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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