Last weekend I came across a cool poster at Get Graphic in Gardens Centre. It is the same poster seen in Mulder’s basement office in the first season of The X-files. Apparently the poster was originally designed by the X-files production team, but it could not be reproduced, so the marketing team had it redesigned in later seasons of the show so that it could be merchandised. Mysteriously, the one I got is a replica of the former design, so they must have found a way to print it after all.
Since acquiring my little treasure, I have been investigating different ways of hanging posters. I was looking for a non-destructive solution, since in my experience Prestik and similar tack leave fatty marks ruining both the wall and the poster.
Framing or box/block mounting was my first thought but it is an expensive option. The quotations I got started from about R250. I have to mention at this point that the poster only cost me R20, so paying over twelve times that amount to hang it on my wall seemed a little pretentious!
Enter the binder clip…
I found two very nice and simple poster hanging solutions on Apartment Therapy – one using skirt hangers and the other using a single binder clip.
I liked both these ideas so I combined them. Here’s what you need:
- 5 x binder clips @ R2,50 each
- 1 x 8mm wooden dowel @ R4, 50
- 1 x masonry nail
- A small hacksaw
- Hammer
- Measuring tape
- Pencil
Measure the width of the poster, then saw the dowel to that length. Attach the dowel to the top of the poster using three binder clips. Measure to make sure the middle clip is exactly centred to the poster.
The poster will hang from the middle clip, so find the spot on your wall where the nail needs to go and make a small pencil mark. The nails used in cable clips (see the tools picture above) are designed for concrete so they are perfect for the job. If you are afraid of cracking the plaster, you can drill a small pilot hole using a very thin masonry bit, otherwise go ahead and hammer the nail in carefully leaving enough of it out to hang the clip from.
That’s it – hang your poster! If the bottom of the poster curls up, you can add a binder clip or two for weight. You can see a picture of the result at the top of this post.
Benefits of this method:
- non-destructive to the poster
- no fatty marks on the wall
- poster is interchangeable
- earthquake safe (I would never have thought of this one, got it from that post on Apartment Therapy ;)
Downsides:
- You have to use a nail in the wall
- It’s probably not very wind-resistant
Let me know if you have any other good ideas for posters!