Navajo Code Talker Manual

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NAVAJO CODE TALKER

Experimental Typography Book, student project

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“Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”

MAJOR HOWARD CONNOR

The Code Talkers were actively involved in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted during World War II in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They served in all six Marine divisions, Marine Raider battalions and Marine parachute units, transmitting messages by telephone and radio in their native language a code that the Japanese never broke.

This book was designed to resemble an old WWII training manual for Navajo recruits to learn about the code language and how to send and receive encrypted messages on the battlefield.

The type was distressed by hand using strips of masking tape. I pressed tape down on the paper, then slowly lifted specks of paper and ink off to give it a unique weathered appearance.