Recognise the image on the right?
If this weird mess of blobs and dots means nothing to you, this is a QR Code (Quick Response). Some text is buried within this pattern and could contain almost anything though what they are most commonly used for is a quick way to give people a link to a website. Most smartphones come bundled with an app that lets you read the code using your camera or apps can be downloaded for free. If you have a smartphone handy, try scanning the code!
QR codes are all the rage in marketing at the moment as it's a handy and useful way to get a customer to use a link when all they have is their phone nearby, so it can be used on posters, billboards, signs... you name it. Some TV programmes have been using them as shortcuts to other information, such as cooking programmes providing links to recipes via the onscreen QR code.
As a software development company we've recently finished a project for a customer revolving around these distinctive designs. Using a freely available QR code library, our customer could import a batch of URLs, have QR codes generated for them, then were able to charge their clients through the same app for them to be distributed via print. It's a clever end-to-end solution hosted in an online app with full security for handling payment details.
If this sounds like the kind of thing you need, get in touch.