Beyond black and white, a colourful QR-tistic renaissance

They are boring, bland and bleak. We're talking about QR codes. But they don't have to be, especially in the multi-layered realm of generative AI, where everything can be reimagined at the touch of one's fingertips.

Forces like Stable Diffusion, the free and open-source AI-image generator program that uses text prompts to create stylised images, have produced a bevy of wildly beautiful QR codes that are far from dull; in fact, they are delightful and fully functional.  

A Reddit user named "Nhciao" (now dark following Reddit's ongoing strike) posted a series of artistic QR codes created using Stable Diffusion that infuses some playfulness and a much-needed dose of art into the black and white 2D barcodes.

Look below for sparks of creative inspiration. It's QR-tistic revolution of painting a vivid canvas on (formerly) boring codes. 

Photo: Redditor Nhciao/Stable Diffusion

Photo: Redditor Nhciao/Stable Diffusion

Photo: Redditor Nhciao/Stable Diffusion

Photo: Redditor Nhciao/Stable Diffusion
 

You've arrived at Inspiration Station, a weekly look at imaginative and artistic work from creators of all kinds across Asia-Pacific. Step off for a minute to recharge your creative batteries and find inspiration for that next big idea of yours further down the track.