Sticky notes

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A sticky note

An adhesive label , a sticky note , or a sticky note , as it Post- or Haftie is known a small piece of paper , on the back side a with pressure-sensitive adhesive has coated strips with the one it to another (smooth) object sticking, residue-free from there can loosen again and stick again.

Properties and use

The adhesive effect loses itself over time, depending on the nature and possible contamination (dust, grease) of the respective surface. In order to avoid overstretching the adhesive layer in relation to the paper and to achieve optimal adhesion, sticky notes should be peeled off from the side of the pad if possible.

The sticky notes were initially canary yellow, since the underlying patents have expired, they have been available in many different colors and shapes from numerous suppliers. Sticky notes are also popular giveaways . They have become a ubiquitous office tool today . A special feature are the permanent adhesive beads on the adhesive strip. They make it possible to stick the note several times on a wide variety of surfaces and remove it again without leaving any residue.

history

In 1968, Spencer Silver of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) worked on developing a new super glue that would be stronger than any known glue . The result of his work, however, was just a sticky mass that could be applied to all surfaces, but was just as easy to remove. The only product that developed from it was a kind of pin board , but it was supposed to do without pins. The board was smeared with the adhesive so that notes could simply be stuck on and removed again. Since this board was not selling well, it was withdrawn from the market and Spencer Silver's invention was forgotten.

Years later, in 1974, Art Fry , a church choir member and colleague Spencer Silvers, was annoyed that his bookmarks kept falling out of his music books while standing. He remembered his colleague's invention and got a sample of the glue from the laboratory . He wrote it down on little pieces of paper and tried out his invention in church the very next Sunday. Indeed, his bookmarks adhered reliably, but were still easy to remove without destroying the sheet music . The post-its were invented.

The original sticky note is canary yellow and has a size of 76 × 76 mm. There are now more than 400 product variants from different manufacturers, the term "Post-it" has become a deonym for all kinds of sticky notes. In Germany approx. 4.5 million blocks (of 100 sheets each) are sold each year (as of April 2005).

The US magazine Fortune declared the sticky note to be one of the most important inventions of the 20th century - together with the refrigerator , the Boeing 707 and the compact disc .

Use as an art object

A wall mosaic made of sticky notes
A “Lennon Wall” in the wake of the protests in Hong Kong in 2014

The sticky notes are stuck to walls and window panes in different colors in order to depict different motifs. This type of art is called “Post-it-War.” The background is the Rayman motif from the Ubisoft company , which was countered by shooting hares from the building of the major bank BNP Paribas opposite .

This trend can also be found in Germany at various events. For example, at the world's largest computer fair, CeBIT, in March 2012, the side aisles of the IBM booth were covered with various lettering as well as IT and game motifs. Such art objects can also be found on the windows of public buildings such as schools and universities. You put z. B. popular characters from computer games such as Pac-Man , Space Invaders , Super Mario or Bubble Bobble , etc.

See also

Web links

Commons : Post-it notes  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Post-it is a registered trademark of 3M.
  2. Gerd Niewerth: Post-it was: War of the sticky notes in Paris office district . West German newspaper . Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  3. ^ Post-It War at CeBIT 2012. Ben's IT comments. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014 ; accessed on February 27, 2014 .
  4. TrendJam Magazine: Post-it® art war, graphics with sticky notes, trend from France now also in Germany . Retrieved October 13, 2012.