A Different Kind of Interactive Design
We’ve made interactive challenge coins with spinners and bottle openers, but including a QR code on your coin creates a different kind of interaction altogether. In as little as a few seconds, anyone with a smartphone can scan one of the coins and be whisked away to whatever location you choose on the web.
This makes QR codes a popular design choice for business card challenge coins that are intended to promote a company’s services or products. However, QR codes are for more than just business card coins. They’re for just about anyone who wants to stay connected with the people receiving their coins or anyone who wants to share a message.
If you’re wondering how it works, the easiest thing to do is scan one of these QR code coins with your phone right now (Yes, the QR codes work even when pictured on a computer screen). Take a look for yourself, and read on to see a few of the coolest ways our customers have implemented QR codes into their challenge coin designs.
Promoting a Contest With QR Code Coins
We made this QR code coin for X-1FBO, which is a management and payment processing system that brings automation to FBOs (Fixed-Based Operators) and the General Aviation marketplace. If you’re not sure what that means, that’s okay! All you need to know is that the X-1 software is designed for a very specific niche in the world of aviation and that these coins were created for a contest that promotes the company’s services.
To generate some buzz about their automation software, the X-1 team created a monthly raffle. To enter, all you need to do is scan the QR code on the back of one of these coins and fill out the entry form it takes you to. Every month, a winner is chosen at random and given a $500 Amazon gift card to spend however they want.
If you’re hoping to try your luck at winning $500 next month, we’re afraid to tell you that it’s not that easy. Not only does the coin connect you with the entry form, it’s also your ticket into the contest. Every coin was designed with a specific ID number engraved beneath the QR code, and you need that challenge coin ID number to enter the drawing each month.
Asking for the challenge coin ID number for each raffle entry allows the X-1 team to track how many of their coins are being used to enter the contest each month. If you’re looking to create a trackable coin of your own, all you need is sequential numbering to get started. Including a QR code like the X-1 coins makes it quick and easy for people carrying the coins to get involved in your challenge coin program, whether it’s an online contest or something else entirely.
QR Code Coins That Keep Your Team Together
While the QR code coin from the previous section is intended to be shared with people outside the development team to generate business and spread the word about the company’s services, this coin was designed for internal use only.
These coins were only given to members of the USS Utah Commissioning Committee. The QR code on the back leads to a blank Login screen at USS-Utah.org. That’s all that we know for sure, but our experience creating custom military coins for all kinds of different teams and events throughout the armed forces is enough to form a few ideas.
Members of the USS Utah Commissioning Committee no doubt have their own unique Login credentials that they can use after scanning the QR code. We also know that the USS Utah’s keel-laying ceremony is scheduled for the fall of 2021, so there must be a lot of work yet to be completed by the people carrying these coins.
We assume that USS-Utah.org is a website where members of the ship’s commissioning committee can share resources and stay up to date on the developments surrounding the construction of the Virginia-class Submarine. With the official commissioning of the ship scheduled for the fall of 2023, it’s safe to say that these coins will stay close at hand for all members of the commissioning committee, keeping the whole team connected.
DigiByte QR Code Coins
This last QR code coin is a little more cryptic than that others. Like the X-1 coins, there is a hidden message inscribed around the edge of the coin in binary (if you didn’t notice the binary on the X-1 coin, take another look and check it out). However, unlike the X-1 coin, the front of this coin has no text to shed light on the meaning of the design.
If you flip the coin over, there isn’t much more to learn without scanning the QR code. The words “DigiByte” and “EST. 2014” give you enough to know the name of the company and to know they’ve been around for about five years, but to really understand what these coins are all about, you need to pull out your phone and scan the QR code.
Within a few seconds, you’ll be taken to the company’s website, where there are all kinds of resources to learn DigiByte, which turns out to be a form of cryptocurrency. Once you know what Digibyte is, the technological theme of the challenge coins makes a lot more sense.
Taking Control of Your Own Design With Custom QR Codes
There's only so much room to include artwork and text on your challenge coins. The beauty of a QR code is having the ability to cram as much information as you would like into any type of coin design.
The DigiByte coin, for example, is only 1.75” in diameter but still manages to provide an entire website’s worth of information in the design, simply by incorporating a QR code.
Whether you’re hoping to include a link to a special contest, an informational video, a website, or anything else on the web, our team is happy to design a custom QR code coin that will get the job done. Send us your ideas today and see what our team of designers can put together for you!
