A Post-it note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to be easily attached, removed and even re-posted elsewhere without leaving residue. The Post-it's signature adhesive was discovered accidentally by a scientist at 3M. 3M's Post-it has won several awards for its design and innovation. remain registered company trademarks, with terms such as "repositionable notes" used for similar offerings manufactured by competitors. While use of the trademark "Post-it" in a representative sense refers to any sticky note, no legal authority has ever considered it a generic trademark.

History

thumbnail|upright|left|[[Arthur Fry with a Post-it note on his forehead]]

In 1968, Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M in the United States, attempted to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead, he accidentally created a "low-tack", reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive for the aerospace industry. For five years, Silver promoted his "solution without a problem" within 3M both informally and through seminars, but failed to gain adherents. In 1974, a colleague who had attended one of his seminars, Arthur Fry, came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmark in his hymn book. Fry then utilized 3M's sanctioned "permitted bootlegging" policy, which allows employees to spend some of their work time on projects of their own choosing, to develop the idea. Fry provided 3M employees with a prototype of the product, and individuals started exchanging messages, demonstrating the product's communicative effectiveness. A year later, 3M launched a massive marketing campaign known as the Boise Blitz. The following year, they were launched in Canada and Europe. Post-it Notes as we know them were patented by Fry in 1993 as a "repositionable pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet material".

Post-it Flags were introduced as a new way to organize with color coding, filing and indexing.

In 2014, 3M released Post-it Super Sticky Dry Erase Surface, an instant dry erase surface that is stain-free and customizable to quickly fit on walls, cabinets, desks and more.

In 2019, the Post-it App was relaunched. and was included in Pirouette: Turning Points in Design, a 2025 exhibition featuring "widely recognized design icons [that highlight] pivotal moments in design history".

Awards and honors

The Post-it team received the internal 3M Golden Step Award in both 1981 and 1982 in recognition of their creation of a lucrative product that resulted in substantial new sales. Additionally, in 1981, they were honored with 3M's Outstanding New Product Award.

In 2010, the creators of the Post-it note joined the National Inventors Hall of Fame as a result of the widespread success of the Post-it note.

In 2019, the Post-it app was awarded 'Best of' App of 2019 by Google Play. His 1997 suit against 3M resulted in a confidential settlement. At a preliminary hearing, a federal judge ordered the parties to undergo mediation.

In 1997, 3M sued Microsoft for trademark infringement for creating an electronic Post-it in Microsoft's Office 97 and using the term "Post-it" in a help file.

Types

thumb|Illustration of yellow Post-It note pad on yellow Post-It note pad

Post-it notes come in a variety of colors, collections, sizes, and rulings. The original Post-it note color is Canary Yellow, the color of the notes when they were initially invented, and it remains one of the most popular colorways to this day.

They offer a wide variety of advantages in a classroom—for instance, they are cost efficient, don't take time to set up, and are simple enough to be used by almost any age group. They have uses in concept mapping, labeling models, and more. They can also be used when explaining and teaching about broader terms like genetics.

They are used in the workplace both to convey information and to offer praise or words of encouragement. They can help boost communication between coworkers and can help communications between departments. They can also serve to praise people or tell them to keep up the good work.

They can be used to annotate textbooks in place of standard highlighting and sideline note-taking methods, allowing the pages to remain free of markings. Additionally, Post-it notes can be used to visually guide students to important points in the textbook, helping them find information faster. Students can easily collaborate on an organizer by each contributing one idea or clause on a Post-it. In Grey's Anatomy, the Post-it became an iconic symbol of commitment after Meredith and Derek used a blue Post-it to declare their wedding vows, a significant pop-culture moment. In season six of Sex and the City, the Post-it was used to facilitate a breakup.

Post-it notes have appeared in episodes of various TV shows, including The Office, Parks and Recreation, Being Mary Jane, and Doctor Who. The posts under this hashtag feature Post-its as art mediums, bookmarks, flipbooks, and more. One LinkedIn member posted about mapping the customer journey through Post-its with tips on involving different team members and organizational strategy.

Persuasion

Post-it notes may have a positive effect on how people interact with information presented to them. This is backed up by research that aimed to determine how attaching a blank Post-it note to a survey affected participation in the survey. The research found that the surveys with affixed Post-it notes were more likely to be completed and returned, and that the participants were more likely to write higher quality responses to the questions.

Art

thumb|Post-it notes used to create a [[mosaic]]

"The Yellow Stickee Diary of a Mad Secretary", by Rosa Maria Arenas, is the mini graphic journal of an office worker/artist, exhibited July 7 through August 25, 2013, at the Michigan Institute of Contemporary Art (MICA) Gallery in Lansing, Michigan. The 41 drawings displayed are a tiny percentage of the more than 2000 original drawings that constitute the Yellow Stickee Diary Project which Arenas created while working temp jobs from 1994 to 2005. Printed with archival inks on archival paper, the reproductions include "stickee sized" (3″ × 5″) framed prints and enlargements of the original drawings (which were all done on Post-it notes).

In 2012, Turkish artist Ardan Özmenoğlu was selected to have a solo exhibition at Bertrand Delacroix Gallery in the art district of Chelsea, Manhattan. The exhibition, titled "E Pluribus Unum" (Latin for "Out of many, one"), opened November 15, 2012 and featured large scale works on Post-it notes.

thumb|left|[[Occupy movement Post-it notes at the Paradeplatz in Zürich]]

In 2004, Paola Antonelli, a curator of architecture and design, included Post-it notes in a show entitled "Humble Masterpieces".

Rebecca Murtaugh, a California artist, who uses Post-it notes in her artwork, in 2001 created an installation by covering her whole bedroom with $1000 worth of the notes, using the ordinary yellow for objects she saw as having less value and neon colors for more important objects, such as the bed.

The Lennon Wall, a message board created during the 2014 Hong Kong protests from a stretch of curved staircase in the Central Government Complex, is covered in multi-colored Post-it notes with handwritten messages from supporters.

In 2011, at the Munich, Germany Apple store, a group of Apple fans paid tribute to Steve Jobs by constructing a portrait of him out of 4001 Post-it notes. The use of Post-its resembled pixel art as each Post-it acted as a single pixel. Smith used Instagram as a platform to engage with the social injustice posed by the pandemic. Covid Manifesto is part of an online exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art, which premiered on September 3, 2021. Levee set up tables and chairs in Union Square Station and invited commuters to express their thoughts and feelings on Post-it notes. Plans are presented here and the public can freely share their ideas, opinions, and feedback on potential projects, often in the form of Post-it note annotations. In 2016, at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, the public wrote their reflections on the life of Prince on Post-it notes and posted them near the exhibit. Some Post-it notes were archived by the museum to preserve the public sentiment expressed at the time.

Notes

References

  • Acrylate-copolymer microspheres [adhesive formula]
  • Repositionable Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive Sheet Material [sheet material]
  • Post-it homepage
  • Post-it Note History by 3M
  • Stavroula Karapapa, (2019). Post-it note. In Claudy Op den Kamp and Dan Hunter (eds.), A History of Intellectual Property in 50 Objects, Cambridge University Press.