QR Codes

Now let's talk a bit about augmented reality. Specifically, the most common form and easily accessible form of augmented reality. The QR Code:

So how does it work?

Well let's let pictures explain:

And all that jargon makes no sense to me whatsoever. However, the picture is real spiffy.

Originating from the Land of the Rising Sun, subsidiary of Toyota, Denso Wave in 1994. Its original purpose was to track vehicles during the manufacturing process. Today, the QR code is one of the most popular 2-dimensional bar codes around, as it allows a relatively large amount of content to be decoded in a small amount of time.

Now with the pervasiveness of mobile phone with more than enough processing power to decode information, the QR code has experienced a burst of popularity as it allows essential information (such as website URLs) to be projected into a viewing device. An almost seamless blend of technology and reality.

Now I presented during NCT about augmented reality, and it seems that activity based on QR codes was well received (Well, at least from my perspective.). So, want to create your own QR code?

Here you go:

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

And to round it all off, I will write the remainder of my blog post into the following QR code:

Minority Report: Yesterday's movie is today's technology!

Based on a short story by the late Philip K. Dick, Minority Report is a science-fiction thriller directed by Steven Spielberg which primarily deals with the theme of pre-determination vs. free will, privacy, pervasiveness of technology. Specifically, I'm here to talk about the technology.

Now one interesting point about Minority Report is the nature of the technology portrayed int he film. Particulary, the way they were conceptualized. In an effort to create a reality-based future rather than pure science-fiction, Steven Spielberg created a "Think Tank". A "Think Tank" can essentially be defined as a group of experts getting together to solve certain dilemmas. In this case, Mr. Spielberg got together 15 experts to "think" about the future, the future of technology in 2054.

Oddly enough, we are already seeing many of their proposed future technologies today! And the last time I checked, its only 2011.

Spatial reality manipulated by hand gestures?

Meet the Microsoft Kinect:

Essentially, the Kinect registers your entire body as the controller for the Xbox 360. Now all we need is proper spatial interface (holograms maybe?) to interact with as most video displays are still flat as a wall.

Mag-lev car?

Well, we already have Maglev trains:

Now we just to miniaturize the technology into a car.

Many more technological marvels are also in the works, such as electronic newspaper, interactive billboards and so on.

Minority Report is a fantastic movie, not only in the fact that it told many underlying themes but the fact that 15 experts got together and created a technological utopia and realized it into film. As time goes on, technology will get more and more pervasive, and as more of our own information and our own identity gets digitized we stand to gain much more in terms of communicating with one another but losing our own sense of privacy.

Good and bad logos!

Iconic logo that represents, literally, the name of the company.

Mind-blowing ARROW! Intentional design with fonts that blew minds!

Bad logo; unintentional imagery.

Bad logo, unintentional imagery.

Good ads and bad ads!

Creative use of the product's property.

Funny and incredibly eye catching "Billboard" ad. Visuals are striking and portrays the purpose of the ad well.

Doesn't communicate the purpose of the image at first glance.

Missed the type; "Bad credit".

Campus posters

Bad poster; no colour.

Good poster; follows theme of event and excellent use of fonts.

Bad poster; bad placement of fonts and odd choice for background.

Bad poster; odd photoshop job and top font and colour choice is odd.

Poster samples!

Poly Open House (Republic)

A T SHIRT?!

A logo, for a friend.

Sketch your Style!

BAM! EAT SOME GRID FOO!

http://www.straitstimes.com/
http://arstechnica.com/
http://gizmodo.com/

KERNING! TRACKING!

TRACKING!

KERNING!

10 Bad (or improvable) ads.

Though technically it isn't really an ad, it deserves a special mention for being so tiny in size that it seems that without it wouldn't make a difference. The easiest way to improve it (obviously) is to increase the size of the design.

The reason this is a bad ad is that the brand name doesn't tie itself to what the brand actually does, which makes it a rather purposeless ad. An improvement would be to throw in a tagline that best summarizes the brand's purpose. 

Heavy on text, low on design is what makes this ad a bad ad. Though some would argue that that is what the ad's purpose is for (Giving loads of info), I believe it can be improved through a better designed hierarchy of information and a bit more graphics.

Winner of "Not breaking any molds" goes to this ad, that stereotypically portrays it product. An improvement would be to go beyond the stereotypical ad design and a better ad positioning (Found this ad facing an alleyway).

A poor ad that got chopped in half is what this ad is. An improvement would be to have a flatter surface to display the ad.

Brand ad that doesn't lend itself too much to decorations. An improvement would be to have some form of link between this ad's placement and what it represents.

The reason that this is a bad ad is that in its design and hierarchy of information, it is forgettable (Too small a brand size, stereotypical design). An improvement would be to redesign the emphasis of the hierarchy of information and to have more advertising contrast.

What makes this a bad ad is that it has a very weak contrast. An improvement would be to darken the background to make the graphics pop-out, increasing its contrast.

Not necessarily a bad ad, but it can stand to have some improvements. One of which can be to increase the size of the brand logo, adding more information ( or tagline) to allow it to stand on its own.

Confusing design and weak hierarchy of information, in a single glance you wouldn't be able to tell what is what. An improvement would be to increase its focus on a select few products in order to reduce dissonance and to improve the hierarchy of information by emphasizing focus on information that would help the consumer obtain the said product.

10 Good Ads

Good contrast to the mounted background, good hierarchy of info (Large brand font etc)

Interesting concept to use the store as an ad medium, contrast of store helps to capture attention and create curiosity.

Excellent hierarchy of information, colour implementation (the black bar) is very well done and helps bring attention to the colour of the liquids.

Eye catching, and provides all relevant info (albeit not too efficiently) in a glance.

Good hierarchy of information, along with overall good choice of props for depicting the benefits.

 Brand ad that prominently depicts its logo and what the brand is.

Excellent hierarchy of information and contrast helps the ad stand out.

Important information and benefits all squeezed into a small tagline.

 Hierarchy of information places a healthy emphasis on brand, followed by product then slogan.

Unconventional ad that, through its presentation, grabs attention.