Japanese Creative Barcodes
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"QUANTUM SHOT" #398link
Cut out your UPC label and... frame it
Barcodes, or UPC symbols, these ubiquitous emblems of our consumer civilisation, have received a radical makeover by a Japanese firm D-Barcode - and this time their ideas ended up on grocery products all over Japan.
Simple, yet brilliant ideas:
The first time you pick your bottle of pop or a package of milk, you might not even notice anything different, with all the intensity and typical clutter of Japanese package design. But take a closer look - and the charmingly designed UPC masterpieces will amuse you, make you smile, and might even cause you to go hunting for other products, to start your collection.
Trust Japanese to "glorify" every single mundane detail, to cheerfully enhance consumer experience - by adding something extra, a little thing, so easy to miss. But now, with these creative bar codes, the package design in Japan has truly become perfect.
Other barcode art pops up from time to time: This is "Flowers" by Dave Herbert - via
Russian Barcode Posters
Art Lebedev design studio has been issuing wildly creative posters (featuring barcode symbolics) for years. View the whole creative gallery of them here and download some for your desktops. Some examples:
As you can see, there is truly an abundance of ideas... It seems that barcode symbols are ingrained in the very fabric of our reality. Philip K. Dick, for once, would've certainly spotted a conspiracy in all this. As for us, we'll just keep shopping and innocently buying everything that scans.
Barcodes permeate modern design
Just try to have an exhibition of modern furniture without a few examples popping up, like this one:
"The Bar Code Chandelier", by Mobilet design studio:
More glowing barcode light fixtures by Hampstead Lighting:
Check out a LEGO barcode scanner, described on this page. It includes an actual miniature laser, so handle it with care:
How about a bar code building? - via
Portraits, made entirely from UPC codes and barcodes? Sure, check out the gallery of Scott Blake. He's got Monroe, Elvis and, of course, Jesus - which is a commentary on the consumerism and kitsch of our times.
"MAD" magazine ran a few imaginative barcode covers back in 1979 (more here) -
Want to know the time? Click on his Barcode Clock:
And as it is a custom nowadays to finish with a cute or LOL-lified cat pictures, no matter what the subject of an article, here are the "Barcode Kitties!" - Hello Kitty spin-off for those in need of a truly geeky cuteness:
Sources via Katize, izreloaded, BarcodeNerds
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16 Comments:
Cool post.
Re: the custom barcodes on products, the late Rick Tharp, a graphic designer here in the U.S., was also known for that. It caused a bit of a stir at the time. I want to say that he did it first, during the late eighties, but in the absence of solid research, I shouldn't. Who knows ... perhaps he got the idea from the Japanese.
Hmph. Maybe I shouldn't write rambling comments on others' blogs when I've just woken up.
Back in the early days of bar codes on periodicals, Mad Magazine used to do some quite imaginative things to the bar codes on the front cover. Look at the CollectMad web site collection of covers, starting around the last half of 1979.
Check out the album 'Seed to Sun' by Boom Bip. It is on the Warp/Lex label and has a very beautifully illustrated and combined inner and outer sleeve which when inserted correctly reveals the bar-code through a cutout window.
Two of my favourite things! Barcodes and Japanese stuff.
Amazing blog :)
I remember seeing one of these on a bottle of Axe in Osaka. I bought one to bring back, but I think it was confiscated by the TSA :)
The EE/CS building at the University of Minnesota: Twin Cities has a barcode on the sidewalk containing the date the building was erected.
Eye-opening post, really like the examples you put together, especially the clock.
Barcodes carry a lot of information, but one neat thing about them is the permutations of the word:
abc redo
coed bar
rode cab
bra code
drab ceo
bad core
race bod
bod care
brocade
:)
Cans of Tecate beer have an eagle-shaped UPC code.
i love the one that says "free range human" in the flower pedals
http://blog.yam.com/kiroro9930/article/14450063
GOOD~~
Wow, those are some interesting designs.
Congrats on being featured on BoingBoing!
Cool barcode from Slovenia:
http://shrani.si/?2j/Uo/3nW8zF6t/barcodefructal.jpg
LA based artist Guillermo Bert has a great series of Bar Code pieces.
http://www.gbert.com/barcod5.htm
My favourite is the barcode building!!
The japanese barcodes were awarded the highest distinction the most coveted Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival gives out to the most breakthrough, groundbreaking, media changing idea.
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