An optically readable two dimensional symbology employed to encode a string of characters belonging to a source string alphabet. The two dimensional symbol can comprise an ordered plurality of printable elements. The printable elements can be arranged in a rectangular array. The printable elements can be positioned on a grid diagonal to the longitudinal axis of the rectangular array, and sequenced according to a pre-defined pattern. Each character of the character string can be encoded into a sequence of printable elements using an encoding scheme comprising at least one code set. A code set can include a plurality of bit sequences. Each bit sequence can correspond to a group of one or more characters of the source string alphabet. Each bit sequence can comprise one or more binary digits. The first binary digit can be encoded by a printable element printed in a printable element position, and a second binary digit can be encoded by a vacant printable element position.