Architecture
Proportion, repetition, weight, and constructed rhythm shape the underlying geometry of the characters.
A writing system for Kiswahili
Salam
Salam is the first indigenous Swahili writing system, shaped by the forms, rhythms, and proportions of architecture and the natural world.
It translates ideas of structure, balance, growth, and movement into a coherent family of characters designed for Swahili.
This digital reference presents all 36 characters through their handwritten origins, canonical inscriptional forms, and book-hand forms, together with the construction and proportional logic behind each glyph.
A script drawn from place
Salam brings constructed and living forms into one visual language: architecture provides order; ecology provides movement.
Ecology
Growth, branching, flow, and organic variation bring gesture and movement to the system.
Written form
Each glyph is documented from proto handwriting to its formal inscriptional and manuscript expressions.
Write in Salam
Type naturally in Kiswahili. Salam recognizes its compound characters longest-first, preserves numbers and punctuation, and marks unsupported letters in red.
The complete character set
Explore the Salam character set here with the original handwritten set, first digitized forms, and construction notes with proportions.