Sizes
They come in various sizes. I don’t actually know what the official sizes are, so I came up with my own system: XS through 2XL—like t-shirt sizes.
These sizes are documented on a display wall in my Studio. It's part of the “design system of my office” (more on that in a future post).
Having this system makes it faster and easier to identify what I need at a glance.
Supply
My main stash of binder clips lives in a box, in a drawer, in another room.
There’s also a local supply in the Studio—a small box filled with mixed sizes, plus a few treasury tags (another paper binding tool).
That box is basically the "stuff that holds paper together" bin.
Inside, I keep a Kanban-style reorder card—with a QR code that links straight to Amazon—so if I’m running low, restocking is frictionless.
I’m not picky about brands. Whatever’s available in the size I need will do.
Usage
I mostly use binder clips in three ways:
- To organize
- To build
- To hold things
1. Organization
Binder clips are my go-to for grouping related items—usually paper, but not always.
I prefer them to staples because they’re non-destructive and adjustable. Clip on, clip off. Add more, remove some. No tears, no holes.
I use them to bundle index cards and printed notes.
In this photo, there’s a clip for my daily work notes (schedules and todos), one for a current project (redacted), and one for print-outs of annotated drafts for an internal blog post.
2. Building
Binder clips are one of my favourite building materials.
The clamp and lever mechanism makes them ridiculously versatile.
They’re the key component in my BRB flag—a DIY attachment to my webcam that physically flips into frame when I step away.
It’s lo-fi, but highly effective. No one ever wonders what happened to me in a meeting.
They’re also in my pen clips, hat mods, and pocket notebook hacks.
3. Holding
This is different than organizing.
This is about physical grip: holding things up, mounting things, or temporarily clamping things in place.
On my glass laptop stand, I have a binder clip gaff-taped to the edge—so I can slot in my daily schedule card and view it like a music sheet.
It’s my DIY version of Ugmonk’s analog system.
If I’m mocking up a multi-page printout, binder clips help align edges before I commit to tape.
Outside of the Studio, they’re everywhere:
Holding curtains closed.
Sealing chip bags.
And my personal favourite: squeezing every last bit of toothpaste out of the tube.
It just works
So! Binder clips.
Nothing fancy. Just simple, effective design.
Sometimes the best tools aren’t high-tech or high-concept. They’re humble, everyday things—waiting to be noticed, appreciated, and used well.