Of football and LEGOs...two of my favorite things

It started innocently with a conversation with a friend about football. We were talking about the virtual line on the field that shows where the first down is. Was there some sort of machine on the sideline that shot a laser beam (unseen by the human eye) across the field? No, it's something much more fun than that: Augmented Reality (AR). AR is adding (or augmenting) what the human eye sees with computer-generated inputs. Not to be confused with virtual reality, AR takes an everyday view and adds something to it. In football, you see the play just as someone in the stadium would, but with the addition of the yellow line. It's uses are becoming more common. In the print world, you can "hide" a code in an image and with an AR reader, generate something new. Think about it as a QR code of the next level. Check out what LEGO does in it's stores. An AR code is hidden in the box and when you take it to a kiosk, you get to see the finished product.

The 2012 stamps are coming!

The post office has announced it's 2012 stamps at this link. Keep checking back as they will periodically release designs. I really like the Cherry Blossom one, what's your favorite?

Ikea Uses Every Inch of Space

Ikea "gets it" when it comes to printing. There is just something special about a catalog that you can touch, feel, steal (from a co-worker) and...measure. Check out the spine of this book, it incorporates a handy ruler. You can use it at home to do a quick measurement of a space and then head to the store to find something to fit it. Handy, indeed!

3D Printing. Yes, 3D!

Here's a fascinating article on 3-D "printing". It is a rare thing for me to be speechless, but this is something just mind-blowing!

A Program to Remember

Here's a copy of the Royal Wedding Program that will be used on the 29th for the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. It is a gorgeous piece of print work. We wish the young couple a very happy life together!

QR Codes Gone Wild

No, this isn't a post about Spring Break, but rather on the changing face of QR (Quick Response) codes. I love to see them evolve and grow in usage. The ever "with-it man" Trevor Eade at matcor added a Microsoft tag to his business card that leads to not just a website but a video! I recently saw an ad for the Houston Symphony that featured a MS tag in color. Both are great examples of using QR codes to draw in your readers in new ways.

Touchdown in 3...2...1!

I received an email the other day from Bed, Bath and Beyond. While I've subscribed to them for awhile, I admit that I subscribe to lots of emails (and delete a good portion without ever reading them). What caught my eye on this one is it told me to watch my mailbox for their next mailer -- and a special offer.

That very evening when I went home, the flyer (with a $5 coupon) was in my mailbox. And the next day, I made the 5-mile trip to the store to use it. These days it often takes a multi-pronged approach to reach consumers. And it works.