There is something deeply appealing about stickers. This must be my inner 6-year-old rejoicing about finding the perfect sticker. But I put it to you, who doesn’t like a good sticker?
However, the thing about stickers is that you need a good sticker design. Ultimately, as much as I want people to proudly use our Dead Shadow stickers, I also want to make sure that they come with a relatable and fun sticker design.
And this is precisely where things get a little tricky.
Could We Make Our Own Sticker Design?
This is a popular option among many indie authors.
Videos of authors preparing their Advanced Reader Copies (ARC for short— these are the copies sent in advance to readers who can leave reviews on the main platforms, such as Amazon and GoodReads, and also help create a buzz ahead of the book launch by using their own blogs, social media presence, etc. More on ARC in a later episode!) regularly pop up in my feeds.
The most popular sticker design for this seems to be a copy-paste of the book cover design.
Do they look great?
Absolutely!
On a scale of “no skills needed” to “must go and graduate from arts school first”, how easy is this type of sticker design?
The answer is really easy. Typically, you can reach out to your book cover designer to receive the design in a usable format for stickers, if you haven’t already.
For independent authors, this seems to be the best approach.
But my inner child craves something more exciting.
If I am going to cover my world with stickers, I need a really cool sticker design. It’s all about the dopamine boost.
What’s the Next Step in The Sticker Design Journey?
The next step is looking out there to find a creative artist who shares the same vibe as us.
We’ve been reaching out to a few people already. We have been receiving positive responses from those who have had time to reply. Ultimately, life as a creative can be hectic!
Many of them have fallen in love with the concept of the book and the inclusive range of characters, from realistic neurodivergent heroes to normalised LGBTQA+ relationships. So, we’ve been really excited to receive their feedback.
We’ve been lucky as some of the creatives we liked happened to have been coming back to let us know they are free ahead of the book launch to work on the sticker design with us. Whether they will be able to fit the whole project in their schedule is a question for another day, but we’re staying optimistic.
Someone who was tied up in projects until the end of the year has also offered to reach out to their suppliers to help us produce stickers and other cool merch at a trader’s costs, which is absolutely amazing. You can head to their online shop and buy yourself a little treat as a thank you. I know we already did!
Where Do We Want To Use The Sticker Design?
Can I say everywhere and leave it at that?
First of all, there are different types of stickers. I’m not just talking about whether they are matt or gloss, custom cut or in a predefined standard shape.
Sickers can go on different surfaces. So, while the sticker design may be the same whether you have a sticker at the back of your laptop or inside your journal, the material used will be different.
We intend to get a sticker design that will work both on vinyl laptop stickers and paper stickers. Generally, as they have different thicknesses, you don’t want to use one for the wrong purpose.
So, we want to make sure readers can have the best sticker experience. It may sound silly, but there is nothing worse than a bad sticker. It wrecks your mood.
Would You Like To Create A Sticker Design for The Shadow of Phaedrus?
Believe it or not, but some followers have already reached out and asked if they could try to create a sticker design for the book.
Honestly, the more, the merrier!
So, yes, please, if you want to design an image for a sticker, do not hesitate to reach out to us, either through the contact page or via our social media.
We’ll be happy to explain to you what we need, and also talk budget and timeline (because as much as we’d love to pay you tonnes for creativity, we are independent authors and we can’t afford for you to work on the Sistine Chapel equivalent of sticker design!)
