Homepage / Design / Are Stickers the New Emoji?
Design

Are Stickers the New Emoji?

A list of the best downloadable sticker designs, video templates, and more.

Portrait for Envato By Envato
Posted 11 Jul 2017
Design

You may have noticed an explosion of stickers on major social networking platforms and messaging apps.

If you’re new to stickers, they’re basically big bold graphics used like emojis. What makes stickers different from Emojis is that they don’t need to represent a pre determined list of symbols because they’re not part of the unicode standard.

Emojis vs. stickers: What’s the Difference?

Emoji sets must have assets made for each icon. They work a bit like an alphabet.

Kate McInnes, Envato’s Content Specialist for Graphics

For example, all emoji icon sets have a smiling face with smiling eyes icon. The icon is part of a standard set and has specific design requirements, such as the closed mouth and eyes.

emojis from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Messenger
Left to right, top to bottom. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Messenger. (source – emojipedia.org.)

Stickers on the other hand are included as part of messaging apps and work like reaction images. Stickers can represent a range of concepts and can include text and animations. 

Stickers > Emojis

But are stickers really ‘the new emoji’? Check out this ad from Apple to highlight the iPhone 7, which encourages you to say it with stickers:

We might be behind in identifying this trend. According to Slate, emojis haven’t been cool in Japan since 2015 – the same year that emojis were making their way to the White House in the United States:

Today is also a chance for Americans, especially our young people, to say thank you for all the things we love from Japan. Like karate and karaoke. Manga and anime. And, of course, emojis.

President Obama, 2015 address

In other markets, messaging apps also demonstrate the popularity of stickers. In Thailand, the set of bear stickers for Line, a popular messaging app, have inspired backpacks, toys, and more. In China, Tukzi (a rabbit character) is the default sticker set.

Line bear sticker set
Line bear sticker set. Image: trutower.com

“Stickers are different to Emojis because there’s a focus on character or conversation theme and not just the facial expression,” says Kate. Unlike emojis, stickers can include props and text. 

 Tuzki sticker set
Tuzki sticker set. Image: stickerstelegram.com

The Best Sticker Sets to Download

Ready to stay ahead of the trend and incorporate stickers into your designs? Here’s a collection of our favorite sticker-style designs:

Vegetable Vector Emoticons

Say it with peppers and crying carrots.

Lemur Emoji Sticker Set

Only $8 to add this lemur set to your collection? We’re sold.

Cat Vector Emoticons

Cats: good for anything related to the internet.

Videos:

Add that Facebook live-reaction look to your video production.

Sticker designs on Envato Elements

Unlike the individual items (listed above), these designs are all available for unlimited download with a subscription to Envato Elements:

105 vector sticker designs.

The perfect font for that handwritten sticker look.

Mix and match to get your message across.

With color variations and different designs.

Want to make your own sticker set? Check out this tutorial for creating a sticker set in Adobe Illustrator on Tuts+.

Check out these other design related articles:

Do you find this article useful?
Related Posts
logo
Envato Elements: Millions of creative assets. Unlimited downloads. One low cost.Get Unlimited Downloads