Hexionary/Hex Glossary

Useful terminology for those interested in or involved with hex stickers.

Decal hex

A hex sticker design layered on top of a flexible substrate, which due to having an adhesive as the final layer allows it to be applied to a surface (often with the help of water or heat). After the substrate is removed, only the print remains on the surface. Once applied, the print on a decal is seen from the bottom up rather than the top down — so it needs to be mirrored when printed. E.g. "Before getting an actual hex tattoo, he first experimented with decal hexes to see where they would look best on his torso". Also: transfer sticker hex.

Doming

Doming adds physical three dimensional depth to hex stickers, by applying a layer of epoxy or polyurethane on top of the print. This gives the hex sticker additional visibility over other, non-domed stickers in a composition. Note that this extra visibilility comes at a price: on laptops or other devices that are often slid into sleeves or into suitcases or backpack containing other objects, domed stickers may get stuck and either get damaged or damage those objects — depending of course on the relative sturdiness.

Gutter

The even spacing between the edges of individual hex stickers in a non-hermetic design.

Hermetic

A hexagon design that covers the entire underlying surface. A non-hermetic design is either irregular or has a gutter.

Hexagonista

A connaisseur and/or collector of standard hex stickers.

Hexaholic

Someone addicted to creating and/or collecting hexagon stickers.

Hexalicious

A particulary attractive (ensemble of) hex sticker(s).

Hexavaganza

An extravagant amount of hex stickers, at or near the point where it causes cognitive overload.

Hexaverse

The threedimensional volume created by connecting the most distant places in space where hexagon stickers have been taken by mankind. Currently expected to be between 0.1 and 1 trillion cubic kilometers, but once hex stickers are no longer earthbound (thanks to hexplorers) that can rapidly change.

Hexclusive

A hex sticker which is only made available one time, e.g. to commemorate a special occasion (e.g. an event or anniversary).

Hexcompose (verb, to ~)

To carefully layout a hexagon tile composition, searching for the optimal visual impact, cadence, livelihood and personality of the combined stickers as a Gesammtkunstwerk. Unlike a jigsax puzzle where every piece has a fixed destination in the layout (where it 'fits'), in a hexagon tile composition there is no predescribed relative position for each individual sticker. Their shapes may be universal, but the color and personality of each hex sticker is different. Making a creative design of unique individual hex stickers, can involve a significant amount of whexling during a dry-run (e.g. while keeping the back paper attached) before getting the overall composition 'right'. Antonym: to tex-hex.

Hexdrop

The launch event at which a new hex sticker is brought into circulation. Also a verb: "when will you hexdrop this new design"?

Hex editor

This really has little to do with hexagonal stickers. A hex editor is a bit of software that is able to show and subsequently allows to alter raw binary (or other) files through hexadecimal characters.

Hex hazard warning

Stickers on e.g. a laptop are an infosec hazard. In environments where high coercion and machine learning powered surveillance are a thing, your personalised laptop (in fact with any distinguishing visual factor) can be used to fingerprint you. In such situations you should probably use a neutral sleeve for your devices when taking them in public spaces. Also, you nor children or pets in your environment should ever physically eat stickers. Please make sure that people are aware of these risks.

Hexicon

A printed or digital inventory of hexagon designs, derived from the pseudo-Greek word ἑξικόν (hexikon).

Hexify (verb, to ~)

When a project receives its own hex sticker. E.g. "Let's check out the sticker booth to see if our project has been hexified.

Hexile (verb, to ~)

Retire a sticker from active duty because you no longer wish to publicly endorse the associated effort, organisation or topic. E.g. "That project is no longer free software, so I decided to just hexile the sticker I had on my laptop. Alternatively: to hexpel.

Hexit

Hex stickers can be addictive. For some people it is better to quit the hex scene, and move to other, less addictive sticker formats.

Whexle (verb, to ~)

From German "Wechseln": to swap hex stickers with each other during the layout phase of a hexagon tile composition to improve the visual balance. The colors, weight and style of individual stickers may vary a lot, and therefore creating a harmonic overall composition for many people first involves doing a dry run creating a core layout based on e.g. thematic considerations or for instance a desired color pattern, followed by a "bubble sort"-like mechanism where incremental optimalisations are made by swapping hexes with other ones until the final desired result is achieved. Related: to hexcompose.

Hexmas

An event at which at least X new hex sticker designs are hexdropped, and at least Y hex stickers are distributed — with X and Y a matter of personal opinion. For some, hexmas or sticker heaven might start in the vicinity of 10 000 stickers, while for other more seasoned hexagonista the threshold may be significantly higher. There are no fixed dates, but a well-known event at which hexmas may take place is FOSDEM in Brussels (Belgium). There can of course be multiple hexmasses a year, the hex movement is naturally inclusive by virtue of being fully decentralised and autonomous. Sometimes the Father Hex may drop by for a suprise visit, but one shouldn't count on that.

Hex-off

A competition (typically held alongside a hex drop from multiple individuals or organisations) where the contestants pit their designs against each other. Each particpant shuffles a stack of original hex stickers (no duplicates allowed) and puts them face down on a draw pile in front of them. Every turn each of the contestants reveal a new sticker, and there is a vote (from the contestants themselves, a jury or the audience) which of the designs is more aesthetic or otherwise more pleasing than the other one. If there is no clear winner, the points remain on the table for the next round. At the end of the context, the player with the most points obviously wins.

HexOps

The workflow of designing, producing, shipping and distributing hex stickers at professional scale. E.g.: "Jo got fed up with being a software engineer and supporting IT operations at their work, and moved to doing HexOps full-time. It is much more satisfying, although they sometimes miss writing test harnesses."

Hexot

A hexagonal shaped sticker that has a different size or orientation compared to the "standard hex sticker". A hex sticker® adhering to the hex sticker convention is a regular polygon with six sides each 25.4 mm long, with one of the three long diagonals oriented fully vertically (so the hex shape is pointing both up and down). See the hex sticker standard.

Hexpel (verb, to ~)

Retire a sticker from active duty because you no longer wish to publicly endorse the associated effort, organisation or topic. E.g. "That project is no longer free software, so I decided to just hexpel the sticker I had on my laptop". Alternatively: to hexile.

Hexperienced

Being progressively versed in the skills, culture and appreciation of hexagon designs. "She appreciated her profound maturity when it came to the appreciation of hex stickers, it would take her many years to get that hexperienced".

Hexting

The act of exchanging images of hex stickers as part of a long distance relationship.

Hexploit

A cybersecurity attack executed by means of hexagon stickers. For instance, by inserting passive microphones or a thin layer of (h)explosives inside the sticker. Also applies to peel-and-stick hexes, as these allow more easily to hide passive electronical components.

Hexplorer

A person that takes a hex sticker to places where hex stickers have never been before. E.g. "When she was selected for a second mission by the European Space Agency, May finally decided to fulfil her lifelong ambition to become a hexplorer. She took her favourite hex sticker along and stuck it on the wall at the International Space Station, where it remains to this day." or "The expedition to the Mariana Trench turned out to have not one but three hexplorers, each taking their favorite hex sticker along to the depths of the ocean". Not to be confused with the 50.8 kilometer high club.

Hexport

Sending hex designs across borders, for fun and profit.

Hexproof

(disambiguation) a. Some irregular object surface that defies the application of hex stickers, potentially as part of a hexit detox. E.g. "I finally glued sandpaper on the back of my phone, now it is hexproof". b. Some design element that will (nearly) always look good in a hex sticker. "That logo is nearly hexproof. No amount of bad design choices would make it look ugly". c. Cannot be enchanted or jinxed.

Hexstacking

To stick multiple layer of hexagon stickers on some surface. See also: doming.

Hexterity

The skill of physically applying hexagon stickers to a surface in a perfectly regular hexagon pattern (with or without gutter). Perfect hermetic designs in particular are unforgiving and require great hexterity, mastering the art of positioning and aligning each sticker on an entire surface consistently without leaving unintended gaps or creating unnecessary overlaps. E.g. "They admired his grandiose hexterity, the way his supple fingers raced across the laptop surface applying the stickers seemingly effortless".

Hexterminate (verb, to ~)

To completely remove an entire existing layer of hexagon stickers from some surface, potentially in order to restart with a new incompatible pattern. "After that magnificent hex drop at CCC Congress and picking up new hexes left and right, I could not contain myself from dreaming up exciting new thematic patterns for my laptop. I don't like hexstacking so in the end I just hexterminated my laptop - sometime we need to sacrifice the old to make way for the new."

Hextra

A hex sticker included in a larger pattern, not perse because of its own intrinsic quality but in order to complete a specific shape.

Peel-and-stick hex

Peel-and-stick hex decals or vinyl-cut-decals are more or less the inverse of stickers. The print is made on backing paper or other ground layer containing a strong adhesive, after which a vinyl top layer protects the print. Peel-and-stick hexes are used for instance when you want to put your hexagon designs safely on the inside of a glass window or door, but want the designs to be enjoyed/readable from the outside. See also: decal hex

Reproducibility

Technical measures taken to assure that multiple independent print runs of a hex sticker design are always visually identical. Every replica is by definition unique, but within a single print run this is normally within fairly tight bounds. Between different print runs, differences can be much larger. By removing reproducibility issues like converting to standardised print colors, pinning on certain (versions of) equipment, dye/ink vendor, etc — the physical production process can be made (more) deterministic and more consistent quality can be achieved. Part of the responsibility of HexOps. See: reproducibility crisis.

Reproducibility crisis

Many hex designs are made with logos and other graphical elements that were originally crafted for screen, not for print. These 'digitally born' designs are pragmatically handled by printing facilities on a "good enough" basis, but are actually not 100% reproducible. Depending on the printing process (silk screening, offset, digital print) and the actual equipment and materials used by the printer, there are ad hoc (and potentially proprietary) steps taken by the printer to convert from e.g. the RGB color space to the actually used CMYK by their equipment, change print density, use spot colors etc. This is a fundamental issue that obviously only surfaces in the context of multiple independent print runs. When it is only visible after careful scrutiny by hexagonista, the word crisis may be overblown but when the color differences are obvious even to lay people this can cause societal unrest and stress. Note that the term 'reproducibility crisis' is also frequently used in the context of science, to indicate the problem that scientific methodology calls for independent validation of research results but that such validation is often not technically possible because of the lossy process leading up to publication of the research in question. In software, reproducible builds and publication of open data proper format descriptions may form part of the solution.

Texhex (verb, to ~)

To apply hex stickers on a surface without much deliberation, in the crude manner of cowherds in the Wild West ("sticking straight from the stack") — instead of making a careful composition, taking into account the near infinite amount of possible combinations of colors and shapes offered by even a moderately sized surface. Antonym: to hexcompose.

Virtual hexdrop

When a hexdrop has been announced but can't materialize because the stickers aren't ready on time. Generally mitigated by collecting postal addresses during the event to snailmail the stickers afterward. As in: "Jo messed up the HexOps, the stickers are boxed up at the printer facility which closed two hours ago. So we're doing a virtual hexdrop."

50.8 kilometer high club

A hex design can join the 50.8 kilometer high club (which is the cumulative height of 1 000 000 properly sized hexagon stickers properly oriented) in two ways: by reaching a total print volume of one million stickers, or by being been taken up more than said distance up from the Earth's surface. Since the latter is well above the cruise altitude of commercial air flight, it does require significant investment. So far there are only rumours, but no substantiated claims.