They are funny, attractive, versatile, and set you apart from the crowd. What am I talking about? You guessed it; I am talking about stickers! From laptops to phone cases to walls, you can slap them just about anywhere.
Stickers can also be used to give your brand exposure. You can use them in product packaging, as branding merch giveaways, or even use them in trade show booths.
Your best bet at creating winning sticker designs is by giving them a custom look. So, give your creativity a boost by going through this blog, followed by designing your own stickers.
Make incredible sticker designs by using the right colors
Before you begin designing your awesome sticker, you need to realize that stickers are incredibly small images. So, you need to pick the right color schemes that are in line with your brand image. However, using vibrant colors for images is advisable. The idea behind designing a sticker is to quickly grab the attention of the audience; hence, using vibrant colors makes sense.
Use big, bold fonts
There are various reasons for designing stickers. If the reason behind creating your sticker is sharing a strong message, then using bold, legible fonts makes sense. Using big letters will make it that much easier to share your message with the world. Using unique font styles will make your brand stand apart from the crowd along with fostering brand identity.
Experiment with designs
Have you considered shocking your audience with your sticker designs? Have you thought of experimenting with dark and creepy colors? Well, if you have not, then it is advisable that you do. The whole point of designing a sticker is to let your imaginations run wild. So, if you have something edgy in your mind, but you are somehow not sure about using it, then you should go for it.
The idea behind branding is to let your customers and potential buyers know what your brand is all about. And, nothing could say it louder than an attractive sticker.
Stickers as a branding strategy
If you have been following our blogs, then you already know the importance of proper branding strategies. Apart from using your logo or merch giveaways or traditional forms of marketing (TV, radio, and print), stickers can be a fun way to market your brand.
As a part of a serious branding strategy, stickers can be used to convey major issues and important events. For example, financial institutions and IT companies use a combination of blue and white to convey security, safety, and professionalism. Some stickers share important information, such as providing important service numbers or warning about a security breach. If your brand shares something important, then you should seriously think about a sticker design that can effectively communicate such details.
Try a retro look
Retro looks are the latest fads. Whether or not you are a vintage brand, designing a retro-looking sticker can work out well for you. Psychedelic color combinations, varied illustrations, and line drawings are perfect for retro stickers. If you are a brand that deals with packaging, music, or even food and drinks, vintage-looking stickers may be perfect for you.
Use classic symbols
Well, there is nothing better than a classic-looking sticker. Whether you target a large group of audience or want a wide range of people to know about your brand or product, going for tried and tested stickers may be just what your business needs. Using classic visual cues, such as styles, colors, and images may set your brand apart from the crowd.
Funny characters
Using funny characters can be your sure shot to fame. Whether we admit it or not, we all love cartoons! When we see some of our favorite cartoons from yesteryears, we can’t help but smile. A brand can use the nostalgia of funny cartoon characters to create attractive stickers. If you are a small business or a start-up with limited funds, you can try a funny cartoon character for your sticker because it saves time and money. Plus, they are incredibly attractive.
Minimalistic sticker designs
Just like minimalistic logos, flat-looking stickers are now the talk of the town. Minimalistic stickers are simple, fun, and sophisticated. Using minimum colors and getting rid of designs that clutter the look are the best ways of creating memorable stickers. While you may be tempted to use complex designs, creating minimalistic-looking stickers may turn out to be more fruitful.
Follow trends
Stickers are the best way to show you are trendy and cool. Whether you are a small business or a big brand, stickers not only help foster brand identity, they also make you look contemporary. You can create a trendy logo or a sticker by using a variety of colors and the latest design trends.
What kind of stickers you can design
When it comes to stickers, you can practically design anything; however, there are various popular stickers that can be useful when you think about marketing your brand. The following stickers are extremely popular and can be designed easily:
Water bottle stickers
Reusable water bottles are not only the newest fad; they are also useful in reducing toxic waste. Reusable water bottles are something that you will carry around every time you go out, so it makes perfect sense to personalize your water bottles with stickers.
If you are looking to market your brand, then water bottle stickers are your go-to solution.
Car stickers
Car stickers are extremely popular all over the world, and their demand is only rising. Whether you want to share a funny message or a funny one-liner, a car and bumper sticker is the best way to do it.
You can use custom typography along with solid colors to make your car sticker attractive.
Laptop and phone case stickers
Just like a reusable water bottle, you will be carrying your mobile phone whenever you go out. Kiss-cut stickers are ideal for laptop and phone case covers. Kiss-cut stickers are easier to peel off, which is why they are widely used for laptops and phone cases.
You can use emojis or your brand logo as kiss-cut stickers.
Wall stickers
Wall decals are a popular and cost-effective way of designing your room. They are trendy and well-liked by children and teenagers. Wall stickers are an exciting way of making your interior design.
For the children’s room, you could design something fun using cursive fonts. You could also use a combination of blue and white while designing wall decals for serious businesses, such as software companies and real estate.
Small business stickers
Producing brand merchandise such as t-shirts and hoodies could be a costly affair, especially for small businesses. However, printing bulk sticker pages is cheap. People love stickers, and as an entrepreneur, you could tap into that by creating tailor-made stickers. Creating custom stickers is not only cost-effective; it is also a great way of increasing brand awareness.
Best platforms to sell your stickers
The more you are willing to spend your time and money on marketing and promoting, the better will be your chance of finding a great place to sell your custom decal. But, if you are a start-up or a small business, there are plenty of online platforms that can help you set up your sticker store. The following are some of them:
Etsy
Founded by John Silverman in 2017, Etsy is an online platform that focuses on vintage items. From bags to jewelry to toys, the e-commerce company has some rare collections. You could easily use their platform to showcase your custom stickers.
Shopify
Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Shopify has more than 1,700,000 businesses using their platform from all over the world. The platform allows you to both create and sell stickers on their platform.
Redbubble
Online marketplace Redbubble was founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2006. The online platform is known for print-on-demand products, the artwork for which is provided by the users. The platform boasts of selling stickers that can be used on helmets, laptops, water bottles, and more.
Printify
Just like Redbubble, Printify is a print-on-demand platform that allows customers to work with a plethora of print providers. The platform has an easy-to-use sticker store, where you can easily create your custom decal and sell them.
StickerYou
From “custom die-cut vinyl; stickers” to decals to tattoos, StickerYou has it all. The platform is one of the best online sites if you are looking to create products for your business. The online marketplace allows you to order in any size and quantity.
Threadless
Founded in Chicago, Illinois, by Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart, Threadless is a platform that chooses designs based on votes by an online community. The platform boasts of sharing some of the best stickers available today.
Bonus: Top 10 tips to create stickers that stick
Now that you know how to create winning stickers, it is time to look at a few pro tips on designing them. The following ten tips will help you design stickers that can immediately hook the attention of your customers and potential buyers.
- Stay Simple
Whether it is your company’s logo or stickers, keeping things simple is the best thing you can do. That said, if you are under the impression that a sticker could communicate everything your brand stands for, then you will have to rethink your strategy. Stickers are not meant to be visually complicated. Whether it is a phone case sticker or wall decals, the best ones are always simple.
If you are designing your own custom sticker, you first need to jot down the idea in the simplest way possible. If you decide on hiring a designer to do the job, you need to brief her in the simplest way possible.
Here is a great video on designing stickers.
- Experiment with shapes
Shapes and colors are known to affect the mind in various ways. A circle evokes joy and cheerfulness, whereas a square portrays reliability and security. When it comes to stickers, you can experiment with different shapes to convey varied meanings. If you want to attract various groups of people, choosing unconventional shapes may work to your advantage.
Related: Logo shapes and their meaning
- Let the designs breathe
Whether in personal life or designs, space is an essential ingredient. The best way to ensure that your sticker design has enough space to breathe is by making sure that it is not cluttered with excessive design elements. Additionally, try not to mention your brand in every sticker you design—it defeats the goal of the stickers.
- Less detail
A sticker is meant to be fun; however, cluttering it with extra details may make it look rather confusing. Adding too many details can destroy the sticker’s ability to stick out. While adding details to stickers can be great for a tattoo artist, it usually backfires for a business.
- Use CMYK color profile
Let a graphic artist design your sticker, and you can be sure of one thing: she will most likely not use the conventional RGB color model. The CMYK color model has cyan, magenta, yellow, and black as its primary colors as opposed to the RGB color profile, which uses red, green, and blue as its primary hues. Most companies use the CMYK color profile to print stickers, so if you are going to do it yourself, the CMYK color model is your go-to solution.
- Include contact information
If stickers form part of your marketing efforts, it is a good idea to include your contact information. While stickers are just small images, you can still find decent ways to include your contact info in them. A QR code or a social media handle is acceptable in this kind of format.
- Raster vs. Vector
Raster and vector-based computer applications are designed to perform completely different sets of tasks. While raster images are created using pixels, vector images predominantly depend on mathematical paths. Adobe, for example, has Photoshop to create raster-based images and Illustrator to create vector-based designs.
Choosing a vector-based computer application to design stickers makes more sense because you can enlarge any size without compromising with the quality, whereas using a raster-based application will constrain your designs since altering their size will diminish the quality of your stickers.
- Set the bleed
In printing, bleed is the area beyond the trimming margin of the printed sheet. Bleeding ensures that the entire design is on the sticker when it is trimmed. You can ensure that a part of an image is not clipped by setting the bleed area correctly before printing.
- Discuss the quality with manufacturers
You may have designed an attractive sticker, but what use is it if the quality does not show after the print? Depending on the manufacturers, the quality of the image may vary, which is why you must consider the specifications of the manufacturers before designing your stickers.
- Test the vinyl
Just like the artwork, the vinyl of the sticker is another component that makes a great sticker. As a marketer, you should ensure that the vinyl sticker is of good quality. You can test the vinyl of the sticker by sticking it on your phone case. You could also rub the sticker against a rough surface to check the vinyl.
Conclusion
Stickers are small, but their impact is huge. When it comes to brand awareness campaigns, these little devils can help you spread the word around. They are cost-effective, appealing, and everyone likes them. So, design your stickers and let the world know about your great brand!
Businesses accross the world have consulted DesignBro to build their brand with logo, website, packaging design and much more.
We can help you too!
Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the Media and Digital marketing sector, Passionate about innovation and bringing the future into new business solutions.
