Clever use of barcodes on album sleeves

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by badsneakers, Apr 13, 2016.

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  1. badsneakers

    badsneakers Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Post some interesting examples of barcodes being incorporated into the overall design of album artwork. I'll start with this one from Wilco's Star Wars...

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. shiverbones

    shiverbones Forum Resident

    Location:
    new orleans
    Devo- duty now for the future plastered them all over the cover in 1979 as a protest to their mandatory inclusion
     
  3. badsneakers

    badsneakers Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    [​IMG]

    I forgot about this one. Great album too.
     
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  4. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    Not so much "clever" as "you're an idiot for buying this at Wal-Mart."
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  5. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Wasn't there a Dave Davies album where a huge bar code took the place of his face? Oh yes, it was AFL1-3603.
     
  6. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    Dave Davies' solo LP.

    He even titled it the same as the barcode #, which was AFL1-3603.
    That's not a wise marketing decision.
     
  7. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

  8. Vinyl Addict

    Vinyl Addict Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA

    I remember this, the whole controversy over all the artwork inside lol, the front cover was just a sculpture by Adam Jones.
     
  9. AdamChanSiuLung

    AdamChanSiuLung Forum Resident

    Location:
    NEW YORK, NEW YORK
    Cool idea for a thread, I look forward to seeing the examples.

    This reminds me of the first issue of Mad magazine that had a bar code, the cover was an enlargement of that issue's bar code and I think the text was something like, "We hope this issue blows up every computer for forcing us to deface our magazine with this bar code" or something like that.
     
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  10. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

  11. Emberglow

    Emberglow Senior Member

    Location:
    Waterford, Ireland
    Stiff Little Fingers - Nobody's Heroes (1980)

    [​IMG]
     
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  12. Sytze

    Sytze Senior Member

    Was it also around 1979 that these barcodes had to be included for the first time?
     
  13. edised

    edised Forum Resident

    Ok not so much a barcode but its newer counterpart the QR code
    [​IMG]
     
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  14. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Here it is:

    [​IMG]
     
  15. seg763

    seg763 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
  16. seg763

    seg763 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
  17. Aghast of Ithaca

    Aghast of Ithaca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Angleterre

    Funny looking zebra.
     
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  18. shiverbones

    shiverbones Forum Resident

    Location:
    new orleans
    Yeah that is why they did that
     
  19. Vinyl Addict

    Vinyl Addict Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    Not sure if it counts, but

    [​IMG]

    The barcode is the bc from their first album. it is also the title for the first track on their self titled album. Also used on their orange jumpsuits on the s/t tour. Slipknot bought the rights to use this barcode number.
     
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  20. bunglejerry

    bunglejerry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    The entirety of the packaging of They Might Be Giants' Users Guide collection revolves around its barcode. Front cover, too, though this is the back cover. Also the length of each bar corresponds to the duration of the song.

    [​IMG]
     
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  21. BeardedSteven

    BeardedSteven Forum Resident

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  22. tootull

    tootull Looking through a glass onion

    Location:
    Canada
  23. off_2_the_side

    off_2_the_side Senior Member

    Location:
    Brantford, Canada
    The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
    [​IMG]
     
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  24. PH416156

    PH416156 Alea Iacta Est

    Location:
    Europe
  25. Bruno Republic

    Bruno Republic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    That's actually not a proper barcode at all, just a design which looks like one.

    Also... because I'm an annoying pedant... I must point out that "AFL1-3603" is not a barcode (retail barcodes are numeric only; they cannot contain letters) but the cat # for the LP. According to discos, most European editions had a different cover and were self-titled, perhaps because RCA's numbering system for European releases meant it could not have the same cat #.

    See also: Yes' 90125, and Peter, Paul & Mary's Album 1700. Both named after their original catalog numbers.
     
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