A New QR Direction
The permanent thermic ink is not suitable for the needs of the concept as they are unable to be activated by body temperature and are limited to grey or pink.
A different approach was needed to allow the stamp to perform it’s function without compromising the concept and restarting from scratch. The direction was to look outside of the stamp and include functionality that lends it’s self to a more interaction based realisation.
As a result the concept now includes more than just a stamp design, it includes a whole new way of customization, discussion and sharing with the added information about the topics relating to climate change and renewable energies delivered though a mobile social network.
The functionality of this is derived from the use of QR tags and mobile capture / internet devices.
This is a QR tag. It is a 2D structure similar to that of a standard bar code. The difference is that it can be captured using a mobile device’s camera and a reader interprets the image and decodes the information, which can be anything from a line of text to — the more common use — a bookmark for a mobile internet site.
The tag example shown here is a link to the new Rave Interactive social network.
The principle is that a user activates the heat, captures the QR tag and is transported to a mobile social networking site. The page they start on depends on which stamp they have captured, but they can navigate the whole site from their mobile device. The starting page contains contextual information about climate change, energy conservation and renewable energies as well as a task to take an image relating to the stamp captured.
This is then uploaded via 3G, MMS or email from the device and shared with the community. The images can be rated and the highest rated image over a recurring specified period of time is made into a stamp using the Royal Mail customization feature on their website. These can then be purchased and the submitter of the image receives them for free.
This encourages socialisation around an important topic allowing for exploration of the way to change the current status-quo. It encourages the capturing of images, be they inspirational or horrific, which further illustrate the positive points of renewable energies and the negative points of continued dependence on fossil fuels.
In a strange way this is also a method of stamp collecting, aimed directly at the younger generation who see stamp collecting as a book full of plastic and boring stamps. This provides a gateway for the younger generation to step into the world of stamp collecting. Bringing it into the digital era. It may even inspire them to take another look at the world of stamps to see what other cool things there are, allowing a stepping stone to the traditional method of collecting.