QR Barcodes or 3D barcodes are something that has interested me for a while now.  These codes are used by optical scanners much like any barcode on products at the supermarket.  The main difference is that instead of just holding letters and numbers, these codes can hold a lot of data.  Depending on the version of the code they can hold up to 1,852 characters.  A normal barcode would have to be like 40 feet long to hold that much data.

Here is what they look like:

I am not sure why these codes fascinate me so much but I think it is their potential uses.  They have been used in manufacturing and shipping for years.  They can be read by computers to move things around or sort items.  With the increase of smart phone use, their usefulness has increased greatly.  QR codes can hold email addresses or websites and many of the scanning apps available for smart phones easily recognize them.

With some of the vinyl graphics work I do, I had always wanted to try cutting out of vinyl to put on a truck or shop window.  After creating a mobile website for one of my customers a few weeks ago the opportunity to use a QR code reached fruition.  The company, Hoppe Tree Service, just bought a new truck that happens to need graphics.  I pitched a QR code on the truck and we decided to try it out.

I cut this one out in a 12″ X 12″ after making one mistake and cutting out the first one in mirrored format.  I still had that selected by accident from the last thing I cut, a T-Shirt for my Halloween Costume.  It was surprisingly easy to cut and weed.  Each pixel on the code is about .475 inches square.  Meaning they are very easy to work with. The photo is a camera phone photo, I will replace that when I get a better shot.

The interesting thing with this QR code is that it directs users to the mobile version of their website.  Hopefully, technical customers will be able to scan the truck with their phones and email, or call for tree work.  We will have to see how it all works out in the end but it is an interesting concept that no one is doing around here yet.

Generate your own codes here: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/