Brand a QR-Code in 5 minutes

I had wondered how companies like DesignQR and TimesCode and online tools like MojiQ Maker generate working codes with icons or text obscuring part of the code. I suspected that they rely on error-correction to compensate for the modules removed or obscured by the design. Most of the examples I see are type 6 or higher codes even though they contain relatively little information, which would be consistent with using the higher error-correction settings. So naturally I gave it a try.

So you can take a shortcut to adding a little identity to a QR-code.

1. Make code with 25% or 30% error-correction using your tool of choice
2. Grab a logo image
3. Pull your code and logo into your drawing program
4. Adjust until you like the result and it scans with your phone
5. Save
6. Brag about it on your nerdy blog
   

I am sure that DesignQR's approach is more scientific than this but it works all the same. Both examples work well on my E65 - almost an instant scan with i-nigma and Kaywa (the only reader's I tested this with so far). I generally like the approach of working the design into the code more, but this is faster and easier and why not combine the approaches?

CR-code

"CR" for "Colbert Response". I thought this would be a good opportunity to create an animated code and show some appreciation for Colbert Nation and The Colbert Report. I admit I got the idea by noticing how Tomi Ahonen and Stephen Colbert look a bit alike.

Getting Creative with 1D Barcode

I have been getting into integrating brands and logos into QR and Datamatrix barcodes and was looking for similar work by others when I came across Barcode Revolution and Pfadfinderei. Both companies do very creative work with standard 1D UPC-type barcodes. Here are a couple examples of each company's work, but be sure to go check out their sites to see some more great examples.

Barcode Revolution



Pfadfinderei

DIY LogoQ

About a month ago I wrote a little about Logo-Q and DesignQR and how they allow you to add images and logos within or integrated with QR-codes. It's not too difficult to see how they did it. Each QR-code can be broken down into pixel-like elements. If you just try to maintain the contrast between dark and light in the code you can make the codes much more interesting. When I get back to Holland I want to try this with some other barcode formats. These examples are a little crude, but not bad for 45 minutes of experimenting with Gimp. Especially considering that Logo-Q charges around 200,000 yen and up for one code. With a little refinement I could probably automate this:

• Choose background color
• Choose foreground color
• Choose and place image
• Choose dot pattern shape

Maybe I'll hack around with the Ruby qrencoder module or the qr-code Firefox addon.