They are practically everywhere. On bumpers, water bottles, laptops and many more objects. Stickers can be seen all over the place and they hold a special place in the hearts of thousands and on the landscapes of this place that we call home. However, with great sticking comes great responsibility.

When it comes to putting stickers up, there are a couple of things that need to come into account before any item gets stuck. There are unspoken rules that apply before applying stickers, but the rules aren’t the only things to consider when placing stickers, for style points also come into heavy play in this arena.

Starting with the simpler of the two considerations, the style has an important role in your sticker placement. Stickers can be found in nearly every store in Colorado—a sticker prone state—and there are more designs than one could count, not to mention that there are sites and locations where you can create a sticker of your own.

Depending on how you plan to dispense your stickers, the design comes into play. If the sole purpose is to fill space and make an interesting collage of stickers, the only consideration for which stickers to use relies on personal preference to eye-catching pictures, shapes and colors and these stickers can be found wherever stickers are sold.

If the purpose is to leave a mark as to where you have been or to provide some sort of personal and sentimental feeling, then the search for a proper sticker is much more intensive. These stickers typically are best when made by the user and therefore have sentimental value just by being real. When considering sticker types, there is only need to wonder just what kind of sticker you want, the more valuable will take more time to find, but is well worth it.

Then there are the rules to the placement of stickers, which is the most important part of placing stickers. There are two situations that require different rules to placement: on personal belongings or public areas. Any type of personal item has practically zero guidelines to it, only personal preference is a factor.

In many cases, overlapping stickers is considered blasphemous as it covers parts of the previous stickers and can make a loud picture. Of course, this doesn’t bother some people, and those animals can just go crazy for all I care, as long as their excess stickers don’t bleed over onto any of my water bottles.

Using the public arena for your canvas requires a little bit of finesse. There are unspoken rules to where you can place stickers, so let’s try to name them the best we can. If there is ever any sign, make sure that it isn’t a very important one and to never cover the info displayed. Emergency exits and employee only signs are a definite no-go, however, bathroom signs and arrows are perfectly fine as long as the writing is still visible.

Most poles and giant signs are fair game as well, as there is typically no information on them or enough empty space for sticker placement. A big indicator of whether or not to place stickers on any of these is if there are other stickers around it, as this usually indicates whether or not the location is pro-sticker.

There are several rest stops and ski resorts that feature stickers scattered around their landscape, making them perfect places to place stickers, while places like national monuments and anything in nature are and should remain spotless.

When stickers are utilized correctly, the places that are littered with the decorations have a unique community feel about them. When hundreds of people leave a sticker in the places that they have been and that spurs more to do so, it fosters a scenery for others to add onto and to continue the tradition. There is no interview process or hazing to be a part of this community, just some tasteful outlines and a sticker or two.