A dynamic and responsive QR-tattoo
- 3 hours design
- 3 base paterns
- 2 colors: black and red
- 4 sessions - totall of 25 hours
- 4 more sessions planned
Wesley has been a satisfied client of mine for several years.
In the spring of 2024, he came to me with an idea for his freelance activities as a digital marketer. He asked me if I could tattoo a QR code on his arm.
The QR code would then point to his website and contact information. A creative way to use a tattooed business card at networking events.
Placing it on his arm created some risks.
Every tattoo potentially changes shape over time. With 99.999% of all designs, this is never a problem, but with a QR code, the risk arises that the code may no longer be readable.
An alternative location such as the chest or thigh were not a solution, because at a networking event you can’t just remove your clothing.
Creativity and design
Nevertheless, Wesley still wanted a creative tattoo to do something in his digital marketing.
I gave him the idea of designing a sleeve, based on dynamic patterns, referring to the graphic elements of a QR code.
A piece of negative space gave the opportunity to use a temporary stick-on tattoo and still be able to use a QR code.
Wesley got to work testing out the stick-on tattoos and I dug into my available patterns with dots, lines and shapes.
The choice quickly fell on three different patterns:
- Small squares that give a 3D effect of cubes in a room.
These are flanked by arrows that give an extra dynamic effect. - Contiguous hexagons with light shades to again create a dynamic effect.
- A pattern with squares that gives the feel of a QR code around the negative space, so that the actual QR code merges into the whole.
The design was stenciled on the arm and immediately Wesley and I came to the conclusion that this really made for a powerful design and beautiful whole.
25 hours of tattoo time
Wesley and I agreed to install the design in phases.
I started with the central pattern of the 3D cubes.
In sessions two and three, the other patterns were added. An additional line was also added in the third session. This line added depth to the different designs.
During session four, the entire tattoo was gone over again and touch-ups were done where needed.
Result and effect
The story of this tattoo is to creatively start a conversation at networking events.
And Wesley certainly succeeds in that.
Meanwhile, several journalists already stopped by to make an article about this original tattoo.
During a networking event of the Belgian Association of Marketing, one of the international speakers noticed this original idea. She made a post on LinkedIn, it went viral and reached more than 100000 people.
2 B continued
The story is not yet finished. The tattoo and possibilities are still being expanded.
The sleeve is still being worked out to the shoulder in some session to create a complete experience.
There is also a follow-up to the marketing story of the tattoo: businesses can hire Wesley’s arm for their own marketing campaigns and ideas.
For example, he was already at an entrepreneurial evening in the Westhoek, where attendees could enter a contest via the QR code.
Also at the international bicycle fair Velofollies, visitors were sent via the QR code to a website where they received additional information about bicycle routes.
