What do you use when you have a visual message, or many messages, to post for public consumption? Answer: a bulletin board. But while you need the flexibility to change these messages frequently you also need to maintain visual order. Now the answer is not so certain. Add the extra challenge of placing the visual display in a high traffic and very public space, meaning sharps such as thumbtacks and pushpins should be avoided, and now a common bulletin board is clearly not the answer. Bulletin boards, aka cork boards, are a commonly relied upon tool, and are assumed status quo for relaying notes, message posting, and other visual communication to a varied public. They allow for messages to be posted as needed and changed at will. And we assume the standard always works just fine. But not so fast. There are a number of gotchas with this approach. Standard bulletin boards, you know the kind made of corkboard, and sometimes other materials as well, and require staples or thumbtacks for attaching papers, quickly become unkempt and disorderly. You’ve seen, or used, them countless times. Messages quickly become covered with other messages, nothing is structured or easily read, and the entire approach to clearly sharing news quickly becomes disheveled. A visual hodge-podge! With the few exceptions of users who methodically organize and maintain their postings (and are the only ones making changes), these information platforms become a place to completely avoid instead of a magnet to those seeking information. This is why you’ll seldom see a bulletin board photographed with messages posted to it in office supply catalogues. They simply don’t maintain a tidy appearance. These tack boards, or memo boards, also pose risks and safety hazards from sharps, especially when children are concerned, due to the very thumbtacks and staples that inevitably stray to the floor or the hands of our curious youth. A potential place for chaos, clutter and tears. This was the exact scenario recently encountered by a community library in a Chicago suburb. They needed to share the library’s activities, events and services with their visitors. To ensure that the information was readily available to the library’s daily traffic, the postings were to be placed in the lobby, through which every visitor would pass. For the Bensenville Community Public Library, the standard bulletin board approach was not a viable option. They desired a professional-appearing display and one that stayed that way. Further, because the ideal location was immediately above a drinking fountain, they also needed to prevent water splashes on the postings, and avoid using staples and pushpins, etc. Their search for how to create an uncluttered bulletin board uncovered the Boardless Bullentin Board. Was it the perfect solution? Absolutely.
