In 2013, graphic designer Sang Mun released ZXX, a typeface that he claimed to thwart Optical Character Recognition (OCR) reading technology. The name ZXX comes from a system the Library of Congress uses to denote a book’s written language. Within this system, ZXX is used to denote “No linguistic content; not applicable.”

ZXX isn’t a foolproof security measure intended to thwart machine learning. Sang Mun’s intention was to draw to light society’s rapidly disappearing privacy; as technology becomes more adept at recording, documenting, and sharing. The project was released in 2013, but is as relevant as ever in today’s society.

This type-specimen features ZXX’s unique characteristics, and documents the history of its creation.