# Seven ways to turn code into an image

Design exploration · 2025-05-28

English translation of the Portuguese source. Original directions proposed during the session; no final poster image was recovered.

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### 1. **A “Camouflaged Code” Poster with Generative Art**
- Use **generative art** based on the code itself: turn the structure of its *tokens* or the entropy of its lines into shapes, curves or patterns.
- Examples:
  - Different colours for `def`, `if`, `else`, `return`, etc.
  - Shapes based on indentation, such as denser shapes for deeper indentation.
  - An algorithm that turns each line into coordinates in a drawing.
- Tools: [Processing](https://processing.org/), [p5.js](https://p5js.org/), or Python with `matplotlib`.

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### 2. **Code in the Background, Visible Only Up Close**
- Make a poster with an image, such as a minimalist composition or a portrait, and use **every line of code as a background texture**.
- Set the text very small (~3–5pt), in horizontal lines or curves that form the image.
- From a distance, you see the image; up close, you read the code.

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### 3. **Mirrored or Obfuscated Code**
- Style the code so it cannot be read at first glance:
  - Use **stylised monospaced fonts**.
  - Reverse some sections.
  - Use *rot13* or binary encoding for certain sections.
  - Alternate between readable and encoded text.
- The result: someone familiar with code will try to decipher it and realise that it is real.

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### 4. **A Colour Map for Each Line**
- Convert each line of code into a hash value and represent it as a **colour** (HEX).
- Make a poster as a **colour mosaic**, such as 1000 squares for 1000 lines.
- You could include a discreet key linking line → colour → code, like a private decryption key.

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### 5. **Custom Typography**
- Use **a font you have made** or adapted, with unusual characters: for example, each `a` could be a small triangle and each `b` a spiral.
- The code is there, but only you know how to read it directly.
- Tools: [FontForge](https://fontforge.org/), [Glyphr Studio](https://glyphrstudio.com/online/).

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### 6. **A Vertical or Spiral Codex**
- Print the code like an **ancient manuscript**, in vertical lines like Japanese characters, or in a **concentric spiral** from the centre of the poster.
- This could create a striking, mysterious visual effect.

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### 7. **A Mix of Text and ASCII Art**
- Mix the actual code with ASCII-art figures.
- Or create a larger figure, such as a portrait, animal or symbol, from small sections of your code.