Creative Mobile Barcodes (QR Codes and Microsoft Tag)

Let’s have a little fun to break up the mobile barcode series. One of the wonderful things about QR codes is that they have error correction. The codes can have up to 30% of the black and white boxes covered or missing and the information can still be decoded. So you can add your company logo or imagery and the code will still work.

The size and complexity of the code is related to how much data it needs. A QR code with a short link will be significantly smaller than a code with a huge amount of text. So it’s a good idea to use something like bit.ly or goo.gl to shorten your URL to decrease the amount of info your code needs. This will allow you to embed your logo or partially obstruct it to blend into an ad.

To demonstrate how the difference in the amount of information look at the following:

http://www.themobilists.com/2011/06/20/retail-mobile-barcode-best-practices/

http://bit.ly/lmPzG5

Below are some examples of creative and innovative QR codes.

This one for JetBlue is great. Each square of the enlarged code includes pictures of people on vacation. Unfortunately, they didn’t test everywhere it was going to go because in the subway where it was located, there was no cell service to reach the Internet.

In a Pepsi Max ad.

Here’s a few more to look at before getting into modified Microsoft Tags.

Daqri

Adidas

BBC

True Blood

Ghostbusters

Yellow

Microsoft Tag is very error resistant. You are not locked into triangles. The scan of the code only requires dots of color in key areas as shown below.

Now, here are a few examples of creative tags.

The Smart Stamp

Have you seen some creative, custom designed mobile barcodes?