The Barcode Revolution

Pacarc, the guys who brought the Mitsubishi Jet Towel to the U.S. are now bringing over another piece of Japan: The design barcode.

The design barcode, in the words of Pacarc’s James Allard, “seemed so obvious – utilize the last one-inch square of (nearly) blank real estate on product packing for branding or company image purposes. Why didn’t we think of it?! We looked into it and discovered that the mad minds behind it were four Japanese guys in a company called design barcode, inc. We contacted them and after a number of great discussions we are now the exclusive distributor for designed barcodes in the United States.”

It’s a pretty cool but simple idea: turn the boring barcode into something interesting to look at and to enhance the brand at the same time. Expect a full launch next week. I think it’s a very cool idea, and it’s funky that a company like Pacarc are picking up these ideas and bringing them over the Pacific. Expect to see a big launch next week.