The transliteration of Turkish writing from Arabic letters to Latin letters is often cited as a triumph of early 20th-century modernism. While this change was largely motivated by ideology, the presence and depth of Greek and Armenian learning cultures, a multi-script reading environment, and the slow adoption of the printing press for Ottoman Turkish writing all contributed. This talk will take a look at how print technology, the graphic/lettering landscape, and literacy all contributed to, and were not just derivative of, the cultural ideas that were carried forward.