Recently, I met up with one of my old college buddies to see a movie in Boston. I was running late and needed to park my car and hustle to the theater to make it in time for the start of the show. I was excited to find a nearby spot on the street. But not having any change for the meter, I worried that I was going to have to go through the rigmarole of downloading a parking app, setting up an account, and entering all the information about where I had parked.

To make matters worse, I’m old and I type on my phone with my index finger. So you can imagine how long it would take to enter in all the information. I’d miss the first act of the movie.

But when I got to the meter I was relieved to see a big QR code next to the coin slot. All I had to do was scan it, and I was taken to a payment page for the zone where I’d parked. A couple taps later, I was on my way with enough time leftover to grab popcorn before the show. QR really does stand for “quick response.”

While they might seem like new technology, QR codes have been around for more than 30 years. Their popularity took off during the pandemic, when suddenly we all needed contactless ways of exchanging information and making payments. I bet you remember the first time you sat down in a restaurant and the server told you there was a QR code on the table to scan for the menu.

Once you start thinking about QR codes, you’ll notice them everywhere, from a giant billboard to a tiny sticker on an orange peel. Receipts, ads, nutrition labels, train tickets, airline boarding passes, passports, and drivers licenses are all peppered with QR codes these days. The next shirt you buy might have a QR code on the tag that you can scan for laundering instructions.

A lot of those codes are purely functional and don’t need to be made attractive. For an ad or other branded material, however, you can do a lot to make a QR code look more interesting, so more people notice it and scan it. That’s what this month’s feature article on creative QR codes by Maya P. Lim is all about.

Speaking of code, we have Katja Bjerrum on hand to show how you can write scripts for Illustrator with the help of AI.

Then, Conrad Chavez follows up his recent article on buying a display with a guide to calibrating your display (old or new).

Nigel French is back with Part 2 of his series on how to be a better designer. This time, he preaches the importance of learning about type.

Steve Caplin gives high marks to the long-awaited debut of Photoshop for iPhone

Our Resource of the Month is an updated SuperGuide to InDesign tables, packed with tips and techniques for terrific tables. Pull up a chair and enjoy!