A new trend is slowly gathering steam across the United States and Canada: the introduction of what some in the ad-world are beginning to call "designer bar codes". The trend goes hand-in-hand with the realization on the part of manufacturers that in order to improve upon the eye-catching flash of their products and packaging, bar codes would be a good place to start improving upon.
Bar codes have always been the low rung on the totem pole when it comes to canning and packaging. Their relatively complex functionality is belied by their drab, almost uniform appearance. If one, for argument’s sake, were to come to a splashy, ad-savvy costume party dressed as a bar code, one would more than likely keep to one’s corner and leave by oneself.
But in very recent years and months, there has been a movement to reform the lowly bar code so that not only does it comply with laser price scanning, but does so in high style. Examples abound all across the board. A brewing company in Brooklyn, New York recently came out with a bar code that incorporates the famous New York City skyline – Statue of Liberty and all – into its shape. The bars on the bar code suddenly are reformulated as skyscrapers, and thereby art – some might say – has been created; or at the very least attention has taken sharp notice.
The revolution continues online in various forms and formats. For example, there are websites nowadays where one can customize the design of one’s own bar code as one pleases. Like it or not, bar codes are no longer the patchy eyesores of yesteryear. The DIY-ish culture of avant-guard advertising is busily subsuming the last dregs of corporate dullness. We at Metalcraft have certainly taken notice, and are looking forward to being hands-on participants in the creative revolution that’s gradually sweeping every package, bottle, and can.
