I noticed the other day that on the back of my Encyclopedia Wine bottle (can you guess my ulterior motives for buying that exact brand? Hmm?) even the bar code was made into that distinctive Erlenmeyer Flask/decanter shape. Alas, in my zeal to denude the bottle of stickers, I tore off the label before I got a picture of it. When I find my camera and buy another bottle of wine, I'll be sure to document it carefully.
In the meantime, I have been looking at some fairly cool barcode designs. Barcodes seem to be taken in two philosophical directions; on the one hand, some designers have taken the time to prettify this necessary bit of packaging, thus unifying it with the overall design of the product and taking advantage of the space to express the product's uniqueness. On the other hand, barcodes are seen as a symbol of uniformity and consumerism, and are appropriated as such in art. It's really wonderful how much has been done with a bit of design that was conceived for purely functional reasons.
I think this is awesome. This tiny detail transforms the bar code, familiar yet common, by combining it with the shape of the Coke bottle, familiar yet distinctive. Here, it's adding even more branding to the cylindrical can, evoking that Coke bottle shape where it cannot be implemented physically.
Get it? Hefeweizen? Wheat beer? Wheat growing? Eh?
Also, I love how the negative space of the barcode becomes the positive space of the wheat stalks on the rest of the label. The design literally unifies the two spaces into one, bringing the barcode into the design of the rest of the package.
Apparently, the barcode is from whence the puma escaped (onto your feet). Or maybe, as this is presumably on the shoebox, you're in the cage, and you're looking through the bars at the puma inside the box. Either way, cool.
Committed to a world of better-designed barcodes is Design Barcode, Inc. (also at Barcode Revolution), which has a gallery of products and their corresponding barcode designs (including another iteration of that giraffe snack!).
As I mentioned before, barcodes seem to lend themselves to artistic interpretation. Their geometry, ubiquity, and association with anything branded, coded, sold, and packaged have come to symbolize a variety of different messages.
Bar code mannequin store display, uploaded by drspam.
On a less subtle level...
Speaking of graffiti...
Look familiar?
I love the idea of this purely functional bit of code serving a dual function of illustrating a product-related concept. Definitely adds a touch of charm to what has become a dehumanizing symbol to many.
Posted by: Randy Ludacer | April 24, 2009 at 03:23 PM
that's actually really funny that you did this post because my last project for my graphic design class we had to design a packaging line and our professor really encouraged us to design every element of the packaging, especially the bar code. This was the image she showed us which I loved:http://www.barcode.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/upc-art-1.png
Posted by: Amber | April 24, 2009 at 07:53 PM
A nice idea, but some of the designs demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding from the designers as to how barcodes work. Many of them will not scan. Remember you still have to operate in the real world guys !
Posted by: AB | April 29, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Note to AB:
Aside from the barcode-themed graffiti art, I think the only non-functional barcode I see here is the one with the "Puma" website.
My guess is that it's just an illustration and not the actual barcode--(since it has a website rather than a UPC number).
Although I would agree with you that it is probably not a good idea to put a fake (non-functional) barcode on a package. Not only would that frustrate and confuse checkout workers, it could cause Walmart or Target to decide against carrying the product in their stores.
Posted by: Randy Ludacer | April 30, 2009 at 06:46 PM