by Giancarlo Gallegos

Now, that I got your attention. I want to tell you a secret.

I love Post-Its. Period. I think they are one of the best inventions in the world. If there is anything I cannot live without, it would probably post-its. Okay. Maybe that might be an exaggeration. But, who has not benefitted from that yellow 76mm squared colored adhesive piece of stationery? I could never think of a more effective tool in reminding me of the things I need to do, of creating a stick man flip book, of communicating with others during meetings, of flagging emails print outs, bookmarking the last read chapter of my favorite novel, etc.

Lets Travel Back

If you are one of those unfortunate ones who is not familiar with Post-Its, here is a brief description of what they are. A Post-It note is a piece of stationery with re-adherable strip of adhesive on the back. It was designed to temporarily attach notes to documents and other surfaces such as walls, desks, computer screens, and so on. The most common color you would see is the yellow 76 cm square note (see image below). The unique thing about Post-Its note is that it uses low tack adhesive the can enables the note to be easily attached and removed on any surface without leaving marks or residues.

It was co-invented by Art Fry and Spencer Silver of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Comapany or 3M, in March 9, 1970. Leveraging its yellow note success, 3M decided to manufacture other product related to the Post-It brand such mini post-its, highlighter pens with post-it tabs, etc. Computerized versions came out soon after.

Common Uses of Post-Its

As I was researching on ways to use post-its, I stumbled upon a very interesting article that provided a good laugh of various ways of using that yellow stationery note.

1. 1. Leave a Love Note for Your Spouse (Who does not love a kinky note stuck in your briefcase?)
2. Create Your Daily To Do List
3. Take Notes on What You’re Reading.
4. Let Everyone Know a Machine is Out of Order
5. Write a Book in a Few Hours
6. Be Passive Aggressive With Your Boss (Afriad to ask for a raise?)
7. Give your toddler something to do
8. Create a Stick-Man Flip Book
9. 9. Torture Cat (Stick a post-it on the cat’s hip and watch her go dizzy trying to get if off. I’m serious, it’s fun. Only one at a time though, more than that would be cruel.)
10. Communicate with others during seminars/meetings
11. Cover the surface of your co-worker’s entire cubicle with Post-It’s
12. Create wall art
13. Brainstorming with Others.

14.Remind Yourself of the Name of Person Lying Next to You (One night stand? Don’t forget the name, stick a post-it on her/his head)

1. Personalized Notes as a Gift.

16.Be Passive-Aggressive with Your Roommate (Hate your roommate? Leave him/her Post-It notes everywhere)

1. Use a stack of yellow post-it notes to get offered a job (Jim Kukral got creative in a job interview & got the job …see his video below or at http://jimkukral.com)
2. Write a Note to God.
3. Nag Yourself to Save the Earth
4. Take Notes at a Seminar
5. Use for a wedding dress.

A Designer Tool: A Challenge To Creativity

But, how does Post-It benefit us designers? One of the greatest challenge that designers face is creativity. I previously wrote an article on Mind Mapping and described various ways mind mapping can spur our mind to be more creative. In conjunction with mind mapping, Post- Its is another effective and creative way to keep us developing interesting ideas. I developed a system for myself to bring a pad of post-its to wherever I go. If I suddenly get inspired or get a “light bulb” moment, I scribble it down on a my post-it and stick to my visual diary to mind map later. It may or may not be useful but it keeps me entertained and my mind working.

In addition, post-its are a great way to get your brain to fire up. What do I mean? In my previous article, I mentioned that there are times when creative designers experience blocks similar to a writers block. In my experience, post-its have helped me get my mind working by creating alternative uses for them. Here are some of examples of what you can do with post-its:

Challenging The Paper Napkin

More importantly, Post-Its are effective management tools. As a freelancer, apart my calendar, I use post-its to remind me of the things I need to do for a client. I make sure that I keep a folder of every client I work with and in that folder, ideas or discussions are sometimes written in post its which I can review and work on later.

Recently, I read an article written by Bill Bartman, a selfmade billionaire and author of the   book, Bailout Riches. In his article, he challenges the business owners and entrepreneurs to fit critical elements of their businesses on a table napkin. My own proposal is use Post-its instead of napkin. Post-Its are smaller. Ergo, if you can identify the critical business elements to fit in the small colored stationery then you know what your business is all about.

Some of the ideas, I mentioned here may or may not be useful to you. In my mind, these are just some example on how common day items can be a source of inspiration for us designers. I guess, the only ingredient needed is just our imagination.

Giancarlo Gallegos is a writer, communications designer photographer, entrepreneur, and a post production professional based on New Zealand. He is the official photographer for a little pink pig’s travel blog called The Adventures of Spider Pig. You can view his work on www.giancarlogallegos.com. On his spare time, he travels, cooks, drinks coffee and mind maps new ideas.