Barcode Poster
A barcode poster in two colours — with the code built on a base module, guard bars and a numeral row, so it reads as a scanned object rather than a stripe field. Five fields.
We made two examples: a barcode poster for Vibary and another for Harbour Row. Both have guard bars, a numeral row and a quiet zone, but the bar widths are not exact multiples of one module. Naming the parts of a code gets you the parts; naming the module does not get you the module.
You get a barcode that looks like a scanned object: guard bars at both ends and in the centre dropping below the block, grouped numerals with one digit outside on the left, a quiet zone, and bars carrying on above and below the knocked-out letters. The widths do not divide by a common module the way a real code does. If you need exact bar widths, draw the bars rather than describe them.
Generated for this library
Input
Knockout INDEPENDENT READING - and 01 beneath
Numerals 9 771234 567890
Support top row PAPER LAB · INK · ZINE · READ · second row
WEST BUND ARTS CENTRE / 2026.09.19-09.20 · under
the code INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE MARKET · at the foot
SAT-SUN 10:00-20:00
Colours acid lime on near-black
Headline INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE MARKET, over PAPER DREAMS /
FREE PRESS
Returned 1 poster · 2:3 · two colours, high contrast
module every bar and gap 1, 2, 3 or 4 units wide - no
width that is not a multiple
guards a tall 1-1-1 pattern at each end and at the centre,
running below the block
quiet a clear margin the width of nine units on both
sides of the code
numerals a single row beneath the bars, in a mono face,
split into groups
colours two, and the ground counted as one of themYou fill in 5 fields — the braced lines at the top. Everything below them is fixed.
- 1The words knocked out of the bars
- 2The numerals under the code
- 3The supporting lines, and where each goes
- 4The two colours
- 5The headline under the code
Barcode Poster
What this makes
A barcode poster in two colours — with the code built on a base module, guard bars and a numeral row, so it reads as a scanned object rather than a stripe field. Five fields.
The whole template, in one piece. The steps below are the entire workflow.
How to use it
- Copy the whole template with the button above.
- Replace the five FIELDS lines. Keep the knocked-out words to two or three, since every character costs bars.
- Paste it into any image-capable agent or model, in one message. One run returns the poster.
- Measure a few bars before shipping. If their widths do not all divide by one common unit, it is a stripe field.
What you swap
- The words knocked out of the bars
- INDEPENDENT READING — and the issue number 01 beneath them
- The numerals under the code
- 9 771234 567890
- The supporting lines, and where each goes
- top row PAPER LAB · INK · ZINE · READ · second row left WEST BUND ARTS CENTRE · second row right 2026.09.19—09.20 · under the code INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE MARKET · at the foot SAT—SUN 10:00—20:00
- The two colours
- acid lime on near-black, and nothing else
- The headline under the code
- INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE MARKET — with the line PAPER DREAMS / FREE PRESS above it
Before it runs
- Short words to knock out. Long ones eat too many bars and the code stops reading as a code.
- A number you are happy to print. It sits under the bars in the open and a random-looking string reads as filler.
- Tolerance for one loud colour. The format is a two-colour format and adding a third kills it.
When to reach for it
Zine fairs, record shops, market events, anything with retail or print culture behind it. Templates in this style return a handsome field of stripes at freely varying widths, which is what a barcode looks like to someone who has never looked at one.
What changes
- One high-contrast poster built around a large barcode block, with the headline knocked out of the bars.
- Every bar and gap an exact multiple of one base module, so the code has the quantised rhythm real codes have.
- Guard bars at both ends and the middle, a quiet zone margin, and a human-readable numeral row beneath.
- Two colours only, one of them the ground, with the code carrying the accent.
- Supporting lines set small and flush, so the code stays the only event on the sheet.
Pairs with
- Photo Type Overlay PosterA photograph with type laid over it — held to one typeface, three sizes fixed by ratio, and one accent, so the poster reads as designed rather than assembled. Five fields.
- Swiss Grid PosterAn International Typographic Style poster — a declared column count, every edge snapped to it, and the title as the largest thing on the page. Six fields.
- 3D Character Screen BreakoutA soft-3D character coming out of a screen — with the crossing proved: named parts behind the plane, named parts through it, and the surface visibly giving way. Five fields.