stickers the kinko’s way
Here’s what you need.
- a message. This can be a picture, a poem, a slogan or a thought – bear in mind it’s gotta be legible from a xerox, though.
My current favorite (posted in the men’s room stall where I work):
O you whom I often and silently come where you are, that I may be near you
As I walk by your side, or sit near, or remain in the same room with you
Little do you realize the subtle electric fire that for your sake is play-ing within me.
-- Walt Whitman
- a piece of blank, standard sized paper. In the US, 8.5”x11”. In England, A4. You know, typing paper. This’ll be your template.
- a xerox machine. Use the ones at work, or use the ones at your local copy center – it’s where you’ll wind up eventually, anyway.
Xerox as many copies of the message as will fit neatly on one side of that blank paper.
O you whom I often and silently come…
O you whom I often and silently come…
O you whom I often and silently come…
O you whom I often and silently come…
- scissors and scotch tape. So you can attach the copies of your message to that blank piece of paper. Make a single xerox of that sheet, and voila, you’ve got your master copy.
NOTE: It’s a good idea to orient the copies, if possible, into two par-allel columns on your template. Most “crack-n-peel” sticker paper comes with two cracks along the back to peel the backing off, and it’s much quicker to peel two bits of backing off a sticker than three, which is what you get when you have two cracks on the back instead of one. Get it?
NOTE: It’s also a very good idea to make those two columns of messages parallel and symmetrical. You’re eventually going to be cutting these stickers up en masse, and the more long, straight lines you give yourself, the easier it is to separate ‘em out.
- About $1.50 or so. As of this writing (July 2001), that’s the price for a single sheet of crack-and-peel sticker paper at Kinko’s. (Actually, I have a terrible memory for small figures and I’m highbal-ling it a little.) If you live anywhere in any developing nation, chances are there’s a Kinko’s or similar copy center near you. Up the street from Walmart, right by the Starbuck’s, catty-corner from McDonald’s.
Take your master copy to the counter and say, “I’d like this copied on sticker paper, please.” (The “please” is important. Manners count.) The nicely uniformed person behind the counter will copy your mas-ter onto the crack-n-peel, and then say, “Thank you, may I please have $1.50?” That’s when you give the person your money and say, “My pleasure. Thank you!”
If you want to make more stickers, use an additional two dollars and purchase another sheet. Amazing.
The Whitman poem will fit about 10 to 12 times on a single sheet, de-pending on the type size.
Now, when the person in the nice uniform has handed back your sticker sheet(s), you take them over to the table with the paper cutter on it and start cutting the sheet into individual stickers. Lovely proc-ess, that. Very meditative.
- Targets. Personally, I like bathrooms – waste baskets & towel holders are especially nice surfaces, and you’ve got a modicum of privacy. With sticker paper, try to avoid places that are rough or ex-posed to water. It’s not as adhesive as it could be, and erodes under rain. It’s also nice to use places where the sticker won’t immediately be noticed and scraped off by People With No Sense of Humor. Front door of a law office – not so good. Bus shelter right outside – better. Front of stop sign – not so good. Back of stop sign – better. Of course, this depends on the nature of the message. That’s up to you.
Go now, and spread the word.
If you’d like more information and inspiration, check out www.obeygiant.com . Sheperd Fairey will convince you that distribut-ing stickers is a moral imperative. Reclaim your visual space from those who would monopolize it, baby. |
