A white and blue creature with orange paws printed on a bright vinyl sticker is a common sight in the hallways, upon door frames, or on windows. Since the beginning of the school year, these stickers have been plastered around, raising confusion and curiosity among students.
The junior student behind this mini Banksy-esque project has dubbed the creature “Harbor” and he identifies with it as his fursona, asking to be called by this name in the article.
The sticker is a fuzzy area, according to the Bear Facts, where vandalism has to have malicious intent; the sticker is not meant to bring harm, only create community.
The sticker started back in the summer, when Harbor printed a design created by his friend for furry events. He figured giving out stickers would create interest and have stickers become recognizable; he soon opted to print 2,000 stickers to give out for fun.
Harbor tracks the development of the sticker as being for fun at first, becoming an inside joke, and then eventually being used to represent self-expression. He has never intended to spread a specific message; he thinks of it as a bonus that people are starting to interact with and form a community around it.
“Now it’s a symbol of not changing things about yourself to appease the opinions of others and also emphasize that things aren’t always that deep,” Harbor said.
Many people around the school have begun to recognize these stickers, believing that Harbor’s design has created a sense of community at the school.
“Pretty much everyone knows what I’m talking about if I ask them about the sticker,” junior Eamon Holohan said. “I think they’ve become a part of the school’s charm and culture.”
The stickers have also been used to spread awareness about something not commonly talked about outside of social media.
“I think it’s helping to break the stigma around furries,” junior Mari Slater said. “It causes people to ask questions and furries stop being some weird, faraway entity.”
Slater admits to not knowing much about furries before becoming friends with Harbor. She has an understanding of furries as a group of creative people who are looking to express themselves in an artistic way.
Other students also notice these stickers not only around the school, but around the community as well.
“They’re not just at Creek, if you look closely around the area, you might find them on stop signs, fast food places, stuff like that,” Holohan said. “There’s also a whole bunch at Regis and Grandview.”
But not all recognition has been positive.
“There’s also some groups that are not big fans of the stickers,” Harbor said. “I’ll walk around sometimes, and I’ll see Trump stickers over [them].”
Despite small acts of retaliation, most students simply view the stickers as harmless and enjoy recognizing them among the community.
“I think the stickers are mostly harmless, and it’s pretty funny how widespread they’ve become throughout Creek,” senior Daniel Roitman said.
