How to draw a sticker: tips

Sticker is an English word that translates into Russian as "sticker". So you can use both names, the meaning will be the same. Everyone has been familiar with stickers since childhood, and everyone knows that they are colored pictures on different topics. They were collected and traded.

Now not a single self-respecting social network can do without stickers. Their popularity is gaining momentum, more and more new characters appear, illustrators draw them with pleasure and many successfully sell them. In this regard, some may have questions: where did they come from, where are they still used, how to draw a sticker yourself and on what Internet resources can it be placed?

History of occurrence and methods of use

First, let's talk about printed stickers. They appeared in America in the 80s. The first homemade stickers were from postal stickers that had just enough empty space to either write on. Then they were cut out and glued on.

In the modern world, stickers are used for different purposes. They are printed and used for branding goods or simply for those who like to glue color pictures everywhere.

Basically they are made on a vinyl basis. This makes them quite resistant to environmental influences. Stickers won't fade or fade. This is especially useful when they are used for promotional or informational purposes, such as

The theme of stickers can be very diverse, from popular memes, movie characters, series or video games to pictures that express emotions, a person’s state or some kind of informational message. One way or another, beautifully drawn stickers definitely attract attention.

sticker art

By the way, there is artistic gluing, the so-called sticker art, or sticker bombing. The point is to stick (or "bomb") stickers on a game joystick, a laptop or even a car. Perhaps at first it was done to disguise something, but later it grew into a whole direction in art.

In European cities, there is also street sticker art, when poles, walls of houses, and so on are pasted over with colored pictures. Pictures can be both thematic, topical, and do not carry any semantic load at all, but simply blend well in color. Usually catchy inscriptions in large letters are added to them.

The most unusual way to use stickers is to create pictures from them. Some artists use them as material instead of paint. In this way, for example, portraits are created, which are a collage of many stickers.

Social media stickers

As for social networks, small bright pictures are especially popular there. Almost all social networks and instant messengers (from the English word message - "message") have their own sets of stickers, and not all of them are free. They replaced emoticons, and are able to express emotions brighter and more clearly in correspondence. Sometimes they are able to replace words or whole sentences in the chat.

The very first stickers appeared in the Japanese messenger LINE in 2011. These were two simple characters - Kony the rabbit and Brown the bear. They instantly won the hearts of users. Over time, other heroes began to appear. Now stickers can be found in the popular Telegram, Viber, Odnoklassniki, Facebook, VKontakte and so on. By the way, on Facebook they are free and there are a huge number of them.

For many, the word sticker is associated with the VKontakte network. They have been used there since 2014. This social network is very active in popularizing its sticker packs. There are some free kits, but most are paid. There appear thematic sets dedicated to events (Cosmonautics Day, football championship) or to draw attention to new features. These include the "Fox" sticker, drawn specifically to familiarize users with the new "Stories" section.

Stickers for Telegram

The Telegram messenger is becoming more and more popular. This is a resource created for communication, it makes extensive use of stickers. Anyone can make and add their own. They will be available to all users. For example, you can draw cat stickers. As practice shows, most people love cats.

Posted images must meet the main criteria. Their size should be strictly 512x512 pixels, PNG format, on white, and best of all on a transparent background, weight should not exceed 350 sq.

How to add them to Telegram?

If you figured out how to draw a sticker and you already have several ready-made ones, send them to Telegram and share with your friends. To do this, you need to do the following. Find the bot in contacts, which is indicated as @Stickers. He will explain in detail the procedure for your actions. You will see a set of commands to work with. The newpack command will prompt you to come up with and enter a name for your sticker pack. Then you have to choose and add the emoji that best matches your first picture and attach that picture. And so in order for all images. After all the pictures are uploaded, you can publish them using the publish command. Once again, enter a short name for your set and you will receive a link where it will be available for download.

If you have a desire to make stickers of your own production, then the easiest way is to draw pictures directly on self-adhesive paper. Stickers drawn with a pencil can be colored with markers or colored pens, circling the picture along the contour. Place the pictures at some distance from each other.

Then cut out the finished images along the contour and attach anywhere. But such stickers have significant drawbacks, and this method is only good as a trial version or home use. Since self-adhesive paper is not durable and the production of hand-drawn stickers is difficult to commercialize, there are other, alternative ways.

How to draw a sticker and what editors to use?

To date, there are many graphic editors and applications that provide an opportunity for artists and designers to create their own stickers. The most convenient programs are Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Paint Tool SAI, Manga Studio. Basically, such pictures are drawn in vector, using bright and catchy colors.

Of course, such a modern gadget as a graphics tablet is a very useful thing for an artist, but you can draw in computer programs without it. The following video can tell you how to draw stickers in stages without using a graphics tablet.

You may not have a tablet, but you should have imagination and basic drawing skills. Choosing a good theme that would look good as stickers is not so difficult, the main thing is to keep track of what is now at the peak of popularity.

How to draw stickers in Photoshop?

First you need to think about how and where the sticker will be used, for print or on the Internet. This will determine the size of the image you set. The working area should be enough for the contour. In the settings for the image, you must select the CMYK color mode, the resolution is 300 dpi.

If the sticker is drawn for printing, then it should have a white outline of a few millimeters. It can be done in the following way. While on the layer with the picture, double-click on it and in the "Layer Style" window, select "stroke". It should be white, and make the width at your discretion, depending on the size of the planned sticker.

You need to save the finished file for printing in PDF format, which is the printing standard in most countries. And for posting on the Internet, PNG is a suitable format.

How to sell your stickers online?

If the question is more relevant for you not how to draw a sticker, but how to sell, then pay attention to the following Internet sites. For example, the Russian online sticker store Parazitakusok allows artists to post their stickers and earn a percentage of their sale. There are strict rules for the design of pictures, but their number for placement in the store is not limited. You can try your hand at the English site Redbubble. There is a large section dedicated to this topic. The Russian community No Kids Stickers often organizes themed competitions for the best sticker.

You can try to offer your pictures to the VKontakte administration. They should match the emotions or be bright and easy to understand. If they are approved, then you will be offered cooperation. Also, "VKontakte" sometimes has sticker contests in which anyone can participate.