Happy birthday Post-it

Who'd pay money for sticky paper, when they can use scrap paper for free? Famous last words, uttered - in more or less that way - by the 3M marketing director who initially decided to scrap the idea of Post-it inventor, Art Fry.

Fry had decided to revamp scrap paper by applying on one side the new adhesive developed by his colleague Spencer Silver. Thanks to the tenacity of another colleague, Geoff Nicholson, who believed in Fry's invention, the proposed product eventually got the director's approval, and, as it turns out 30 years, umpteen sizes, shapes and colours, and zillions of notes later, the idea stuck. And if you thought that sticky notes are only good for office memos and to-do lists, have a look below, and think again.

(Source: BBC, the Guardian)

As you can see in Jeff Chiba Stearns's animated short 'Yellow Sticky Notes', you can actually document your life on Post-its (2,300 of them in this case). 

Here's a stop-motion film on an incurable case of procrastination, despite large doses Post-its, which are often prescribed as effective anti-procrastinants. Made by Bang-yao Li.

Artist David Alvarez composes a portrait of Ray Charles using sticky notes

Image source

Yes, you can try this at home. Here's a bedroom mural made with 10,000 Post-it notes.
 You can see more Post-it murals in Russel Elbert's collection on Flickr.

At a pinch, you can even use Post-its to paper your walls, uholster your furniture, carpet your floors:


Image source