In 2004, the writing group 26 and the International Society of Typographic Designers joined forces to explore the DNA of language. Twenty-six business writers were randomly paired with twenty-six graphic designers, given one letter each and asked to create a collaborative work that celebrated, explored, questioned, elucidated or subverted that letter. Throughout the process, the British Library acted as a resource for information and inspiration, and the resulting exhibition, “26 Letters: Illuminating the Alphabet,” was displayed throughout the library building as part of the London Design Festival.

Paired with Neil Taylor, Marksteen Adamson was given the letter ‘K’. Because the British Library is all about preservation Marksteen and Neil decided to look at extinction and words that are now no longer used. They decided to celebrate words from other languages that have sadly become extinct, together with the cultures and identities that went with them. They sourced words – all beginning with ‘K’ – from languages including Taino, from the Bahamas, Mohawk and Potawatomi from the Great Lakes of North America. Marksteen wanted to create an edible poster adding more weight to the concept of dying words – words you really could eat.

Entitled Kachahlhlichi (meaning ‘to let someone take a bite’ from the threatened native language of Alabama), the poster was printed on 60 edible panels using edible materials and edible inks and was encased in perspex to ensure its freshness.

The final outcome was the creation of the world’s largest edible poster, and smaller A3 sizes were produced in a limited edition and sold at the British Library exhibition, so that people could take them home and eat them.