Jen Cushman Explains QR Codes

Jen Cushman is my go-to technology person, the woman I ask about stuff I catch out of the corner of my eye. You know--codes and tags and new devices that nobody even has yet--stuff you read about in the tech section of the NYT but haven't seen In Real Life. She's the one. A while back she told me more about QR codes, those little black-and-white squares that are starting to pop up everywhere, from junk mail envelopes to real estate signs to retail packaging. When I had first seen them, I had been skeptical because they seemed really lame, all about bad marketing; but after talking to Jen, I'm seeing the huge, wide-open possibilities for sharing everything from bio info to slide shows of artwork to little videos. It's a big world out there in the land of QR codes, and Jen explains why mixed media artists are going to want to do some exploring.

Here's a site where you can make your own code for free; it's the site I used for my book trailer video code. And another, kaywa, that's popular. To get a free reader for your smartphone, go to your phone's app store and search for "QR code readers." I like "i-nigma," but there are more to choose from.

To see the book trailer for Destination: Creativity--The Life-Altering Journey of the Art Retreat, go here. 

To find out more about Jen, check out her website, her blog, and her column at CreateMixedMedia.com.