Good Vibes Sticker Set

The idea was to create a sticker set of three designs that communicated the good vibes that summer brings. Growing up in California, I figured I’d dig deep to my roots and design stickers that reminded me of the beach. I immediately thought of Volkswagen vans, surfing, and palm trees.

The stickers had to be vibrant, look good in print, and remain cohesive. I wanted them to be able to stand alone or work well together.

Sketching

I took to the sketch books with my ideas in mind. Sketching out variations of similar designs and even other ideas I came up with along the way, I was able to commit to the three designs I wanted to take digital.

This sketching process helped me to decide on three specific subjects. With different variations, I was able to narrow down my designs.

Drafting Process

With my sketches to guide me, I took to Adobe Illustrator to create my three sticker designs.

Each design had their own quirks that needed tweaking. Little by little, I was able to work on each sticker to give them a more professional feel.

The first problem I ran into was with the surfer. The first design was way too abstract for my liking. Through trial and error and using a lot of reference photos, I was able to create a shape worth keeping.

Once I got the basic shape down, it was smooth sailing (or should I say surfing) from there. Through following reference photos, I designed the basic silhouette of the surfer. Although, something still wasn’t quite right. I decided to apply the detailed lines from my other designs to keep a consistent feel and to apply more depth to the flat shapes.

The next problem I ran into was the palm trees in the sunset sticker. I had similar issues with my palm trees being too abstract for my liking. I took again to the internet to find palm tree reference photos to help me along in my design process.

From an abstract palm tree, to a better shape, to depth, this palm tree saw a lot of improvement throughout the drafting process. The final look included the detail lines on the trunk and different shading of the leaves to give the design more depth.

Finalized Design

This finally brings us to the finalized sticker designs! I was able to reach my overall goal and meet my objective of creating three stickers that communicate the feeling of summer. I was also able to meet the vibrant goal and to have these stickers work well both independently and in a set.

Though I met many challenges throughout the course of this project, I was able to exceed my overall objective and work on determining my own style.