By learning how to design stickers, you can turn your imagination into reality and recreate some of the most beautiful and colorful pieces of your childhood.
Collecting pretty little stickers is a fond childhood memory of many people. Then why should you not learn this fun way to bring back those delightful memories?
And now by learning how to design stickers, get ready to present your passions in a creative way that can be about building your very own business or just a fun pastime in support of a fandom you are in.
1. What are Stickers?
Stickers are wonderful printed artwork or illustrations with adhesive on the back so that they can be attached to certain objects or places. Traditionally, stickers were made to decorate things – add a splash of color to a box or make some plain furniture look more fun.
Stickers can be of various types based on their material, look, and purpose. They include:
- Paper Stickers: These are the most cost-effective kinds and come in three varieties – high-gloss, gloss, and matte. While paper stickers are not waterproof they are used widely for packaging and labeling purposes.
- Vinyl Stickers: Considered to be the most durable variety among stickers, the vinyl ones are the most popular. They are used mostly for labeling outdoor equipment due to their waterproof and chemical-resistant nature.
- Textured Paper Stickers: Made with better materials than normal paper stickers, the textured varieties also add an aesthetic touch. By adding a coat, they can be made moisture resistant as well.
- BOPP Stickers: Ideal for labeling food products, biaxially oriented polypropylene stickers are a perfect substitute in place of vinyl stickers. They come in three types – silver, white, and clear.
Nowadays, however, stickers can also be made and bought in digital form. Stickers can be both for professional purposes or just for fun. They can be elegant business logos made for marketing or just some bright and silly stuff that kids play with. Either way, even though it might sound difficult, you can do it on your own.
2. How to Design Stickers in 6 Fun and Easy Steps
You can always walk up to a stationery shop or click a few buttons on your computer to buy a bunch of wonderful stickers. But where is the fun in that? You should come up with your sticker designs and even start a sticker business.
By learning how to design stickers all by yourself, you can unleash your creativity and make something colorful and unique to share with the whole world.
2.1. Think of a Design
The first thing that you have to do is let your imagination run wild and then structure your ideas. Do not just rush into anything. Think carefully about what your vision for your sticker design is and then work your way into making that a successful project.
You will find plenty of ways and areas to look for inspiration that will help you design and create sticker templates. Some places to find sticker ideas include:
- Things you love, such as your hobbies and interests
- Artistic designs and styles that you love
- Communities and fandoms that you belong to
- Anything that you find inspirational, like quotes from a book or a movie
- Symbols that represent aspects of your life
- Logos and brand slogans
- Fandom art that is based on books, movies, TV series, comics, and more.
- Abstract designs
- Things that can symbolize the objective or purpose of a company (for professional stickers for organizations)
Once the inspiration strikes the art will come easily. So you can start designing stickers in many ways. It can be something for a professional business or just a fun little something you would like to stick on your laptop. Whatever that may be, spend a considerable amount of time thinking and visualizing before you pick up the pen or stylus.
2.2. Create the Art
Once you have decided on the exact art you want to make, it’s time to create it. Now, there are many ways and apps to do so. It is better to sketch your idea beforehand and develop it further when digitizing it.
Some artists prefer the traditional ways of making the design on paper with pens and colors. After the art is finished it can be scanned and then converted to stickers. The other option is to directly start sketching on your device of preference.
For the drawing phase of making stickers, numerous artists prefer an iPad along with the app called Procreate. These go perfectly with an Apple Pencil, allowing you to draw, shade, and texture everything that you want to illustrate. There are even options to download additional brushes, both for free or for payment. This will let you expand even further in terms of artistic choices.
Even though Procreate is a popular preference among many, any kind of digital art application, like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, GIMP, Canva, and more can be used for making stickers.
If you are not a fan of this technology and prefer traditional ways, you can also scan your non-digital art to an application and then convert it into stickers. However, it is better to use the digital medium so that the original look of the art can be maintained. A lot of the time, the colors and even the structure of the design can get messed up during the process of scanning and digitalizing the art.
A lot of factors come up when making art for stickers. Most artists prefer to go for bright and striking colors compared to neutral tones. Colorful stickers are much more loved by kids and they are better for decorating purposes as well.
However, if you are making business logos or symbols, you can tone it down a bit. You should be meticulous when deciding the colors, making sure that they look good together. A lot of times the wrong shade can ruin the aesthetic of a sticker. The subtle difference between using navy blue, royal blue, or medium blue, or mixing up pastel pink with hot pink can make the overall look of the sticker unattractive.
Another important thing to remember is that any art that you intend to use should preferably be at least as big as the size of the sticker that you want to print. The image quality should also be of a minimum of 300 dpi and saved as a PNG file. For the little details to make the final product perfect, check the factors of RGB (Red, Green, Blue) or CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key or Black) percentage, brightness, and saturation before clicking the print option. This way you will be able to properly ensure the final product has the same colors and quality as that of your original art.
After the perfect picture is made, only then you should proceed to the next step – that is to print out your sticker. Now once you have printed it there is no way to make corrections or changes unless you start at the very beginning again. So this step of designing and deciding on the art is the most crucial part of the entire process.
2.3. Decide the Printing Medium
A proper printing medium of good quality is an absolute necessity for getting beautiful stickers. The good news is that you will not need any fancy or expensive equipment for this part. A printer that you have at home will do the job just fine.
A lot of people do the entire thing at their home from beginning to end, while many opt to use a professional printer from a shop to create their stickers. You will also find various online dropshipping businesses that will do all the work for you.
If you are wondering whether you have the proper printer for the task, the answer depends on the design of your sticker. However, any four-color inkjet printer having a 1200 dpi print resolution will more than do the job perfectly. In the rare event that your sticker art needs additional color ranges and better tonal options, try to find a printer with at least six cartridges.
In general, these are considered to be some of the best printers for making stickers at home:
- HP’s Envy 6055
- Epson’s SureColor P600
- Canon’s PIXMA TS6220
- Canon’s Pixma Pro-200
If not done properly and with utmost care, printing the stickers can end up becoming much more expensive than you anticipated. If you fail to do it right the first few times, chances are the cost will exceed your budget. To make sure that does not happen, there are a few tips that you can try:
- Choosing and combining the right shades of colors from the beginning
- Selecting the best paper type that can work with your particular art and design
- Making sure all the cartridges have enough color before starting the printing process
- Inserting the sheet into the printer’s slot smoothly
- Let the ink dry fully before getting them laminated and turned into stickers
By remembering these simple tips, you can make sure that the whole printing process goes without any complications. Once all the designs have been printed, the following step is to cut them out.
2.4. Cut the Stickers out
Stickers can be printed with multiple unique kinds of cuts and finishes. Determining these details from the start will assist you in creating the perfect stickers.
After the printing is done, you will have to carefully cut out the stickers. There are principally two basic cuts that are used by most sticker makers.
- Die Cut Stickers: These styles of stickers are cut to correspond to the exact shape of the art of design of the sticker. That can be as easy as a circle or triangle or can end up being as tricky as a spiral loop or something delicate like flowers and leaves. By this technique, both the sticker and the paper backing for it are cut into the identical shape.
- Kiss Cut Stickers: This refers to when the cut is done through the exterior sticker layer but not the paper backing of it. After the sticker is peeled off, the backing and its border are left behind. This process can be used to create sheets of stickers having numerous designs.
2.5. The Finishing Touch
All stickers have a distinctive appearance and feel based on the variety of materials that you use for printing. Among the most popular kinds, you will find:
- Clear adhesive sticker paper
- Glossy paper or vinyl sticker paper
- Prismatic
- Matte
- Mirrored
- Holographic glitter
- Holographic
Your stickers will appear different depending on the type of materials on which they are printed. For instance, fine details are most likely to look better on a matte sticker, while holographic stickers are ideal for bolder art. You can also have fun by doing some experiments with various finishes before settling for one.
2.6. Sell or Stick Them
Now that you have completed all the chapters and steps involving how to design stickers, all that remains is to use or sell them. This completely depends on what you want.
Designing stickers can be a personal hobby or a brilliant way to start a business. Why buy those expensive stickers from the shop when you can make something just the same or maybe even something better all by yourself? All you need are a few supplies and a dash of imagination.
Not to mention that designing and creating stickers can be a great way to begin your business. Both traditional paper stickers as well as digital ones are trending in the art and craft industry right now. Be it a simple logo for a company, fandom things, or something colorful to stick on furniture or other objects, if you do it right, you are going to be a successful business owner in no time.
So, wait no longer and start developing a proper plan. Whether you end up selling stickers at a little shop or some online sites, it is a wonderful career option for creative and artsy souls.
3. Closing Thoughts: Stick with the Stickers
Stickers are not just a sweet memory of your childhood days. They are still going strong and have now become a fun and creative way to begin your very own small business. They are trending products on online platforms like Etsy and are a fun way to show your creativity while getting to earn a few bucks!
Another good thing is that you do not need to be a trained artist to make stickers. Anyone with a knack for doodling and a good eye for details can try this activity. Making stickers does not need any fancy devices nor does it demand a massive cost. Just a lovely DIY project that will challenge your creativity.
So wait no longer. Visit a stationery store or order the stuff online. With only a few affordable things you can create a ton of lovely and colorful stickers. Learning how to create stickers is just the first step in changing your imagination into reality.
4. FAQs
Are you still confused about what are the best ways to know and learn how to design stickers? Then keep reading to discover the responses to the most frequently asked questions about designing and selling stickers.
4.1. What are the best apps for designing stickers?
If you want to design and print traditional stickers the art apps are the best options. You can choose from a great selection like Adobe Photoshop, Canva, or Procreate. Digital stickers can also be made by these. All you have to do is make the file in PNG format with a transparent background.
4.2. What are digital stickers?
Digital stickers are just PNG images with a transparent background that can be put into other digital files. Based on functions, they are quite similar to traditional custom stickers.
This is because, like physical stickers, they also add something to the object or file to which you stick or insert them. So digital stickers work the same way they would on paper, except that they need to be inserted digitally.
4.3. How to print stickers?
To print your stickers, you will need to have some quality sticker paper. You can buy stickers of all colors, shapes, and sizes online or from an art or stationery store.
Always make sure to select the sticker paper compatible with the model of your printer – whether laser or inkjet. In case you do not own a printer, you can also try the services of Sticker Mule or GotPrint to have your stickers printed.
4.4. How to sell stickers?
The job is not done once the designing and printing part is done unless it is only your hobby. In case you want to sell stickers, there are two options. First is great if you have a stationary shop either online or offline.
However, the more popular option nowadays is to sell stickers online mostly in the digital format. For that are plenty of prominent online stores like Etsy, Canva, and Payhip.
Last Updated on by rahuldey7417