I love that someone has broken into the world of barcode design, an area with such design potential! Vanity Barcodes is a website created by Dieline’s senior editor, Yael Miller. The website offers a large, and growing, library of stock barcode designs that are customizable with any unique UPC. Birds, paint brushes, cows, books, bread, buses, pie, electric mixers, and jelly beans are just a few of the stock designs they offer. They also create custom orders for that specific product in mind.

Obviously, barcodes must adhere to strict guidelines in order to scan properly. With Vanity Barcodes, all the designs are pre-tested for this scan compliance, so they’ll work just like any other standard barcode.

The subtle brand reference engages consumers and sends additional layers of meaningful brand messaging that is otherwise difficult to achieve with copywriting or visuals. The unexpectedness and humor of Vanity barcodes are powerful assets that create loyalty among customers in an ever-crowded competitive environment. (The Dieline)

Making the mundane more interesting…that’s a two thumbs up from this designer. Now to catch these barcodes in practice…used on packaging in the real world! I’d love to see that.