QR codes have always had the potential to transform print media. The great issue for publishers have been ways in which they can connect the web to existing print media. Rich content and interactive functionality are expected, yet so to is the static physical print edition. QR codes are probably the most economical and user friendly means of bridgeing this divide.

Over on the scholarly kitchen this idea is explored, highlighting an academic journal that has adopted QR codes.

Thanks to everyone who has been using Quikqr - it's been an interesting six months where we have seen explosive growth in the use of QR codes as they gain serious traction. Finally there is a sufficient critical mass of smart phones with scanners pre-installed or easily available through app stores for 2d bar codes to become the most efficient way of accessing the internet. There are lots of QR generators out there, but we still think that for ease of use, simplicity and no strings attached you can't find better than Quikqr.

We'll be keeping our eyes open for interesting uses of QR and if you have anything you think would be worth highlighting drop me a line on Twitter (@ajaxlogos), and I'll put it up on the blog.

A small win for barcodes as Victor Keegan from The Guardian newspaper in London thinks that barcodes could be the "next net revolution".

He also mentions Quikqr.com which is damn cool.

Victor goes on to talk about barcode art and other interesting uses and also touches on whether the big phone manufacturers will get their act together and finally give barcodes the support they need to go main stream in the UK.

Read the article for yourselves here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/22/barcodes-new-internet-revolution

It would be great to get some input from you guys out there. When do you think barcodes will arrive in mass in the UK?

Thanks

Ben Murison

The Creative Review highlight this amazing book produced purely out of QR codes. The concept is that it forms a living text, the actual writing itself mutating at will, the fixity of paper and ink no longer a fixity.

For me this is an excellent example of how QR codes can interact with old media, how they are making the web physical. Actively reading the book would probably not really work. But as a concept it's intriguing.

Also interesting to note that it's from Brazil. There seems to be a Spanish/Latin American twist to QR codes, something you wouldn't necessairily expect. In saying that I may have offended everyone in Spain and Brazil by lumping you together...and you don't even speak the same language. Sorry.

Interestingly HarperCollins US are putting QR codes on the back of books. This press release came via 2d-code. As someone involved with books in my other (non-barcode) life I like the initiative. Publishers are desperate to bring cool web stuff into books, but obviously an experiment like that of Editoras Online is not going to work. HC seem to have taken the time to choose the right titles and use QR in the right way: complementing the book, the age group, adding extra content and bringing the flexibility, fuidity and greater data scale of the web to print objects. Ultimately while Editoras will grab the headlines, HC is setting the precedent for use of barcodes in books.

Here is my one beef: in the press release it has the QR codes are "powered" by Australian QR generator and company qm codes. Am I the only one thinking this is slightly spurious? Powered in the sense that they created the QR codes? Not too hard in and of itself. Credit to them for getting in on the good partnership, but given that HC are creating the websites I am assuming qm codes role is actually in generating the codes. Not that hard.

Been sending out the press release to some of the tech blogs today, just hoping it gets some sort of reaction. Preferably good.

Traffic is beginning to build for the site which is good. The APIs all seem to be working. We recently added the functionality that allows people to save the codes as PNG images.

Heads up on some future developments: we did some epic filming in central London the other week for what can only be described as Quikqr: The Movie. I don't want to give away too much, but we got some brilliant footage of a giant QR code we made, a lot of bemused looks from people, some incredible interviews, including a memorable one with Darth Vader. We got sweared at in Leicester Sq, danced to heavy metal on the South Bank and found someone who had heard of QR codes! What are the odds. Watch (haha) this space for the video.

We were also taking static shots of QR codes in iconic locations. Unfortunately the absence of a quality SLR meant that quite a lot of these didn't come out. This is one that did though.

Any suggestions for what we can do with the image? It would be great to get it out there.

Now this is cool- a QR code wall. I came across QR Wall in a comment on the incomparable 2d-code, and think the concept is great.

Basically you can leave a message which is then encoded into a QR code. This then goes to form a "brick" in the wall. Its an interesting idea as it uses the data compression of a QR code, and indeed the visualization, to produce an arresting, crowd sourced and disparate narrative. Or picture.

Really then its some strange confluence of art and story, a folk take painted in black and white squares.

These kind of ideas are what are pushing the boundaries of QR codes. We all know their functionality and anyone can think of a thousand different applications. Actually creatively engaging with them is great to see.

Was it cheeky to encode www.quikqr.com as a message? Oh well.