Design personalized stickers, product labels

A memorable and functional sticker is beautiful, iconic, meaningful and functional. Here are wise tips on how to create outstanding stickers.

1. Capture the Characteristics of the Object.

One of the most important aspects of sticker design is to create an sticker that is immediately recognizable. Whether it is meant to represent a blue frog or a tin of pencils, what it is trying to portray must be identifiable at a glance or the purpose of the sticker is defeated. A sticker must, of course, be 'iconic' of the metaphor it represents.Sometimes it's better to choose the more complicated form of an object because there are fewer other items that share those unique characteristics, making the specific object you're trying to portray easier to identify. There are plenty of cylindrical objects with pointy tips besides pencils (pens, markers, nails) and at smaller sizes they might be indistinguishable, but only a pencil has a prism-shaped body with an eraser attached by a bright white metal ring. It becomes 'iconic'.

2. Beware of Cultural Differences.It is always necessary to take into account the conditions in which your sticker is going to be used. An important aspect here is national characteristics. Cultural traditions, surroundings and gestures can differ radically from country to country.

3. Use Out of the Ordinary Color Combinations.If a sticker is created as a bland graphic presented in a circular shape it is likely to be overlooked. Using strong colors and an interesting shape that reinforces the object will help the sticker to stand out. Basically there are two aspects that are the base of a good sticker : 1) shape, and 2) use of color.

4. Carefully Plan Out Your Design Process.Sketching is a common process in any aspect of design and it continues into stickers design. Fleshing out a range of ideas on paper really helps develop a concise product that fits the requirements of its purpose.