Though the traditional QR code is created by a computer with the appropriate software, this isn’t always the case, and various artists are starting to demonstrate this fact by creating the barcodes using their own techniques and styles.
Award winning David Sykes, an advertising photographer, for example, creates QR codes out of everyday objects, such as wine bottles, boots, or anything else he can get his hands upon. One of his most recent accomplishments is a photograph of a 64 square foot QR code made out of shoes and boots that can be used by smartphone owners to access the Sykes’s newly re-launched website.
Similarly, artists Lauren Manning and Camile Wei-Hsin Lin have made QR codes out of objects for the Curiosity Project. This endeavor is one being made to bring print and digital media together. Their codes are made primarily out of found objects, though they have used purchased products, as well. Most recently, this has included a specially developed QR code floor tile, as well as barcodes made out of magnets, Post-It notes, and Hershey’s Kisses.
Their codes are first created and then photographed so that they can be displayed on posters. The Curiosity Project recently held a large campaign that hung the posters all over New York City. Scanning the codes on the posters redirected smartphone users to a blog post made on the Project’s site.
They believe that this can make the barcodes they develop into something more interesting and appealing to consumers. Moreover, they hope that by combining the hand-made QR codes with blog posts, they will spark the curiosity of mobile device users and will help to reshape the way that people interact with digital and print media.
