The badge design is really cool this year. It contains a very simplistic PCB with two LEDs that can be set into blinking, on or off modes by a button on the back. The DefCon booklet tells the story of the badge, but you can also read about it from the Associated Press. The badges were designed by Joe Grand from Grand Idea Studio:
“This particular badge, because it’s electronic, is hard to counterfeit,” Grand said as he pointed to a circular plastic badge with two blinking lights at the top. “To make something like this in a few days could cost a lot of money.” The circular badge’s deceptively simple design features the Defcon logo of a skull and crossbones and a smiling face. Two light-emitting diodes designate the eyes, and a tiny microprocessor inside causes them to blink in four different ways.
