How to Design Your Own Stickers & Decals

Your name can make a fun sticker or decal

Stickers and decals are a great way to personalize your stuff, give as little gifts to friends or show off your artwork. You can create everything from fun logos or sayings to stick on your bicycle to name stickers with illustrations for your notebooks or locker. Many companies will custom print your own designs, or you can print your own if you have a scanner, computer, printer and sticker paper.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pens, markers and pencils
• Sticker or decal paper (optional)
• Computer, scanner and printer (optional)

Instructions

1. Figure out the purpose of the sticker or decal. Maybe you want to showcase one of your favorite animals or create a custom sticker with your name. Perhaps you want to give them away.

2. Decide where you will place such stickers or decals. Figuring out where the stickers will end up can help you pick the right size. Opt for a larger decal if it's going to adorn doors, walls and lockers. Make it smaller if it's going on notebooks, lunchboxes and folders. Create long, skinny ones for bicycles.

3. Start with any text. Write out or draw any text you want to include in your design. Experiment with bubble or block letters, script or other types of writing until you find one that suits you.

4. Add images. Draw your main image, surrounded by any extras you may want, such as spider webs, polka dots, latticework or scrolls. Work the image around any text.

5. Draw an outline around your design. Draw at least a 1/8 inch border around your design. This is the buffer between your design and the sticker's border. Make the outline as basic as possible so the sticker is easy to cut from the page.

6. Print them up or have them printed. Print your own stickers by getting sticker or decal paper at the craft or office supply store, scanning your image into your computer and printing with an illustration or word-processing program. You can also have your design printed by a company that specializes in custom printing (see Resources).

Tips & Warnings

• Look at custom decals and stickers for inspiration (see Resources). You can add color to your design with paint pens, markers, colored pencils, crayons or other coloring tools.

• Don't use existing company logos or any other copyrighted material in your own stickers or decals.

Resources

• Custom Sticker Printing Company
• Sticker and Decal Designs