The Largest QR Codes in the World

QR codes are a great marketing and promotional tool that is sure to attract lots of attention. A few people are taking it to the next level and creating more buzz for their campaigns by making large QR codes that attract a lot of exposure and publicity. Some of them even manage to break world records. Let us take a look at some of the largest QR codes in the world.

In April 28, 2011, Fiera Balzano Spa in Italy created a large QR code that measured 180.94 square feet. It measured 13.45 feet long on each side. The huge QR code was made of Lego bricks, with the bulk of it being in black and white, while the logos of the sponsors were done using colored Legos. At the time, this was the record holder for the largest QR code in the world, but this record has since been broken a couple of times.

In October 2011, a team of people in Charlotte, North Carolina known as Hackerspace Charlotte created a huge QR code (pictured top-left) at the top of Southern Resources, a scrap metal recycling center . Hackerspace Charlotte is a non-profit online artistic collective for people with common interests in technology and digital art. The QR code is 100 feet long per side, making it 10,000 square feet total. It is so big that this is the first QR code that can be seen from space and is even visible in Google Maps and Google Earth. The QR code was used to raise awareness for the Charlotte Crime Stoppers.

Max Wallace, President of Hackerspace Charlotte, said, "As a Hackerspace, our goal is to experiment with new technologies, while providing a space for Charlotte-area hackers to develop their own ideas and projects. The .22 acre QR code is a great way to show Charlotte that we are here, and to show the rest of the world that Charlotte is a place that gets technology."

At the same time, Skanz, a QR code social networking service, was also creating a 10,000 square feet QR Code on the Wall Stadium Speedway, a racetrack in New Jersey. They created this huge QR code using 80 gallons of black and white paint. The QR code can be scanned from 2 miles above the surface. To show that the QR code is fully functional, they called in professional skydivers to jump from an airplane and scan the code from the skies. People can also scan the QR code from a video. The code links to a raffle to win tickets to Kanye West and Jay-Z's “Watch the Throne” concert. Unlike the QR code from Hackerspace, this code was temporary and has since been removed.

“We wanted a viral way to build consumer awareness and demonstrate the value and usefulness of QR codes,” Tammy Lewis, CMO of Skanz, said.

Current Guinness World Record Holder

The current Guinness World Record holder for “Largest QR Code” is held by IT aariXa in Herk-de-Stad, a medium-sized company in Belgium. The QR Code has a size of 14,155.9415 square feet and was made in February 2012 (pictured right). The QR code, once scanned, leads to www.aariXa.be/qr and has their latest recruitment action www.verdien500euro.be. However, this record has already been broken and the unofficial record now belongs to Air Fest.

World's Largest QR Code

In February 18, 2012, St-Janvier de Mirabel by Air Fest set a new record by making the biggest QR code in the world. Air Fest is a company in Quebec, Canada that manages soccer schools and day camps for kids. Although still unofficial, with a size of 15,625 square feet, this giant QR code beats all previous world attempts. It was created by over 400 people, with facilitators of the AEF, campers and parents of the AEF and friends. The QR code was made with 5 x 5 black panels. The QR code is about as big as 5 tennis courts or 50 parked cars or one Olympic-sized swimming pool.

This challenge was originally proposed by Cyclone Design Communications and marked the start of the registration drive for the 2012 day camps themed “One was larger than life”. The QR Code is encoded in byte and goes to the mobile website http://qraef.com, where people can find out more about the code and its construction. They can also find out more about the company and why they decided to create the world's largest QR code.

This huge QR code can only be scanned from 1,000 feet above the ground, so at 11:38 am Air Fest flew a helicopter above to take photos and video of the code. "It works 10 out of 10!" Valérie Delorme of Hélibellule announced from his Bell-222 aircraft, to the delight of the participants.

Though this is the current unofficial world record, it should not be long until somebody attempts to break the record again.

Other articles by this author:

Microsoft Tag Adds Support for NFC and QR Codes

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