In countries such as Japan and South Korea, barcodes design is on the increase. After all why should barcodes be dull?

Here are some working designs from my year 8 students:

Iona	Grace	Lia
Niamh	Chloe

Try a google search (using keywords "barcode" & "design") for plenty more ideas or visit www.barcoderevolution.com

Before we start, its easy to create barcodes designs, however the icing on the cake is when the barcode works. To create barcodes that work you will need to install a barcode font. If you are at school you may need to ask your teacher or technicians to install the font for you. Here is the one that I use: IDAutomationHC39M.ttf

Once installed you can then use the font to create your barcodes. However to make them work you will need to add a start and end character. This way the barcode scanner knows which end is the starting point. eg if I wanted to create a barcode for EASTONHOME I would have to add brackets at the start and the end ie (EASTONHOME). When you change the font you will not see the brackets, however they are needed for it to be a working barcode.

You could use Paint, however by using layers in photoshop or fireworks the results are better. Or try finding silhouettes and then delete the background so the barcode can be seen like this one created by Sasha (year 8):

After you have created your designs and printed them out test them using a barcode scanner. They range in price, I have a class set of the following ones (about £28 from amazon):