A little over 2 weeks ago I set out on a mission to create a set of 3 stickers. My goal was to use illustrator to create a cohesive set and to create something I was actually proud of. After 2 weeks of lot of sketching and a few drafts, I was able to check off all of my goals and objectives. Introducing: The Skate or Die(cut) Sticker Set.
The Planning and Sketching
The sketching was definitely the hardest part of this project. I had little to no ideas and the ideas I was coming up with seemed to have been done a million times over. I thought of doing camping/adventure themed stickers, decades themed stickers, etc. but they just didn't really feel right and I didn't want to choose a sticker theme that was already saturating the sticker marketplace.
Even though I'm not huge into skating, I do like to skateboard, and I'm really interested in "skateboard culture", so I eventually started sketching for with that in mind and came up with some solid ideas.
Before I took it into illustrator, I wanted to play around with some color schemes. Colors are a weak point of mine, so I wanted to make sure I had some strong colors to use to really set my designs apart. I used adobe.color.com to download some swatches. I ended up using the color scheme below. This color scheme is titled Vintage Pop by Lauren Ezerins.
Starting in Adobe Illustrator
My first draft was definitely a solid start. I was really happy with the way my designs were going except for the skateboard. It just didn't look and I wasn't really happy with the direction it was going. So I decided to cut the skateboard idea, change the shoe shape, and I ended up with my second draft below.
I was much happier with this draft than my first. I added some slight details that I felt really stepped up the design. This is the point at which I got some critiques and feedback. My professor gave me some really helpful tips and ideas on some of the pieces I was struggling with. I had tried to avoid shading up until this point because it always intimidates me. I don't have a lot of experience or training with shading so it's tough to do sometimes. However, after some help, I gave it a shot and it all worked out for the better.
The Final Product
In the end I was able to complete all of my objectives by creating a set of 3, cohesive stickers. I definitely captured the vibe and the feeling I was going for. I'm extremely happy with the way they turned out, and I'm glad I was able to step outside of my comfort zone a little bit and stretch my Illustrator skills.
