qr codes
QR codes are also known as “quick response” codes. They are popping up all over the place lately, due to the influx of smartphones able to capture the code, interpret it, and follow its instructions – either open a URL, send an email, add a contact, or send a text message. Here is some more info from wikipedia on qr codes.
Here’s the QR code for my photography site:
You can change the colors to match your branding, but make sure there’s still enough contrast so mobile devices can easily find and scan it. To make a QR code, you can search google for paid and free services. I used The ZXing Project‘s generator. Fill out the form above, and choose LARGE so you can resize it easily to fit your needs, and download it to your computer.
To embed it on your website, it’s just the same as uploading an image. Think about where you want to put the info (in a sidebar? On every page? footer?), and upload it using your favorite FTP client. The one sized above is 350px/350px – I am going to put it in my sidebar and make it smaller.
To read yours and others’ QR codes: look on your smartphone for a QR app. There are a bunch of free ones out there, and the one I found that works nicely for my iPhone is QR Code City. Install it on your iPhone and when you come across one of these qr codes, launch the application and aim the camera at it until the code registers.
For Android – check out this I just googled just now: Appbrain.com‘s quickmark barcode scanner link.
You can put this code anywhere – your business card, if you have a storefront, print it as a sticker and put it on your door, put it in your email advertisements/mailing lists – just make sure there’s sufficient contrast and that the background is white – the white is part of the code.
Happy scanning. 
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