Stuff We Like: Nuanced Bumper Stickers

Not the type to rock a bumper sticker? Perhaps your views are simply too nuanced--or ambivalent--for the type of stickers you've seen tooling around town.

Zazzle understands that not everyone identifies with the type of sentiments that commonly characterize the nation's bumpers. Their solution is a special section called Nuanced, Ambivalent, or Guarded, which features sentiments such as...

..."I fervently hope the local squadron defeats the out-of-town squadron in the upcoming sporting contest"...

..."I attended or am otherwise affiliated with a creditable university, to which I give my continued allegiance"...

and the classic, "I support one of the leading political candidates, but that's about all I'd like to say about the matter for now."

Fair enough!

Annals of Sticktivism: You Are Beautiful

It's a simple message one group of artists sees as an antidote to the constant barrage of consumer culture: You Are Beautiful.


A simple, powerful statement they've worked into a number of installations--from street art to gallery exhibitions in Italy, New York, Chicago and Portland, to name a few. And their favorite collaborator, as it turns out, is you. 


'You Are Beautiful' stickers are available for free (or by donation) on their website, and have been posted by admirers of this positive statement all over the world. 

From the You Are Beautiful artists' statement:
The intention behind this project is to reach beyond ourselves as individuals to make a difference by creating moments of positive self realization. We're just attempting to make the world a little better. 

The essence, we believe, of Sticktivism. 

Stickers That Keep it Straight: The Eyebox Organizer

With a number of different pairs of contact lenses, Sharena Walker had a hard time keeping them all straight. That's because contact lenses--whether prescription or decorative (colored)--typically come in vials printed with all their pertinent information, and when those lenses get transferred to a case, all that information gets thrown out.

What to do? Keep all those empty vials cluttering the medicine cabinet? Open every case and try to figure out which pair is which? Sharena had a better idea: a compact jewel-case organizer which would not only keep all those lens cases neatly organized but which would identify them, via a simple system of (what else?) stickers. 

Her innovative invention--the first offering of her new business, Lovely Ideas--is the Eyebox. To use, you simply place a colored sticker on the bottom of a contact lens case and a sticker of the same color next to a line on the Record Keeper, a card that fits neatly in the bottom of the box. Record the info specific to those lenses--brand, color, purchase information, date, cost, expiration information, sphere, base curve, and diameter--and voila! No more wondering, and no more fumbling. 

In creating the Eyebox, Sharena ordered sticker samples from three other companies. Custom Sticker Makers won because of the quality/price ratio. "These little round stickers needed to adhere to the type of plastic used for most contact lens cases," Sharena told us. "They had to be durable, very sticky, and water resistant. CSM stickers fared above the others and won my business."

Stuff We Like: Stickers for the Holidays, Part 1

When you think of stickers as Christmas presents, chances are, you're thinking of stocking stuffers. But this holiday season, we ask that you think a little bigger in terms of what stickers can do for the kids in your life--a lot  bigger.

From Yoda with a light saber to Tinkerbell, space-rockets, dump-trucks and fairy-tale castles, there's not much in the way of childhood obsessions that are not available as a mural-sized repositionable wall-sticker, it seems, as far as Wall Sticker Outlet goes. We're especially fond of this t-rex busting through the wall, though we're not sure it's suitable for kids who wake up at night scared of the boogie man.

Wall Sticker Outlet offers everything from single character stick-ons to full-scene murals, available in Girls Themes and Boys Themes, as well as more mural-oriented wall-stickers aimed at adults. There are also stick-on chalkboard options.

These wall-stickers will run you anywhere between $17 for a single character to $325 for a giant wall mural, just in time for the holidays.

Taking It to the Streets: One Street Helps Bike Groups Help Others

One Street is a nonprofit organization based right here in Custom Sticker Makers' hometown of Prescott, Arizona, but their mission is global in scope--to lift bicycling to the forefront of society around the world by helping bike organizations help others. 

One Street was founded in September 2007 by Sue Knaup, a long-time bicycle advocate at the local, national and international levels. The name came from an idea she had at the age of six on a family trip when she realized that one street connects to other streets and, if the world is round, never ends.

Since then, with the help of advisors ranging from leaders of large and small non-profits and government agencies to corporate CEOs, One Street has helped a women's center offer bike repair job training skills in Uganda, sponsored the manufacture of bikes internationally in disadvantaged areas (with funding from the bike-friendly Ft. Collins-based New Belgium Brewing Company), created a Bed and Bike website listing bike-friendly overnight accommodations in North America, and much, much more.

The One Street logo combines an image of the world with a peace sign and the letters O and S in a kind of continuous street, and stickers bearing this logo have become an important way for the organization to promote the essence of its mission in what Sue describes as "a really cool and simple form." She reports that she's seen them on the bikes, brief cases and backpacks of strangers passing her in different parts of the world.

Why Custom Sticker Makers? The answer is simple enough. "I like you guys," said Sue. "You do great work and you’re right here in town."

Laptop Stickers Pimp Your MacBook (Logo)

We all know Mac enthusiasts are a little different. Now there's a way for them to show the world (and each other) just how different they are, by pimping their Macbooks with laptop stickers from StickWithMeBaby.

StickWithMeBaby is a collection of laptop stickers designed to personalize the apple logo on your MacBook with into something resembling a cartoon head. Each of these heads have plenty of attitude, and come in three distinct categories: Bros, Hos, and Mos.

(While women everywhere will certainly take issue with the title of the second category, there's no denying, it's got a certain ring to it. There's also no denying that these stickers are hilarious.)

The Creepy Uncle

The Horny Librarian

The Stick With Me Baby line of laptop stickers for the Mac is the brainchild of Herraizsoto&Co, an independent creative agency based in Barcelona that's done work for folks like IKEA and BMW.  Stickers are interchangeable, low-tac, and will run you around $10 a piece (8 Euro).

Smoking Out the Competition: HotVapes Personal Vaporizers

HotVapes started in early 2010, after Tim Roche's girlfriend Helen got her first personal vaporizer (also known as an e-cigarette). At the time, she was a pack-a-day smoker who had no intention of quitting--but after using her new vaporizer, she walked off an airplane and never bought another pack. Tim realized that if it helped her, there was a good chance it would be able to help others, too. Thus was HotVapes born.

Currently, the company sells a number of different personal vaporizer packages at different price points, as well as a selection of different flavored liquids. These liquids contain propylene glycol (a common chemical approved for foods) mixed with flavors, much like a hookah tobacco, but without the toxic chemicals such as carbon monoxide, tar, and benzenes. These liquids are available in flavors like Mango, Blueberry Fest, and Coconut Dream Pie, and are available with or without nicotine.

While HotVapes is still just starting out--and mainly sells through its website, HotVapes.com--the company is seeing more and more distribution at tobacco and headshops across the country. (In case you were wondering, despite the fact that they've been covered in Headquest Magazine, HotVapes cannot be used for marijuana.) The company's merchant customers are expected to display the HotVapes sticker in their storefront windows, letting the public know that they carry HotVapes personal vaporizers. In this way, HotVapes hopes to make its brand easily identifiable to anyone familiar with personal vaporizers.

Why did Tim and Helen choose Custom Sticker Makers for their sticker printing?  "Mainly we liked your site, found it easy to navigate and your customer service was very good," said Tim. "Reasonable prices always helps, too."

(Bottom photo: Ash's Wicker Park Tobacconist, Chicago)

Stuck Up Piece of Crap: From Punk Rock to Contemporary Art

Memorably title, "Stickers: Stuck Up Piece of Crap: from Punk Rock to Contemporary Art" is a new art-book by DB Burkeman with a little help from street art icon Shepard Fairey (as well as Monica LoCascio and Carlo McCormick). Together, the authors tackle the history of stickers in a variety of musical sub-cultures, including punk rock, raves and hip-hop.



Says one Amazaon reviewer: "To be brief, if you have even a passing interest in Punk Rock, Graffiti Art, Rave Culture, Club Culture, Sub Culture or just Graphic Design, this book is an absolute must have. Essays by the Authors and Shepard Fairey beautifully connect the dots from the sub culture of sticker design, production and broadcast to its influence on our every day lives. The book is wonderfully, curated, and the design on the pages is beautifully laid out."

MTV.com chimes in with:
"For DB Burkeman, stickers are those little markers that document our culture. Whether it's the first 'Watch out! Punk is coming!' sticker slapped up on the Lower East Side in late 1970s or a 1930s R. Stanton Avery silk-screened political bumper sticker, they capture a point in time that somehow defined American culture. So it only makes sense that Burkeman, along with his partner, Monica LoCascio, got to researching the art of stickers and churned out Stickers: From Punk Rock to Contemporary Art. The 300-page book traces the visual and social history of the medium, and explores the relationship artists have with their pieces and how they communicate with viewers." ~MTV.com


Jeff over at the Websticker blog also has good things to say, so we know, as far as stickers go, this book has got the goods.


At $23.10, this book seems like a good deal for a coffee-table book--but here at Custom Sticker Makers, we're interested in the deluxe hardcover $175.00 version, complete with vintage stickers. 

Sneaker Sticks: Vans Fansite Goes Off the Wall

Bill Cruz is man with a passion for sneakers--Vans, in particular. A few years back, he discovered a number of kindred souls online, many of them Vans collectors, all of them part of a bigger sneaker subculture that's seen rapid growth over the last decade. Together, they created a web forum for fans of all things Vans, now in its second incarnation at www.offthewallsite.net. 


Since launching the new site last year, Bill-and friends have amassed about 550 daily hits on average to their blog, and grown a forum to the 200 member mark. Clearly, there are a lot of people with a passion for Vans. The question, of course, was how to reach more of them. 


Custom stickers were a natural fit for a  fansite promoting this brand, as custom stickers have long been a staple of the streetwear clothing industry (which no doubt appreciates the free advertising on skateboards, BMX bikes, and the like). In creating a sticker for the Off The Wall Site, Bill and company took an iconic Vans model and produced a die-cut version of it, with their website across the sidewall of the shoe. 

Why Custom Sticker Makers? Bill--officially known as DJGaumstyles--was looking for a sticker site that was willing to do small orders, as most sites require a 1000 minimum--far more than they needed to get started. "I have never ordered stickers before, ever, but ordering from you guys was so seamless, and quick, that I will definitely be using you guys again, and I will refer others for sure," he told us. Apparently, CSM's prices didn't hurt, either. "Your prices are the cheapest around, but make no mistake, we are getting well more than what we pay for, when ordering from you guys!"

Annals of Sticktivism: Textbook Disclaimer Stickers

Since 1996, Alabama has mandated that an evolution disclaimer sticker be placed in every biology textbook in the state. Frustrated with this--as well as a similar set of stickers used by the Texas Board of Education and Georgia's Cobb County School District--Swarthmore associate professor of evolutionary biology Colin Purrington decided to take matters into his own hands and create some stickers himself.

Printable on a home printer on standard-sized labels, many of these stickers mimic the language of the Cobb County disclaimer, which reads: "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

Many of Purlington's labels were also designed to go on science textbooks, pointing out that things like gravity and heliocentricism are also scientific theories--while others are actually designed for pseudo-science books promoting creationism.


Apparently, Purlington has received some hate mail for his efforts on behalf of science education--but we imagine, with over 4 million visitors to this page, he's made some friends, as well.