---
title: "new-aesthetic:\n\n“Over the course of a year, I researched and created ZXX, a disruptive typeface which takes its name from the Library of Congress’ listing of three-letter codes denoting which language a book is written in. Code “ZXX” is used when there is: “No linguistic content; Not applicable.” The project started with a genuine question: How can we conceal our fundamental thoughts from artificial intelligences and those who deploy them? I decided to create a typeface that would be unreadable by text scanning software (whether used by a government agency or a lone hacker) — misdirecting information or sometimes not giving any at all. It can be applied to huge amounts of data, or to personal correspondence. I drew six different cuts (Sans, Bold, Camo, False, Noise and Xed) to generate endless permutations, each font designed to thwart machine intelligences in a different way. I offered the typeface as a free download in hopes that as many people as possible would use it.”\nMaking Democracy Legible: A Defiant Typeface — The Gradient — Walker Art Center"
date: 2013-06-25 05:57:01 +00
tags: tumblr
---

![mirrored image from https://66.media.tumblr.com/70e2503d189ae56b310e86483bd9eed7/tumblr_mor4xb8Ov71qjjis9o1_1280.jpg without alt text, sorry](./53823157051.jpg)

[](<http://blogs.walkerart.org/design/2013/06/20/sang-mun-defiant-typeface-nsa-privacy/ >)

[new-aesthetic](http://new-aesthetic.tumblr.com/post/53760031554/over-the-course-of-a-year-i-researched-and):

> “Over the course of a year, I researched and created ZXX, a disruptive typeface which takes its name from the Library of Congress’ listing of three-letter codes denoting which language a book is written in. Code “ZXX” is used when there is: “No linguistic content; Not applicable.” The project started with a genuine question: How can we conceal our fundamental thoughts from artificial intelligences and those who deploy them? I decided to create a typeface that would be unreadable by text scanning software (whether used by a government agency or a lone hacker) — misdirecting information or sometimes not giving any at all. It can be applied to huge amounts of data, or to personal correspondence. I drew six different cuts (Sans, Bold, Camo, False, Noise and Xed) to generate endless permutations, each font designed to thwart machine intelligences in a different way. I offered the typeface as a free download in hopes that as many people as possible would use it.”
> 
> [Making Democracy Legible: A Defiant Typeface — The Gradient — Walker Art Center](http://blogs.walkerart.org/design/2013/06/20/sang-mun-defiant-typeface-nsa-privacy/)

June 24th, 2013 10:57pm