Look!: Binder Clips for Art

4-2-08 binder clips.jpg Recently we've been thinking about binder clips, after having seen some great tips on here about using them for organization and hanging art. And maybe it's like when you learn a new word you start hearing it all over the place, because we recently spotted the tip in action.

Dema on Valencia has this great poster hanging to the side of their front window... on binder clips! It's completely unobtrusive and works well when glare might be a concern- in this case, so passersby can actually see the image rather than whatever is going on in the street behind them.

Comments (11)

Don't do this if you live in an area that's damp or you'll have nice rust marks where the clips meet the poster. I found this out while living at the beach.

Love the poster! Anyone know where I can find it?

That's great for artwork that you aren't concerned about conserving - but quality/vintage items like this need archival materials and UV resistant glass to prevent the paper from deteriorating and the image from fading.

I have this exact poster hanging in the same way. Most of these large vintage advertising posters are mounted on archival paper and then linen, which stabilizes the fragile paper and makes it a lot sturdier. In this picture the clips are not actually touching the original poster, just the backing.

As for where you could find these posters, there are some shops that specialize in them. If you're in the bay area, there's a guy at the Alameda Flea Market that specializes in large vintage advertising posters. He might not currently have this one, but you could ask. Also, there's one for sale right now on eBay. Search keyword "FAVOR POSTER" and scroll to the bottom of the screen. The seller is in Australia, and the buy it price is $1300 AU. It's actually been up for months, if not a year, so maybe the price is high, but I'm guessing that's what you might find in a shop. I got mine years ago from a poster gallery in New York for a bit less...

Wow - that's an awesome poster!!!

While I agree it looks great, I have to admit that I cringed when I saw this.

Even if you are not in a damp environment or direct light, you run the risk of putting crimps in the print and later end up spending twice what you would have spent in framing on conservation...

For something with no resale value, or something sturdy (and not paper!) like that vintage beach towel, this is a great option. But please think twice about using this technique to hang anything printed on paper with any kind of monetary or sentimental value...

If you do decide to use the clips, it looks a lot cleaner to take out the front handle. You can also get clips in other colors to coordinate with whatever you're hanging.