November 16, 2009
They Might Be Barcodes
More fun with barcodes: CD package design by Heavy Meta (Barbara Glauber) for They Might Be Giants’ 2005 compilation album, “A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants.”
The barcode turns into an infographic on the back and wraps around to the front to become an abstract cover design. A good reminder
that not only can UPCs be extended into representational illustrations—(see: here or here, etc.)—they can also be extended into abstract, decorative patterns. (An idea, which was also implied by these “Delishop” labels.)
And, yes, the UPC is still scannable, although, yes, it is possible
that this design might cause some momentary confusion at the
checkout counter.
Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design



























