National Sticker Day
While it may surprise you to learn that 13 January is National Sticker Day (in America, of course) it probably won’t surprise you to know that it is a recent thing (since 2016) created by, you guessed it, a sticker company (in America, of course).
The date was chosen in honour of R. Stanton Avery, who is credited with creating the first self-adhesive sticker in 1935. I wonder what he thought about the role that his invention has played in enabling Sticker Art — also known as sticker bombing, sticker slapping, slap tagging or sticker tagging.
According to Wikipedia, the first officially recognized example of sticker art in the USA is “André the giant has a posse” by Shepard Fairey created in 1989.
In the early 90’s that sticker went viral throughout the US. Which is impressive considering it all began in what was essentially the pre-internet era. I remember seeing it, or at least copies, stuck to phone poles on my college/university campus and wondering what it was, who put it there and why?
It took decades, and an Obama campaign poster design, before I learned the background of that sticker. Most sticker art, however, stays anonymous. The graphics or wording may catch your eye, but it’s unlikely that you’ll ever get more than instant gratification.
To honour the day, here are six more sticker art samples for your enjoyment. Happy slap tagging!
1. Carnaby Street
2. North Greenwich
3. King’s Cross
4. Finsbury
5. Charing Cross Road
6. My iPad case
(Editor’s note: I wonder if the local councils can send an invoice to the Avery estate to cover the costs of removing all these stickerbombs?)