Using Paper Clips in a Web Design: Examples for Inspiration

President of WebFX. Bill has over 25 years of experience in the Internet marketing industry specializing in SEO, UX, information architecture, marketing automation and more. William's background in scientific computing and education from Shippensburg and MIT provided the foundation for MarketingCloudFX and other key research and development projects at WebFX.

A designer’s creativity is often showcased in the little details and touches that he or she incorporates in a design. Using common, familiar objects as design elements to accent and ornament a web page is a wonderful way of showcasing one’s attention to detail.

For inspiration, I explore the trend of utilizing paper clips by providing excellent examples to showcase how designers make use of them.

These People Comedy.com

These People Comedy.com - Use of paper clip as an ornamentRealistic paper clip used as a design ornament.

Blog.SpoonGraphics

Blog.SpoonGraphics
A paper clip is used to hold up a piece of cardboard material, pinning up the RSS feed button.

Home Design Find

Home Design Find
Here, multiple paperclips are used as ornaments to the design.

Viget Labs (teamviget.com)

Viget Labs (teamviget.com)
A paper clip is used to hold up a strip of paper, with an important message that summarizes the purpose of the web page.

Point of Entry Consulting, Inc.

Point of Entry Consulting, Inc. - screenshot of using a paper clip on a logo
A paper clip is incorporated in the logo of the design.

Jeremy Thomas

Jeremy Thomas logo screen shot showcasing the use of a paper clip in a logo
Another use of a paper clip to hold up the name/logo of the website as well as the polaroid picture of the owner.

Robert Kwiatkowski

Robert Kwiatkowski
Robert Kwiatkowski holds up his logo with a paper clip.

Chemistry Recruitment

Paper clip used to hold up testimonial and message box
Paper clips are used to hold up a piece of paper with a testimonial of the service offered, and well as holding up a message that summarizes the intent of the web page.

Sabalan

Sabalan - use of paper clips to hold up a stack of polaroids
A paper clip is used to hold together a stack of paper.

Leeds Web Design

Screenshot of paper clip used as a design accent
Another example of a paper clip used as a design ornament.

If you’ve gotten inspired to incorporate them into your design, you can simply take a picture of a paper clip lying around the house or office, and then importing the image into your favorite digital image editting application. You can also create it yourself using a vector creation tool such as Adobe Illustrator.

What are your thoughts on using common objects such as office supplies (paper clips, post-it notes, stacks of paper, tape, etc.) as design elements of a web design? What are some cool ways of using them in a web design? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.