2028
Advisory Board member, Stanford SILICON and UNESCO Chair in Digital Futures, Stanford University.
2024–2025
SEI Research Fellow, Bété Digital Inclusion Project, Script Encoding Initiative, UC Berkeley.
2023 –
Contract type designer, Google Fonts.

Exhibitions & Talks

2026
Seminar — “Writing as image: Bété and Chinese scripts”, University of Cambridge
2025
Keynote — “The future of the Bété script: towards digital inclusion”, FACE/INTERFACE, Stanford University
2025
Exhibition & talk — “Bété script: heritage and future in the digital age”, Institut français de Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan
2025
World Endangered Writing Day — typography and the preservation of minority scripts (online)
2025
International conference on art criticism in Africa, University of Bondoukou
2024
DeScripto-LARSH, Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France
2023
Inscript Collective · Hello Departures · OCAD University & ANRT · Castel Coucou, Nancy
2021
ATypI All Over — “The Bété script (Côte d'Ivoire) in typography”
2021
Exhibition “The Way of Characters”, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts

Juries & recognition

•
Jury, Connect & Create (visual arts) — EU, Goethe-Institut, Expertise France, Institut français (2026–2028)
•
Judge, Student Traveling Typography Exhibition “Glyphs of Belonging”, Sharjah (2026)
•
Reviewer, ATypI 2026 conference (Stanford & Sharjah)
•
Third prize for doctoral excellence, Nanjing University of the Arts (2021)
•
Invited to the World Bank Group Youth Conference, Washington D.C. (2019)
•
Award, “Little Hakka” international picture-book competition, China (2018)

Art & design · since 2018

Scripts as images

Paintings, posters and installations that turn graphic symbols and scripts from Côte d'Ivoire into visual experiences — exhibited in Abidjan, Nanjing, Beijing, Wuhan and Clermont-Ferrand.

Writing

Yeo, A. (2026). Adam Yeo: Bété Typeface. Sming Sming Books / SILICON, Stanford University.
Yeo, A., Anderson, D., MacLean, J. & Patel, N. (2023). Bété (Ivorian alphabet) working document. Unicode Technical Committee, L2/23-279.
Yeo, A. & Cao, F. (2021). “A Creative Research Process for a Modern African Graphic Design Identity: The Case of Ivory Coast.” Art and Design Review, 9, 210–231.
Yeo, A. & Cao, F. (2021). “Study on the Application of the Bété Script in Modern Graphic Design.” Art and Design Review, 9, 156–179.

Blog

Notes on typography, African writing systems, design and teaching.

25 October 2026 · Type design · Bété script

A script you cannot type is a script at risk

Why I spend years drawing letters for the Bété syllabary — and what it takes for an African script to live on phones and computers.

Read the article →

6 June 2025 · Bété script · Digital inclusion

Preserving heritage in the digital age: the Bété Digital Inclusion Project

A font, a keyboard, an exhibition, school visits and a conference in Abidjan: what a year as SEI Research Fellow taught me about bringing the Bété script into everyday digital life.