Thank you for sorting this out.
May I ask what your motivation behind all caps is? I must admit that I agree with Tom and Tom about the legibility of all caps. It does not improve it, but that is my humble opinion.
Also,I would argue for the text under the QR code, just imagine having just lost your phone, cracked the screen, etc… or just left it at home.
Sorry for being a pain.
I’m unsold on the need for a link shortener for this project, seems like scope creep and adds another layer to this that needs to be maintained with a table of shortener links to forum ones. The question I have for this - in what situation would the link break if the code links to a tool page ID. All that comes to mind is re-hosting the site to a new URL or moving off of Discourse.
I definitely agree - the Trotec laser page has been stable since 2015. Let’s build a system that anyone can make these as required (e.g. new tools) and I think 8 years of stability is good enough for now.
Forgetfulness about turning off all caps - fixed. Here you go
Surely in those cases you’ll turn to one of our many PCs to look up the tools page using the machine name?
If we’re going to have text underneath each tag what other bits do we want included? Personally i think it makes it looks crowded and doesn’t draw attention to the bits that matter.
hey guys what about this
like @Martyn_Thomas’s idea with more info but slightly decluttered
also 2 things to mention from having done QR codes for events, business cards, merch, etc
@Geraetefreund asked about contingencies for lost/cracked phones, if we used a link shortener we could have a number assigned for each tool, which we put on the tag - (for example the below) which would be slmls.to/12
random designer thoughts:
both have different vibes to them, 2nd is less cluttered and conveys a more functional/industrial/modern look; whereas the1st is like a remix of that industrial/modern look with a touch of hidden away makerspace spice (logo blends into and hides within the business of the QR code), at the cost of being slightly more visually dense (if you move back 1-2m the 2nd is more immediately legible)
Nice design 
Though i’m not a fan of the logo in the QR code, but that’s just me.
There was suggestion using ISO signs rather than ticks
The tag should include the model name of the item so if the QR fails (or if someone has lost their phone) they know what to look up in the tools page.
My view re:clutterness, using the embroidery machine as an example, because you don’t need an induction, or safety equipment or a lone working limitation to use the machine (aka there’s no stoppers), having them listed in it’s tag feels redundant - my view is that we should only include ‘stoppers’ on tags to keep them easy to read, to the point about steps the member should consider when using the machine. But if the majority view is we fill tags up i’m not going to argue.
Re: stoppers. I agree with you. If the only difference between “induction required” and “no induction required” is the word “no”, that message will be ignored. “Induction required” vs nothing written stands out more and is notable.
For symbols, each of the notices on the tag should have a different symbol, if there’s iso standard ones, great. Tick/x next to each notice doesn’t stand out as much.
I think we keep it simple - Rather than having different symbols for different stoppers, making it cluttered.
like the example on the left here (but in mixed text case as per this thread - this is an old example image)
Are there many tools we want to go on the record saying no safety equipment required? Even soldering irons can require fume exhaustion at times.
I think the point of these is to serve as info to those who have zero context so I think being explicit about inductions in both cases makes sense. We get asked a lot “Can I use tool x?”.
I also think having a little reminder for long term members whether they can lone work is helpful.
Soldering always requires extraction because rosin based flux is an asthmagen. Additionally all flux-core solder spits when it is heated and could land in your eye so requires any kind of eye-protection, reading glasses would work.
What you are describing is usually done through a traffic light colour-code system in most workshops that have a wide community of users, like in education. Where typically Red = Staff only, Yellow = After Tool specific iInduction, Green = No specific induction required (note that most educational places would have a workshop induction that’s very light weight and more detailed tool-specific inductions).
The original idea was to have Red tags for items that have stoppers (like need inductions etc.), and green for items that don’t - but if we’re just going to list everything even if it’s not a stopper the colour approach won’t work.
Also, you can’t rely on colour alone.
I think we are in danger of decision paralysis here. Lets just make some using the colour as the induction requirement and follow roughly what has been agreed so far. Once we have a few out there it will be easier to get feedback on them from the members and go from there.
I’m happy to have color in some cases in addition to the explicit text. We have to ensure these are accessible to color blind members. It’s likely to affect 1 in 20 members.
You can check that using something like https://color.adobe.com/create/color-contrast-analyzer. I assume it works for physical objects as well as websites. It seems like for Red with white text so long as the font is big enough it should pass. For green it depends on the colour.
More the fact that it’s red or green
Oh I see. Yes I agree the text has to be explicit even if we have the colour.
The only outstanding information that needs to be agreed:
What stopper information should be included on the tag, we currently have:
–Induction
–Lone Working
–Safety Equipment
– Extraction
Is there anything else that we want to add?
Do we want the tag to include only the stopper information relevant to the item (for example if it needs induction), or contain everything regardless of if it’s relevant?
My 2p - as Max put it so well:
I think we should only include stoppers that are relevant to the item.
My plan is to do final mock ups on Friday based on final comments/feedback
I believe induction and lone working with the respective symbol to the left in all cases comunicates most clearly. I might use a tick without a “field” to make it more visually distinct.
For the record, the text bit can be anything so long as the URL ends in the number.
https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/skeletor/31592
