John Langdon has taken an unusual route to each of the facets of his career. While he “always knew he was an artist,” he was not supported or encouraged in that direction.

He inherited strong influences from his paternal grandparents. Susan Taft Langdon was a fine art painter who studied in Paris in the waning years of the 19th century. Courtney Langdon was a poet, linguist and translator, a professor of classical languages at Brown University. Hence, it comes quite naturally that John would specialize in the visual treatment of words.

Uncertain at first as to whether he would pursue writing or art, John majored in English at Dickinson College, and spent many hours in the art college’s studio teaching himself how to paint. After graduation, he attended evening courses at The Philadelphia College of Art and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Lacking a degree in art or design, his employment odyssey began in a Philadelphia type shop, where he learned a great deal about type. During that year and a half, John obsessed over advertising and design periodicals and annuals, and eventually landing a job in a Philadelphia design studio. After six years, he began his free-lance career as a logo design and typography specialist.

In the late 60s three significant influences presented themselves. The yin/yang symbol, the graphic representation of the ancient Chinese philosophy, Taoism, became his personal guide in life as well as a significant influence on his approach to design. He was fascinated by the work of M.C. Escher, which graphically introduced him to the idea of multiple vantage points. Psychedelic poster lettering opened his mind about taking dramatic visual liberties with words. Through the 1980s John created a series of constructions that expressed his personal take on yin-yang relationships.

Blending those genetic, educational, and cultural influences, John invented and developed the art form now known as ambigrams — words designed in such a way that they can be read equally well from more than one point of view. Wordplay, his book of ambigrams and philosophical essays was published in 1992. It came to the attention of Dan Brown, who commissioned John to create several ambigrams for his novel, Angels & Demons. Dan named his perennial protagonist Robert Langdon, after John.

In 1996, while maintaining his free-lance business and teaching typography courses at Drexel University, John began to paint in earnest. While his early art influences were Magritte and Dali his later idols were pop artists — Warhol, Robert Indiana, and Jasper Johns. Over the past 30 years, John has created about 200 paintings, exploring a number of distinct themes, all presenting his unique approaches to the visual treatment of words.