Undoubtedly by now you will have seen those funny square black and white bitmap images that are springing up everywhere, and I mean everywhere. They are now on TV adverts, films, packaging, posters, signage, websites and even business cards, they are called QR codes.

A QR code is the abbreviated term for ‘Quick Response’ Code. The technology was created in Japan by Denso-Wave in 1994 to be a two dimensional barcode that can be read very quickly. It’s basically some black ‘squares’ arranged in a square matrix to form a pattern. The big squares in the corners are for alignment and there should always be a white ‘quiet zone’ border all around the edge. There is some error correction built in and they can be used in either printed or onscreen format.

So what’s so good about QR Codes?

Well because they are two dimensional they can hold a lot more information than a standard bar code. That means that you can use them for different applications such as website address, email or telephone details or even complete addresses in vCard format.

How can they benefit me?

Business Stationery

Here is a typical example. Hands up how many of you who can spell ‘conscious’ without stopping to think about it? Whenever I give out my email address I either have to write it down for someone, or I have to spell it out to them. Imagine therefore if all I needed to do was flash them a business card with a QR code of my email address and they just read it straight into their smartphone? Well now I can, and my business cards will soon be sporting a QR or two carrying all my contact details.

Have you ever had a corporate brochure produced? If you have, have you tried to forget about how expensive it was? Corporate brochures can cost an arm and a leg and because of that they have gone out of fashion a little. But I still believe there is a place for them, however not as the traditional printed glossy 4 page. Why not have a brochure produced in the new ePub format or just as a simple PDF which can be downloaded from your own website? OK it still needs to be designed and composed but if you are dealing with the distribution of a electronic document you can eradicate the printing costs, and the mailing costs and the storage issues… oh and it can be updated very easily at minimal cost. Now imagine you have done that what’s the best way to get people to download it and read it? You could send them an email containing a QR with a direct link to the download, or you could canvas new clients by sending them a postcard designed around the QR code link. When you start to think about the possibilities it’s actually very exciting.

GPS SatNav Co-ordinates

Imagine again if someone was coming to a meeting at your office and needed directions, just tell them to go to the QR code on your website contact page and scan in the coordinates of your office. A smartphone or iPad with a SatNav built in will then easily guide the person direct to you. A QR code can also hold a good deal of written data too, so if they didn’t have a SatNav built into their phone they could scan a code that would give them written directions. The mix of technology is so diverse these days you could even have a QR code generated with a link to a Google map which would give them directions from where they are currently to where they need to go!

Failing all that of course your client could still scan your vCard QR code and have all your contact details to hand just in case they did get lost en-route.

SMS Messages

Imagine another scenario, you are running a competition where people enter via Text message, you could have all the answers generated as QR codes and all the person entering the competition had to do was scan the answer they wanted and click send. A QR code can be made to automatically generate an SMS message pre-configured with a phone number and message.

The possibilities are actually endless and when you apply them to your everyday work life you can quickly see how useful they are. More and more people are using smartphones so the uptake of QR Codes could potentially rocket. Wouldn’t it be great if you were actually on the leading edge rather than trailing behind? Well you can because Design Conscious can now create the codes for you. For just £10 you get a set of 3 different sized QR codes, ranging from small to large, which will be just right for print or onscreen use.

If you have an iPhone or smartphone then download a QR code reader and scan the image below to test out how QR Codes work – you’ll be amazed.

Do you think you can use these in your marketing?

Why not put your ideas and theory to the test, have a set of QR codes generated by Design Conscious and then start to sprinkle them into your marketing efforts.

For just £10 for a set of 3 you can’t really go wrong.

Call 01952 414 003 or email ian@designconscious.com for more information

Do you want to get QR codes for your own clients?

We would be happy to talk to you regarding bulk ordering so why don’t you call on 01952 414 003 and discuss your requirements.

QR Code Reading Software

iPhone / iPad apps*:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id412828868?mt=8  FREE
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/qr-code-reader-hd/id423513694?mt=8  £0.59
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/scan/id411206394?mt=8  FREE

Andriod apps*:

https://market.android.com/details?id=la.droid.qr

https://market.android.com/details?id=tw.com.quickmark

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.threegvision.products.inigma.Android

*Please Note:
Design Conscious do not endorse any of the software apps indicated in the list above. If you install any of these apps you do so at your own risk. Design Conscious will not be liable for damage to your equipment because of use of this software.