Contemporary sticker design

 Vinyl sticker design

Illustration James

Illustration James is a designer that works closely with record labels such as Shall Not Fade, creating unique illustrations for vinyl stickers. Most of his work features custom typefaces and wacky illustrations in a cartoon style; his attention for detail for such a tiny sticker on a record really shows the importance of vinyl stickers, and how they tie the whole design to align with the music itself. What I like the most about James' work is how he works on such a small area, yet really brings what would be a flat vinyl to life; his work is very reminiscent of vintage record stickers, especially in the typefaces he uses. It could be interesting to play with this concept of record stickers, as I am into music quite a lot and could intertwine this interest into my publication.

Sauce Design

Sauce Design is another graphic designer that really works with attention to detail; every typeface he uses is custom, which allows his work to communicate the same overall themes and tones. These examples play with a sticker format, and are definitely inspired by the over the top and maximalist colour schemes found in 70s sticker design. I think Sauce Design is a perfect example of a designer that blends both nostalgic elements with the modern, as his typefaces create a more futuristic take on visuals. 

Anthropomorphic fruit - Lauren Martin

Lauren Martin is an absolute genius when it comes to personifying household items and food. Her work provides a very wholesome and playful tone, through bringing things like bananas to life; this is massively influenced by her love for fruit stickers, in which she has also designed. What I love about Martins work is that it also has a massive sense of nostalgia, with her illustration style seeming almost childish - like something you would create in primary school. The concept of personifying fruit is obviously not new, but Martin does it in a way that allows her to send messages (sometimes political) to her audience. This has kind of sparked an idea for my publication to have some sort of narrative? For example, I could develop a comic book inspired by fruit stickers, in which the audience add and take away stickers as they please. Also, I could try to make my publication more educational, such as recipes to tie in with the theme of food; this could allow me to even target the outcome towards children?

Tegos Gratos

Tegos Gratos is a designer that also blends themes of nostalgia with modernity, through featuring familiar cartoons with elaborate and modern typeface design. His work loosely ties into sticker design, but what I like most is this particular style of working with cartoons in a way that doesn't feel childish. Most of Tegos' work is used by record labels, particularly for techno and house, which gives this certain clean edge to his graphics. I could possibly take inspiration from this design approach through balancing retro with modern in my own sticker designs; this could help bridge familiarity with the audience, but also providing a new look.