All About Stickers

Stickers are everywhere these days, telling enviable tales of adventure on the back of RV's, breaking the ice at gatherings with those embarrassing "hello my name is" tags, completing handmade and professional product packaging and distributed as the "go to" swag piece at events and concerts. Stickers are a major part of the marketing matrix for lifestyle brands, with loyal fans eager to self-identify as part of the tribe.

Patriotic flag and political campaign stickers placed with pride or cheeky stickers that make us LOL have become a staple of our morning commute. And let's not forget the detective work of decoding those white oval country code stickers.

So yes, you've seen stickers everywhere but did you ever wonder how stickers came into such wide use or when they were first used? Read on for a quick history and some great information that will help you print custom stickers to build your own brand.

A Quick History Of Stickers

You'd have to walk like an Egyptian to have seen the first stickers in use, in the markets and cities of ancient Cairo and Alexandria. Savvy merchants began pasting papyrus signs advertising prices of their fruits, vegetables and bangles.

Now, if you're a stickler for detail and a piece of papyrus pasted to a wall doesn't fit the definition of a sticker, then we need to jump ahead to 1839 in England when the first adhesive paper was invented for the use of postage stamps. The paper had to be licked to make the gum adhesive stick and yes these still exist today - yuk!

Adhesive paper became very popular as manufacturers and marketers used "stickers" to brand their products en masse with colorful paper labels adorning boxes and crates with everything from logos to full on ads and sale price points. These labels simply needed to be applied with water, much like wallpaper, to whatever needed a pop of color.

Now if you think of a sticker as something that does not need to be licked or applied with moisture then we need to look to Mr. R. Stanton Avery who founded The Avery Labels Company in 1935 based on the invention of self-adhesive labels. Avery is still a major player in the sticker industry today with direct to customer retail products and a full line of commercial stocks made just for the printing industry.


Mr. R. Stanton Avery

What Kind Of Stickers Do We Print At Clubcard?

Great question! We literally have hundreds of sticker printing options to choose from, and with that many choices, we figured we'd break it down into the 3 main sticker printing methods we offer. We have many ways to provide cost-effective options for everything from single full color wall decals to short run standard or custom cut shape vinyl stickers as well as stickers printed in Pantone ink colors and foil stamped.

Latex Sticker Printing

Full color vinyl stickers printed on our state of the art latex ink printing system are perfect for fast, short-run weatherproof stickers, and with minimum quantities starting at just 10 stickers you can't go wrong. We even offer single print wall stickers and adhesive window posters when you want to add a splash of style to your home or retail shop.

Stick with Clubcard for the best full color printing of your latex weatherproof stickers in standard and custom shapes for indoor and outdoor applications. Supplied on sheets for easy hand application or as single stickers for giveaways and promotions, latex full color stickers are printed on durable vinyl stocks including:

Permananent Standard Shape Circles, Squares, Rectangles & Ovals
Permanent Custom Cut Shapes
Clear Vinyl Standard Shape Circles, Squares, Rectangles & Ovals
Clear Vinyl Custom Cut Shapes
Adhesive Window Posters

Don't see what you're looking for? We're happy to help you with your unique vinyl sticker printing projects, just as us for a custom quote we're happy to help!

Full Color Offset Sticker Printing

Offset sticker printing merges the latest technology and a traditional printing press to produce paper stickers with incredibly high quality at amazing prices. These non-weatherproof full color stickers are printed with soy inks using stochastic screen technology resulting in magnificent reproduction of photographs and detailed artwork, finished with a high gloss UV coating to make your colors pop! The perfect choice for high quality, single cut full color sticker orders starting at 500 units up to 5,000 units. In addition, if you want to expand your full color palette with unlimited foil colors on your stickers, choose our foil effects option to create dramatic stickers that will demand everyone's attention.

Check out these offset sticker printing options;

Glossy Full Color
Full Color + Foil Effects

Flexographic Sticker Printing

Flexography printing (or "flexo"), is ideally suited for sticker orders starting 500 units and offers the best pricing for sticker orders over 5,000 units compared to our other sticker printing methods. Flexo stickers are printed with Pantone spot colors or full color on a large variety of stocks. Flexo printing offers incredible options to create your unique stickers including foil stamping, embossing, special adhesives, durable weatherproof stocks, single cut or supplied on rolls, bar codes and variable data, tamper-proof security features, bumper stickers, die-cut custom shapes and stickers that have special temperature requirements.

Here are just a few of the many flexo sticker printing stocks we offer;

White gloss
White uncoated litho
Natural kraft
Metallic
Fluorescent

With so many options, let us help you with your flexography sticker printing project, just ask us for a custom quote and we'll get back to you real quick!

Still Can't Even?

Don't stress - whatever you have in mind we can help make it sticky! We are here to help you print the perfect sticker and promise not to monkey around when it comes to your project.

Too many choices?

Ask us for a free sample pack so you can see and feel the choice and be sure to tell us which sticker stocks you would like us to inlcude.