Art meets Tech at the bar...

I came across an article in the WSJ that talked about smart innovative companies that are using every inch of their product label to promote their brands!  I would expect to see more vanity-barcodes to crop up as companies try to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive market place.  This is of course, is dependent on figuring out how to ensure their scanning reliability.

Design Barcodes Inc. (man, skyline); Vanity Barcodes LLC (3)

Vanity Barcodes designs one label for $375 a pop.  There is some concern that vanity-barcodes may not work with all scanners.  However, by the looks of the Garden Barcode pictured below, I would believe that it is possible to design some artistic barcodes that should always scan.

 

With the advent of smart phones, the QR code (otherwise known as a matrix barcode) has gained popularity.  Will we also see these matrix barcodes morph into artistic expression?  Apparently this has already been done by Duncan Roberston who embedded the letters BBC into a QR code.

 

Let's call this the "bARTcode" phenomenon!