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Preservation for the next generation: QR codes resurrect a landmark

March 31, 2011 in QR Codes with 2 Comments

What would you have seen before they paved paradise and put up a parking lot?  A Carnegie Melon student has taken the next wave of mobile technology to the task of reminding Pittsburgh, PA of its history.

A parking garage now occupies the location of the Syria Mosque, a historic music hall that served Pittsburgh from 1912 until its demolition in 1991.  Student Sam Lavery  restored its beauty by placing QR codes around the location.  Scanning the code reveals an image of the Hall from the vantage point of the code.  You can also see video and audio clips, concert posters, and ticket stubs testifying to the historical significance of the hall.

This is yet another novel application of mobile action code technology, whose full breadth of capabilities is energetically being explored. It plays on some of the most valuable strengths of the technology: versatility, portability, the accessibility to be deployed by a student project, coupled with power enough to involve an entire community. Viewing the world around us as it was in the past is a powerful experience for any member of a community, whether they are for the first time able to experience a world before their time, or are reminded of the neighborhood as they grew up in it. Action codes have the unique capability to provide these images not only on site, but in the exact spot they were originally taken from in a cheap, durable and portable way.

But, if you saw an action code on a pillar, would you know what to do or why to do it?  The QR codes appear with no instruction, and are discreetly posted without actively advertising themselves.  The obstacles the action code faces include first getting noticed, and then for the audience to know what to do to activate the tags. The demographic that will be reached by the project is also interesting, as the content is well suited to many age groups- but the method may limit the audience that has access to it.  In his introduction, Lavery suggests that the codes will likely be scanned primarily by the young professionals and students on foot in the area. This project like many applications of tags raises the questions whose answers are constantly shifting and remain to be determined: how accessible are tags are to the broad community, and how effective can they be in reaching varying interest groups?

View the home page for this project

-A.C.

[Images: http://pghlayers.wordpress.com/, PopCityMedia.com]

QR for a cause: Scan For Japan

March 31, 2011 in QR Codes with 1 Comment

In the weeks since the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami first began in Japan, there have been countless efforts to raise funds and supplies for the aid effort. While many of these approaches have featured special items whose proceeds benefit charities working in Japan, the Winnipeg radio station Hot103 has taken this tack to the next degree.

The product they designed for the cause is a t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase, “Pray for Japan” in English and Japanese, which also features a QR code in the center of the image. Upon scanning, the user is delivered to a mobile site for the Red Cross, which enables any person scanning the shirt to make a donation of any amount on the spot. Beyond the initial donation of the proceeds from the $20 price tag of the t shirt, this product enables its purchaser to make a limitless contribution to the efforts of the Red Cross by not only encouraging anyone they encounter to also get involved, but enabling them to act.

This use not only harnesses the desire to make a contribution by purchasing a single item as is often seen after a disaster of this type, but by adding the tag takes this impetus to a level of contribution previously unattainable. The instant action made possible by the tag as well as the advertisement generated by the person wearing the shirt- a walking spokesperson- make this a particularly potent cocktail of charitable promise.

Shirts are available for purchase online or by calling 204-780-9467.

-A.C.
[Image: http://tactica.ca/design-for-japan-aceburpeeshow%E2%80%99s-red-cross-qr-code-t-shirt-on-sale-now/]

Tagging for Towing

March 25, 2011 in Advertising, QR Codes with 0 Comments


SxSW has generated lots of discussion as the place to be to discover or promote new technology, but this image from the festival shows the tongue in cheek use of technology making appearances too. Put up by Austin firm TKO Advertising to keep wayward hipsters out of their lot, the QR code makes the common plea in a slightly less austere tone than that commonly bedecking private parking lots.  Scan the code and it says, “Please Do Not Park Here.”

-A.C.

[Image: http://www.avclub.com/austin/articles/finally-a-good-use-for-qr-codes,53647/]

Guerrilla tags: QR codes in the global street art scene

March 15, 2011 in Art, Design, QR Codes with 3 Comments

Street art, popularized recently by the Academy Award nominated documentary Exit through the Gift Shop, is a culture that has been flourishing underground for years. It is characterized by images of an often socially critical nature, conveyed in the format of clandestine painting, pasting, stenciling surfaces in public places.   Now 2D Barcodes have added a new layer to street art.

The Madrid street art collective, La Pluma Eléctri*k (the electric pen), declares the message behind their work is the same as that revealed by a scan of the QR code they tessellate in their images: “I don’t understand anything.”

Their choice to employ the QR code attempts to recreate the initial confusion one encounters with the codes—however they choose to leave that confusion unresolved—only translated. Further, their choice aims to take something commercial and appropriate it for artistic purposes. They began using it in 2008, and have created a body of work utilizing it which can be viewed (captioned in Spanish) at http://laplumaelectrik.wordpress.com/qr/.

In some works the chains of codes form solitary swirling patterns, while in others they mingle with other images or are themselves transformed into another object. The example above shows one instance, in which pasted QR trees entwine with both painted silhouette trees as well as the actual trees in growing in front of the wall.

In addition to the work of the Madrid group, QR has entered into the iconography of notable street artist Space Invader.  His name derives from his work, as his career began with affixing tile mosaics of the iconic pixelated images from the game Space Invader on the exteriors of buildings around the world. His work now includes applying the same method to QR codes, revealing such announcements as “This is an invasion,” and “Invader 2008” upon scanning.

[Photos: http://popupcity.net/2010/12/art-has-a-hidden-message/

http://laplumaelectrik.wordpress.com/qr/]

New Cubism: Picasso gets broken down

March 8, 2011 in Advertising, Design, QR Codes with 0 Comments


Long after taking his place as the face of the cubist movement, Picasso is getting the cubic treatment in a way he would himself never recognize – as an array of scanable QR codes.

In honor of their exhibit, Picasso: Masterworks from the Musee Nationale Picasso, Paris, the Virginia Museum of Fine Art has launched a campaign that takes full advantage of the unique abilities of mobile tagging. The face of the campaign is a poster of Picasso’s portrait, rendered entirely in a mosaic of layered QR codes. When scanned, these codes all connect back to a mobile site which features a gallery of works displayed in the show, and a portal to purchase tickets.

The mobile experience doesn’t end here however, as several vacant storefronts as well as over 30 Starbucks in the Richmond area will also bear QR Codes. However upon scanning these codes link the user to an augmented reality application, which will allow the user to view a virtual gallery in the space.

While their use of the technology is in itself novel, it is their approach to deploying the tags that I find most exciting. Like the Gillette ad discussed in an earlier entry, this is an example of an image that employs what is in fact a utilitarian object not simply as a tool or obligatory inclusion, but rather adopts it as a design element. In this case, the practice is taken to the extreme, as the image is in fact built entirely out of codes.

This image was deployed in a variety of formats, mostly in small posters. However its most spectacular manifestation is perhaps the massive mural put up on a building in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. The mammoth image displayed so prominently is a significant vote of confidence in the power of QR codes, as no campaign of this scale would take chances with an unproven technology. Further, that the image is predominantly defined by QR codes—rather than simply including them—suggests that they are not simply being employed for their capabilities but also for their appeal. By featuring the codes, the campaign attempts to inherit some of the mystique attached to the intriguing new media, catching the eye of the now QR attuned crowd.

-A.C

[Photo: content.the-lefthander.com]

Tagging interactivity in the museum

March 8, 2011 in Art, Microsoft Tag, QR Codes with 0 Comments

Microsoft Tags make their way to museum walls in the pursuit of an interactive visitor experience

Having a little trouble recalling the difference between Picasso and Pissaro? The next time you’re wandering through an art museum and find your facts are a little rusty, or you are wondering about a piece of work you see, the answers might be just a scan away.

The cell phone has found itself on the naughty list at many cultural institutions since it crept into the pockets of some 300 million Americans. However, as the transition to powerful smartphones transforms the primary uses of mobile devices, the policy makers at some art museums and libraries are starting to reconsider their position.

While cellphones were once limited to bringing noise and distraction into the sanctum of the museum, the functions carried out by today’s device are loaded with potential and rich information. Among the capabilities that can be harnessed for enhancing the educational value of a museum, of particular potential is the ability to unlock action tags.

The most prominent example of museums using scan technology is the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and their exhibition entitled Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musee National  Picasso, Paris. Advertisements for the exhibition feature a portrait of Picasso assembled entirely out of QR codes, which when scanned link to a database of the work featured in the exhibition. Further, codes placed in various Starbucks and vacant storefronts in New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond, Va linked the viewer to an augmented reality application that allowed them to experience a virtual art show in the spaces.

Within the context of an existing gallery the practice of tagging has great potential as well. While being able to search the web for material regarding a work of art on a web browser is one way in which to use a phone, the ease and accuracy of this search can be vastly improved by placing tags on gallery cards near objects.  The tag allows for the museum to supply accurate and relevant material–far more in depth and specialized than could ever be presented in the limited context of a gallery card or plaque. Further, should the viewer then have questions about what they read or desire to delve deeper, they have the ability to interact with the content they are viewing and search beyond their original scan. Further, the information supplied can be specialized to particular audiences by offering the user to choose their age group or interest, allowing each visitor to experience the collection in a way tailored to them.

The goal of accessibility and interactivity has long been a goal of museum educators. Through the implementation of tags, both of these goals can be achieved.

Visual coding: art that talks back

March 8, 2011 in Art, Design, Microsoft Tag, QR Codes with 0 Comments

Artist Carol Padberg reinterpreted a Victorian medium into a scannable Microsoft TagSometimes abstract works of art seem difficult to decode as it is, but a closer look at the image above reveals that its meaning was meant for another viewer altogether. A new exhibit, “Interactive Crazy Quilts” at the New the New Britain (CT) Museum of American Art though April 25th, stands at the intersection of quilting and wireless smartphones.

Quilting is one of the world’s oldest art forms. Many decorative quilts have a message hidden (or not so hidden) in the pattern. But, this new quilt reveals itself with a Microsoft Tag reader. (Try it. It works.) When scanned, the Tag links the viewer to a page with information about the subject.

While there has been discussion about the use of tags as an educational tool with works of art in museums and galleries, appearing as a work of art in themselves is a novel concept. The exhibition featuring artist Carol Padberg shows that tags have entered the visual vernacular thoroughly enough to emerge in artworks themselves.
While the tag links to a page that perhaps lacks the vitality of those linked to ad campaigns, its use is in itself a remarkable statement on the part of the artist, whose work otherwise addresses and plays with text, consumption and advertisement. The introduction of the phone to the museum environment–where it is traditionally maligned–is also currently a subject of discussion if not debate. While cell phones have previously viewed primarily as an agent of distraction, the educational opportunities and interactivity offered by the new generation of smart phones is a promising and intriguing prospect for museum educators, and the place of the Tag in this movement has endless potential.

Artist Aram Bartholl envisions the modern self image through a QR CodeThis is not the only instance I have come across of action tags appearing in art. In artist Aram Bartholl’s series entitled “Google Portraits,” Bartholl uses a technological language to beg the question of portraying identity and image in the 21st century.
The work consists of 4 digitally generated qr codes, the twist is the execution: Bartholl translated them onto paper by hand, in pen, pencil and wooden stamp. When scanned, the codes link the viewer to the Google results for a search of the artist’s name in four languages.

Not only is this work interesting as a statement about the pervasiveness of QR codes, but also about their perception. The contrast of the malleable roughness and irregularity of the pen, pencil, and wood stamp techniques with the stark, rigid and inorganic image they portray alerts the eye to the elements at odds in this image and in the culture Bartholl is examining. He highlights the conflict of human image and identity and that generated for us by computers and online profiles and search data: Face in opposition with Facebook.

-A.C.

[Photos: Carol Padberg, "Love the Eats."  NBMAA.wordpress.com;

Aram Bartholl, "Google Portrait." http://datenform.de/blog/tag/google-portrait/]

The Face of Mobile Tagging: Gillette gives QR codes a makeover

March 7, 2011 in Advertising, Design, QR Codes with 2 Comments

QR codes in Gillette Young Guns Ad

Perhaps I’m not alone when I say that a sports magazine wouldn’t be the first place I’d look to find innovation in graphic design, that’s exactly what lines the front cover of The January 10 issue of ESPN Magazine. A fold out advertisement stretching for four pages of print area and bearing six QR codes proclaims the Gillette Young Guns Class of 2011, and its use of the media is unique, provocative, and definitely calls into question the presumption that QR is an eyesore best pushed to the corner.

The image itself is that of six featured athletes, whose heads have been replaced by QR codes. However beyond that, their bodies are reduced to highly pixelated images, evocative of old grainy photocopies and early computer graphics. Upon closer examination, the line between code and image is further blurred by the dispersion throughout of the larger concentric squares that mark the corners of a QR code. This play on imagery is certainly successful in creating a visually striking advertisement– it effectively captures and holds the attention of the viewer. But beyond its function as a traditional advertisement it takes the question of how properly and effectively to incorporate codes and grabs the bull by the horns. Contrarily many advertisers seem to feel uncomfortable incorporating something so outside of their control–as well as comfort zone–and place tags in the bottom of an ad, as an addendum or footnote simply included to fulfill a purpose. However this example captures the novel abilities of tags, and it features them. The purpose of the ad is to direct the viewer to look at the codes, not to hope they don’t see it until they’re done with the real message.

Until the place of the action tag is negotiated in the American market, and it settles into the vernacular of marketing teams and advertisers, the awkward corner will undoubtedly be their territory and innovations such as this one will be the exception. However seeing uses like this is certainly encouraging that more inspiration is coming our way.

-A.C.

I’m A Professional Magazine Reader

February 8, 2011 in About with 0 Comments

By some stroke of luck, I have found myself in the position of professionally reading magazines. Which, if you’ve met me, you would know is just about the perfect match possible for me.

I am Ann Carver, a Marketing Associate at Nellymoser, Inc. in Arlington, Massachusetts.  I am working with Roger Matus, Executive Vice President here at Nellymoser.   Our company specializes in building complete mobile experiences that are triggered by an action code printed in a magazine or printed in another location.  (Action code is our name for QR codes, 2d barcodes, Microsoft Tags, what you will.) We link the printed page to the mobile, multimedia world.

My official task is to search the top 100 magazines by circulation in the US market, page by page, for the appearance of action codes .  I scan them and record what I find.  I then create trend analysis reports.

While this might either sound like a dream job or an utter nightmare depending, it has without a doubt provided me with a vast database of knowledge probably unlike any other.  I am told that I may be the only person in the entire world who is reading every major magazine looking for action codes.  I think that gives me a unique perspective.

My brain is inundated with data both random (did you know that dogs are allergic to grapes?) and specific (do you know how many action codes were printed in mainstream magazine media last month?).

Having looked at the material behind every single code and the advertisements that contain them, there are both trends and conventions as well as outliers that I have witnessed, for better and for worse. It’s the observations I’ve made in the sake of this mission that I make the subject of this blog.  Roger may also add some of his observations along the way.

Hopefully you’ll find something new, novel, or even awful, to guide you on your action tagging way.
-A.C.

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