This is surely one of those, why-didn’t-I-think-of-that moments, when you realize how much money these very smart folks will be making who figured out how to make bar codes look really cool—the photos at the jump are great—reported by Fast Company.
An excerpt.
“Barcodes grace almost every product for sale. Given how much package real estate they command, why shouldn't they look cool?
“Since 2005, D-Barcode has been creating custom barcodes for a mostly Japanese clientele. They've even begun selling their wares to anyone who wants to license them, starting at $1,500 for the design, and $200 a year for licensing. A custom or exclusive use code will run upwards of $4,000--but given that companies spend millions on designing a single package, why don't we see more detailed thinking like this? Middle managers spend weeks arguing about kerning--it'd be better if they spent more time rethinking every inch of such highly prized real estate.”
