By Cynthia Parkhill ?
There were QR codes taped to the front door and at checkout stands at a grocery store near where I live, only no one I asked about their presence seemed to know what they were for.
QR codes are little mosaic-looking squares printed on paper. When a person points a smart phone at them that is equipped with a reader, it launches the smart phone”s web browser to a designated location on the Internet. Only without any sort of context to explain their presence, QR codes might as well just be little decorative squares.
A notice taped to the grocery store door concerned a correction to an advertisement but the notice was printed on a separate sheet of differently-colored paper. There was no context to explain the square”s presence on the door or at checkout stands.
I have been aware of QR codes for only a brief while but I find them inherently intriguing. They imbue a static print medium with dynamic interactivity, plus they”re neat to look at, too.
I rely on web-based applications that generate them free of charge. QR Droid”s online generator, located at http://qrdroid.com/generate, lets me select what color I want the QR code printed in.
I”ve incorporated a QR code in the weekly A&E calendar that runs in Thursday”s Record-Bee. The QR code directs smart phone browsers to the A&E section”s online counterpart, www.record-bee.com/entertainment.
(I include the text of the URL so people who don”t have reader-equipped smart phones can access the website too.)
The responses to my question about QR codes at the store indicated that many people yet are unfamiliar with them. This concerns me because I am working on an art project that involves QR codes.
A field tester has reported that my QR codes are a go but beyond making sure that they”ll direct a browser to the location I”ve specified, I have to think about viewer familiarity and explanatory context.
I don”t want my QR codes just to be pretty little mosaic squares!
During a week”s vacation from work that included a stay in Ashland, Ore., I observed QR code promotion that communicated function and context. At the Ashland Co-op, a QR code was printed on a notice that informed passersby that they could download the sales flyer for the week onto their smart phone.
The information source tied to the QR code”s pattern was identified in the flyer and there was no ambiguity about what piece of technology the QR code was designed to interact with.
While designing the art-project tags upon which my QR codes appear, I thought about supplying them with context: accompanying them with explanatory text and including a URL. I gave similar thought to the QR code”s appearance with the weekly A&E calendar.
I hope designers of QR codes in print layouts give thought to context as well. The courtesy of identifying the website it is tied to goes a long way with me, as does recognizing that not everyone is familiar with the technology they represent.
Cynthia Parkhill is the focus pages editor for the Record-Bee. She can be contacted at rbinfocus@gmail.com or 263-5636 ext. 39. Follow on Twitter: @CynthiaParkhill.
