Reading List

Friday 7 October 2011

Post-It-ese

A trend for 2011 has been the re-emergence of the post-it. This week, at Apple stores across the world, it was the low-tech post-it note that people used to pay tribute to the hi-tech visionary Steve Jobs. 


Photo credit: Twitter user @lautenbach

In London over the summer, we had the Peckham Peace Wall after the riots. People expressed their frustration, shock and optimism on notes stuck to a boarded-up discount shop.


Photo credit: Flickr user Celie

In Paris, there was even La guerre des Post-Its. Office workers competed over who could make the best art from the sticky notes.


Photo credit: postitwar.com

What is it about the post-it note that makes it popular now? 

Low-tech. Physical. Mobile. Playful. Free from rules of grammar and etiquette. Anonymous.  I guess all of these. 

Post-Its were massively useful for me over the summer as I ordered my thoughts on old postcards for my dissertation. Not just because they were easy to move about but because they made me engage with the form - the short, written message. 

There's more in this... any thoughts?





6 comments:

  1. Yup - I have a whole pad of the smallest ones parked next to my computer where I can easily make notes while I'm doing my research - usually just web addys. I'd have way more bookmarks than I can deal with if I used the machine to keep track. Much easier to discard when I'm done, too.

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  2. Handy little things the post-it notes. Love them. Fun post! Happy PFF!

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  3. The Peckham post its are now residing at Peckham Settlement http://www.peckhamsettlement.org.uk/index.html and were on display at their end of summer party AGM last month.
    I think it's something to do with the throwaway/casual nature of the post it that makes really serious messages written on them all the more profound - a bit like post cards!

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  4. Likewise, I used post it notes when I wrote my dissertation 10 years ago as a mature student. Being the collectaholic I am I still have them, each with a number pencilled to the back so I can see what order they go in.

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  5. Of course you still have them! Brilliant.

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