45 Symbols—Clay to Code

With 45 Symbols—Clay to Code, Slanted Publishers presents a publication that brings together artists and designers from around the world who explore visual language as a tool for inquiry. Drawing inspiration from the still-undeciphered, 3,700-year-old Phaistos Disc, the book reflects on how meaning is constructed, disrupted, and reimagined across time, cultures, and media. Through personal narratives and planetary perspectives, 45 Symbols—Clay to Code reveals how distinctive visual grammars emerge—shaped by experimentation, critical thinking, and bold storytelling. The publication highlights a diverse range of approaches that challenge established systems of communication while opening up new spaces for interpretation.

Read more about the book here.

To celebrate the release, we invite you to join an Across–Time Zone Global Book Launch—a distributed virtual event spanning three live sessions. Each session brings together contributing artists and designers in a dynamic format, featuring short presentations followed by moderated conversations and Q&A.

Participation is free and open to all with prior registration.

Session I
Tuesday, April 14 (45 min)
NYC: 11:00 · Berlin: 17:00 · Johannesburg: 18:00 · Bogotá: 11:00 · Taipei: 23:00
Program:
Clay to Code — Introduction I
Aslin (Yu-Heng) Lin — LGBTQIA+ in Taiwan: Linguistic Architecture of Inclusion
Raafia Jessa — /’lo.kwi:/ (loqui): The Synthesis of Urdu, Persian, Arabic, and Latin
→ Registration here

Session II
Thursday, April 16 (45 min)
NYC: 14:00 · Berlin: 20:00 · São Paulo: 16:00 · Mexico City: 13:00 · Nairobi: 22:00
Program:
Clay to Code — Introduction II
Lily Taggart — Dialectic Dancescape: Choreographic Notations for Central Park
Ricardo Vega — Chile Stamp: Marking the Land
Angelina Foos — Slavic Spirits Reimagined
→ Registration here

Session III
Saturday, April 18 (45 min)
NYC: 05:00 · Berlin: 11:00 · Taipei: 18:00 · Kyoto: 19:00 · Sydney: 20:00
Program:
Clay to Code — Introduction III
Farida Foda — Glitched: Digital Objects and the Extinction of Imperfection
Kiara dos Reis — St-uh-teh-rrr: A Visual Lexicon of Voice
Tracy Bassil — Urbic: Urban Studies as Arabic Script and Streets
→ Registration here

Meet the book and us in person
Berlin — A-Z Gallery, CounterSession #7 · April 23, 7pm
San Francisco — ATypI · May 28
Vienna — Design Forum · July 16–30

Find out more information about the events here.