Creative Quest

Make an antique box with a collage of different photographs of your friends/family .

You will need::
1.black and white photos. if you donot have the b/w ones, for best results, get a photocopy of the ones you would like to use

2. a tin box or a thick cardboard box with a removable cover
3. glue and scissors
4. black acrylic paint
5. some water and 2 tea bags
6. flat brushes
7. varnish (optional)

How to ::
1. Take the copy of the photos that you would like to use and cut away the extra areas from the images. Some of the photos should be cut around the people to create a cutout of individual images/people. make sure you have enough to cover the entire box as well as the cover.

2.create a collage on the box by pasting the cut images. you can create interesting combinations by overlaping and rotating the images around the box and cover.make sure you put your best imges on the front and the top of the box for maximum visibility. leave some small spaces randomly between the images. let the glue dry for some time.

when you stick the images over the edges of the box, let the images go over on the inside neatly.

3. in the meantime, dip the tea bags in the water and let soak for some time till the water changes colour to a nice dark brown.

4.The glue being dry,fill the small leftover spaces with black colour. this need not be done very neatly as we want to create an antique look. some paint overlapping the imges will also give  good effect.

5.Once the black paint is dry,  use the flat brush and apply the tea water all over the box. apply it unevenly such that it leaves a darker colour in some areas. you can also apply a second coat once the first one is dry.

6. once the enitre box is dry, you can apply a final coat of varnish for a final effect.

Tips::

you can also use diff colourful images of things that you like or celebrities. use diff colours instead of black to fill up the spaces. This can also be used to create a beautifully  wrapped gift.
 

Soon, gone will be the days when every packaging designed will have that small white box at the back with coded black lines and random numbers. A unique barcoding system developed by Microsoft, High Capacity Color Barcode (HCCB) is set to hit the market later this year on DVD media The HCCB, a four and eight-color geometric patterned barcode, can hold up to two-pages of data which is more than double of what the current black and white barcodes can store. The code is made up a combination of colours and various orientation of the triangles which will create distinct patterns  The international Standard Audiovisual Number International Agency (ISAN-IA) is one the first to license this code for identification on audiovisual products like motion pictures, videogames, etc. Not only the vendors, but Consumers too will be able to interact and obtain valuable information like website, email address etc from the barcode by scanning the code with webcams and eventually with cameras on their mobile phones. 

They say that its not a replacement to the existing UPC and other barcode systems but considering the extent of data that can be stored and retrieved, it will not be too long before all the products in the market ahve this multicolored pattern on them.

This development in terms of technology and reach is great but what it will do for design and aesthetics of design remains to be seen.