Nov 11 2009Japan Firm Makes Custom Barcode Art
D-Barcode is a Japanese firm that will design your barcode to look cooler than the standard bunch of lines. These are some examples of their work. But it doesn't come cheap! And, despite what you may have read above the urinal, neither do I.
It can be pretty pricey, though: $1,500 for a design, and $200 a year for licensing fees. If you want a code all your own, that can even cost as much as $4,000.
Now I know what you're thinking, "pfft, I could do that". But that's where you're wrong, because you and I both know you couldn't. Remember kindergarten? Remember how you couldn't keep the color inside the lines? Your parents thought you were retarded. Your dad still does.
Related Stories
Dead Celebrities Made Out Of Fonts (10/06/2008)
What If: Gaming Consoles Were Buildings? (05/21/2010)
I'd Eat Off It: A Floor That Turns Into Furniture (04/01/2010)
Reader Comments
1. gizmoduck - November 11, 2009 1:07 PM
Hey, I don't wanna sound like a queer or nothin', but I think unicorns are kick ass
2. naas - November 11, 2009 1:07 PM
why didn't they do that years ago?
3. Me - November 11, 2009 1:12 PM
I want one! i cant even use them but i want to buy them in the shape of a bacon strip.... that wont work will it :?
4. om3ga - November 11, 2009 1:15 PM
barcodes = capitalism. Pigs in top hats. unicorn horns sawed off to make rare dildos for the corporate fat cats and pigs. i've seen the future
5. GoSS Jerk, formerly sterilized - November 11, 2009 1:27 PM
does someone actually pay a japanese fir to do this?????
6. Jaded Icon - November 11, 2009 1:33 PM
@ 1
Random much?
@ 4
You might want to lay off the hot sauce before bed. Your discription sounds like The Animal Farm.
7. Closet Nerd - November 11, 2009 1:33 PM
OMG! Check out this barcode! It looks like.... it looks like a RECTANGLE!!!!!
http://blogs.apics.org/ypst/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/code128bar1.jpg
8. STOMPY - November 11, 2009 1:40 PM
Expensive barcodes
floating on a sea of shiit
wait, that makes no sense...
9. Freedom - November 11, 2009 1:55 PM
@8..it does to me...Yes they are too expensive for a barcode and they are floating on a sea of bullshiit. Who in their right mind would pay that price? I'm sure my 10 year old could whip up something like that if you give her a barcode!
10. catch22 - November 11, 2009 1:56 PM
i can totally do that... i have a barcode generator and a paint program
hell, ill even do it at 1% of the cost
anyone want a barcode picture for $15?
11. JFreezy - November 11, 2009 1:57 PM
@1,
I'm with you bro! I once saw a unicorn and it smiled at me. From that day on, I was able shit gold nuggets and my body odor gives women orgasms. I might have downed a gallon of rum and eaten bad chinese before that, but it's still a true story.
12. GoSS Jerk, formerly sterilized - November 11, 2009 1:58 PM
@5 i guess you ment "firm" you idjot
13. dubba - November 11, 2009 2:00 PM
Why dont you just cut out a shape from the barcode (making sure all lines are inside it) and then just scan it?
there you go people... I just saved you $4k
you can thank me with diamonds and japanese schoolgirl hookers
14. n - November 11, 2009 2:44 PM
$4000 isn't really that much for a piece of license free design. Cheap if you're used to shutterstock maybe ...
15. ObamaPacman - November 11, 2009 2:45 PM
@5, all those images seem to be barcodes for existing products.
16. shellshell - November 11, 2009 3:05 PM
The images are pretty cool, maybe as pieces of artwork, but to use them in that way and charging so much...manufacture/capitalism/consumerism all extreme
17. ciao - November 11, 2009 6:26 PM
that's cute, I dig the train one :D
18. Scott Blake - November 23, 2009 4:54 PM
I've been distorting barcodes for fun since 2001. Check out my series of barcode shapes that are compatible with scanning technology.
http://www.barcodeart.com/distorted_barcodes.html