James Ward has an unusual attachment to paper clips. And when he sees one, he sees "a piece of art, but it's also a piece of useful art." And like any serious art appreciator, he is also a collector.

The paper clip is something of a fetish object in design circles. Its spare, machined aesthetic and its inexpensive ubiquity landed it a spot in MoMA’s 2004 show Humble Masterpieces. This was a ...

It takes a confident writer to begin a book with a long discussion of the evolution of paper clips, push pins, and binder fasteners before even touching on sexier subjects like glue, sticky tape, and ...

All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Gizmodo may earn an affiliate commission. Reading time 6 minutes When ...

In the patent literature, the term "prior art" is virtually synonymous with "state of the art," the standard against which any claimed improvement is necessarily judged. Normally, "state of the art" ...

The paper clip plays a variety of roles, all small, in legal history. That smallness looms large in Jay W Stein's gripping study Something Little and Shiny on the Judicial Stage: The Paper Clip. The ...

Ever been fiddling around at your desk in the office, wondering if some grander structure might come from an assemblage of paper clips, pens, and binder clips? You’re not alone. Let your mind ...