Erwin Van Haarlem, was a Czech spy working for the StB during the Cold War. The morning the Czech spy was arrested for espionage, he was found in his kitchen tuned into an ominous radio transmission which was broadcasting a sequence of numbers. The publication is directly inspired from the use of number stations, within the book coded messages can be found hidden and revealed using a French fold, the images are made from tiny sequences of numbers which was inspired from the use of ‘one time pads’ which were found in Erwin Van Haarlems apartment.
The publication comes accompanied with real recordings of Number Stations, which are visualized through typographic animations. Frames of these animations are found throughout the book, yet together the audio and type exist on a website. Simply left to be discovered this website is open for anyone to access. However, the message and meaning of these broadcasts may be lost in a digital atmosphere, but they are there, explicitly constant yet covert.
This project was awarded a Merit by the International Society of Typographic Designers.
The publication comes accompanied with real recordings of Number Stations, which are visualized through typographic animations. Frames of these animations are found throughout the book, yet together the audio and type exist on a website. Simply left to be discovered this website is open for anyone to access. However, the message and meaning of these broadcasts may be lost in a digital atmosphere, but they are there, explicitly constant yet covert.
This project was awarded a Merit by the International Society of Typographic Designers.
