Q&A on Designing Allo Stickers

Allo sticker sets balance the universal and unique

At first glance, stickers are easy to dismiss. They’re small, often silly. A miniature image of a sloth surfing a pizza slice doesn’t necessarily prompt deep artistic contemplation. But each image is in fact a microcosm of expression, packing an emotional punch into an illustration no bigger than a thumbprint.

Last December, Google art director Jennifer Daniel moderated a discussion between sticker illustrator Domitille Collardey, Anyways art director and sticker commissioner Alice Moloney, and Google design producer Emily Meinhardt. The quartet discussed sticker inspiration, the importance of character development, and the process of creating more than 500 custom stickers for Google Allo. Along the way, they revealed a few fascinating truths about this tiny art form.

Read the rest of the story at design.google to learn why stickers aren’t emojis, how the sticker-design team deals with swear words, why Batman would never say ‘LOL’, and much, much more.