Product package art has covered almost every single inch of the packets, in an attempt to get consumers to buy their product. The last area of the packet that was untouched was the Bar Code, for obvious reasons, retailers need that code to scan and track their products. However, due to a high demand of ‘uniqueness’ even that is getting revamped.
Everything from Beer, to Granola bars, and Small companies, to Giant Corporations like Nestle SA, are using intricate designs from famous buildings, to grains of wheat. The Companies are hoping that the new barcodes will connect better with customers.
Sixpoint Brewery planned to launch a line of specially designed canned beer earlier this year. They wanted to change the way that people look at Beer Cans, during this new design, the company quickly realized that regardless of how much art and design they added to the can, “you need this big, ugly, barcode so people can scan them” Shane Welch president of Mad Scientist Brewing Partners LLC, said “I though, why cant’ we do our own custom barcode?” and so they did. Last month, the silver cans began to bear a barcode with the statue of liberty and skyscrapers.
This type of Art-Code has been springing up throughout the nation in a couple of different places. Companies specialize in making vanity barcodes have cropped up across the US in the recent years. Some codes aim to be Elegant, while others have Quirky designs. Design Barcodes Inc. A Toky based firm, designed a barcode with lines that look like water flowing over a waterfall or the rails of a train track. Another artist, designed a barcode that looks as if the Code is mixing up the numbers below it.
However, even though this new Art is taking the nation by storm, some companies are hesitant to tinker with the code, Steve Rosen, co-founder of Pacarc LLC, said “if a barcode doesn’t scan, it could really put the retailer in a pinch” a retailer might have to reprint all the packages. Since barcodes are used to track products, if a retailer can’t read the code, they cant successfully track the product properly, and that’s a problem that many companies are not willing to risk.
Bear Naked granola added a blade of wheat grass growing out of its barcodes during a package redesign in 2007. Bear Naked is currently owned by Kellogg Co. and that seems to be working fine them.But critics continue to say, “It’s not functional” and in reality, it’s not intended to be. I really don’t look at the back of the package for the bar code when I’m buying a product. But for companies that sell small items, like Coca Cola, or Granola Bars, that have the bar code in the front of the package, this is a smart move since the code takes up a good chunk of advertisement space.
So, would you be more inclined to buy a product thanks to a barcode?
Via: Yahoo News
