Label 228 is a

sticker A sticker is a type of label: a piece of printed paper, plastic, vinyl, or other material with temporary or permanent pressure sensitive adhesive on one side. It can be used for decoration or for functional purposes, depending on the situation. ...

issued by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

for labeling

Priority Mail The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

packages with a mailing address. Label 228 is available free of charge at all USPS Post Office locations or delivered by mail when ordered online. Due to the widespread availability of Label 228, and the relatively large areas of blank space within the design, it has been widely used in

sticker art Sticker art (also known as slaps in a graffiti context) is a form of street art in which an image or message is publicly displayed using stickers. These stickers may promote a political agenda, comment on a policy or issue, or comprise a subcatego ...

and

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

more commonly known as "slaps". Unlike many other stickers and labels, Label 228 is free, and can be acquired in large quantities. It can be drawn on using many different artistic media, including

acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Dep ...

s and simple

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail of ...

s, as well as

inkjet Inkjet printing is a type of printer (computing), computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper or plastic substrates. Inkjet printers were the most commonly used type of printer in 2008, and range f ...

and

laser printer Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-quality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a Electric charge, negatively charged cylinder call ...

s. They can also be applied to many surfaces very quickly, reducing the risk of being caught.

History

The

United States Post Office Department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, established in 1792. From 1872 to 1971, it was officially in the form of a Cabinet of the Un ...

introduced Priority Mail service in 1968. The Post Office Department was replaced by the United States Postal Service in 1971, and when

Special Delivery Special Delivery may refer to: * Special delivery (postal service), a postal service for urgent postal packets Literature * "Special Delivery" (short story), a 1953 short story by Damon Knight * ''Special Delivery'' (novel), a 1997 novel by ...

service ended in 1997, Priority Mail and its counterpart Priority Mail Express became the fastest services offered by the Postal Service. In its intended use, Label 228 is a Priority Mail address label, for use on domestic and international packages. Photojournalist

Martha Cooper Martha Cooper is an American photojournalist. She worked as a staff photographer for the ''New York Post'' during the 1970s. She is best known for documenting the New York City graffiti scene of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984, Cooper and Henry Cha ...

first saw stickers used for graffiti in the 1980s, using commercial name tags. According to Cooper, graffiti artists switched to Priority Mail labels because of their large size, broad availability, and stickiness. Label 228 also provided opportunities for commentary on the government, although some artists remove the USPS logos for the opposite effect. Label 228 likely became popular for graffiti in the late 1990s. Hrag Vartanian of ''

Hyperallergic ''Hyperallergic'' is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinki ...

'' argues that by 2002, "the culture of the postal sticker was well established in the world of graffiti," and a 2002 compilation of graffiti stickers shows Label 228 slaps from 2001 in multiple locations in the United States. Label 228 was redesigned in 2016, adopting a vertical format that is intended to reduce misdirected packages. Some artists continue to prefer the 1998 design of Label 228, a horizontal design featuring a large white space and a blue band at the top. Label 228 was redesigned in December 2023 with slight typography changes and the position of the logo and Priority Mail elements were swapped.

References

External links

Label 228 at The Postal Store
Visual arts media Graffiti in the United States Stickers United States Postal Service {{postal-stub

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links