This is a puzzle type known as a nonogram. The groups of numbers on the left and top tell the size of each group of black squares in that row or column, in order either from left to right or top to bottom. To begin, solvers can shade the top four squares in the first column, leave one white, and then shade the bottom five. Comparing this to the row clues, rows one, six and seven all need two shaded squares to start, so those rows must be the three colored squares in the second column. Similar logic allows the entire grid to be completed as so:
To complete this puzzle, it is necessary to find letters in each of the quadrants of the grid. Some are in the black squares, and some are in the negative space. The grid has been colorized here to make the letters easier to see. The answer is ACME.