Reflections of the Alphabet Revolution between the years of 1928-1938 onto the Turkish graphic design

While Turkish belongs to Ural Altaic, Arabic is the one of the semitic languages. Therefore, when these two languages compared to each other it can be seen that their area of usage and idiosyncrasy are different. Although Arabic language system is not a proper tool to be used on Turkish language, it is compulsory to figure out structure of Arabic language to be able to understand meaning of Arabic and Farsi vocabularies used in Turkish language. As of Seljuk Empire and Anatolian Seignories, Turkish was used in its own course of history without getting any influences. However, Turkish used during term of Ottomans was under the influence of Farsi and Arabic. Therefore, Turkish composed of using these two forms resulted in a conflict in xv. Century. The problem about using the language became a current issue with the westernization movement initiated during the Tanzimat reform era. Although there were some studies on the language problem at constitutional monarchy term, it was eventually finalized with the work done at Republic Period. Effort being put on the 1st of October 1928 resulted in declaration of new Turkish alphabet and filtering all the vocabularies derived from usage of Arabic and Farsi. This study which based on the historical traces of Turkish graphic design and graphic studies in the last period of the Ottoman Empire attempts to determine the effects of the Letter Revolution that took place in 1928 on the graphic designs productions in its first decade. The first chapter of this study explains the reasons behind the Alphabet Revolution, its realization and the legislation process. Since subject of alphabet came to the agenda during the Tanzimat period when the Ottomans turned to the West, debates and initiatives taken on this subject during the periods of Tanzimat and II. Meşrutiyet are explained. The alphabet change could not be concluded with the studies carried out in these periods, therefore topics of; further discussions on the subject by different views during the Republic period, the comprehensive studies carried out by the state, the legislation process of the new Latin-based Turkish alphabet and the steps taken thereafter are all explained in this chapter. The second chapter focuses on research about graphic approaches in the artworks that form the basis of Turkish graphic design and pioneers in this field; the influence of Western art movements observed in the graphic works of these pioneers; the press environment of the period and developments in printing technology; design education and cultural developments from the late Ottoman period to the early years of the Early Republic period. From the graphic traces in the artworks of the Turks who dominated vast geographies for centuries, to the productions during the Ottoman period, information has been given on the products which we can consider as graphic design works today. The graphic products, which are handled in the context of the technological, cultural, social, economic etc. structures of the period, are explained with form and content approaches. At the end of the second chapter, works that used the old and new letters together during the preparation/adjustment period to the new alphabet, are tried to be determined. Works such as posters, advertisements, corporate identities, newspapers, packaging / labels, book and magazine covers are explained with sample visuals in which different languages (French, Armenian, Greek, etc.) were applied in addition to Ottoman Turkish before the Letter Revolution. Graphic works that used the old and the new letters together just before the revolution and in the first year of its realization are explained with visuals in this chapter. The third chapter focuses on the research of the innovations brought by the changing regime on the 29th of October 1923 and the effects of the new Turkish alphabet, which was enacted on the 1st of November 1928, on graphic design approaches and subjects. Graphic design works produced with Latin-based Turkish letters are researched and their content and style are tried to be determined in the third chapter. As the result of research and examinations, the question of "how the content and visual material of graphic design works were shaped in the light of the political, social, economic and cultural transformations in the first decade (1928-1938) after the adoption of the new alphabet, in contrast to the late Ottoman period" was tried to be answered. Within the framework of general characteristics of the designs produced and the themes they deal with; effects of modernization and nationalization have been observed. It has been observed that the graphic works produced with the new letters became simpler and more modern, thus increasing their memorability. It has been observed that more visuals and less text were used to produce remarkable graphics, compared to the works of the Ottoman period, which consists of long texts and little to no visuals. With the alphabet change, the writing order from right to left changed to from left to right, making reading and writing with new letters easier, thus increasing the perception of graphic works. The study method is based on document and archive examination. During the visual and written data collection phase; newspaper and magazine articles, official documents, news, advertisements, books, photographs, digital documents, academic arguments, descriptive analysis and commentaries were used as resources. The aim of the study is to provide a source for the literature for academicians, researchers, designers and students who conduct research on the field, and to provide an inclusive view of the period.