How to Get the Most Out of Your Custom Holographic Stickers

How do you add pizzazz to a custom sticker and make it even better? With an iridescent rainbow sheen, of course. You can’t deny that there's something special about holographic stickers. 

For small business owners, a custom holographic sticker brings back cherished childhood memories and draws attention to your brand. From opening a pack of holographic trading cards in childhood to seeing the metallic shimmer on a special edition sticker, holographic designs are eye-catching and feel exclusive. 

So, if you’ve got a unique design you want customers to notice, a custom holographic sticker is just what the brand awareness doctor ordered. But don’t fall in love with the idea just yet. 

To help you create an iconic and memorable work of holographic art, we’ve put together several design tips to help you get the most out of your custom holographic sticker.

What are holographic stickers?

Holographic stickers use a unique, iridescent vinyl material that creates a rainbow effect when viewed at different angles and light levels. They’re simply irresistible. People can’t help but pick them up, twist them, and watch the light dance off the surface. It’s like a dance party at your fingertips!

Ways to use holographic stickers

Holographic stickers are an excellent tool for shaping the perception of your brand, adding visual interest to your logo or taglines, engaging your customers, or just having fun with marketing!

One popular way brands use holographic stickers is to drive brand awareness. Because these stickers are so eye-catching, anyone who gets a holographic sticker is likely to keep it and apply it to items such as water bottles, laptops, phones, and more. The stickers then become instant advertising for your brand. And, because they’re so darn mesmerizing, they’ll be catching attention all over the place!

For purchases, put a holographic thank you sticker on the package. Or send coupon codes, QR codes, other promotional offerings, or funny sayings via a holographic sticker. You can do a lot of things with them to get more eyes on your brand. 

How are holographic stickers made?

First, manufacturers print ink onto the holographic vinyl surface. Then, they marry a clear laminate over the printed material. The additional layer will protect the surface from scratches, tears, or water.

Since the holographic effect is part of the vinyl base layer, we don’t have to add foil or print the metallic effects onto the sticker, making it incredibly durable and long-lasting. But what makes the holographic sticker extra special is that it adds stunning rainbow effects to the colors in your design.

Now, there may be certain sections of your sticker design you don’t want to have a holographic effect. In that case, we can print white ink behind specified areas of your design to block the holographic diffuser pattern and keep the iridescent effect from coming through. 

Once all the printing and laminating is complete, the manufacturer die cuts the sticker into your desired shape. Some manufacturers also slit the backside paper liner to make it super easy for the end user to peel, stick, and apply the sticker.

Other names for holographic stickers

When shopping around for a custom sticker design, you may come across these terms:

• Holograms
• Metallic stickers
• Iridescent stickers

These are all holographic stickers. 

You might also come across the term glitter sticker. This is not a holographic sticker. Glitter stickers use a clear gloss over laminate with glitter to create a sparkly effect. They don’t give you a consistent, rainbow metallic sheen as light changes across the sticker. 

Holographic highlights

When you design your custom holographic sticker, you’ll need to consider precisely what parts of the design you want to have the holographic effect. 

For example, if your design is heavy on black, you can place the holographic effect in the open spaces to add contrast and a delicious pop of psychedelic color. 

Holographic designs are most effective when you use them to distinguish between the light and dark sections in your custom sticker. The light areas stand out with a well-placed holographic glint, while the black sections do an excellent job of anchoring them to the overall design. 

But what if your sticker is just text? 

Maybe you’re trying to level up your brand name, slogan, or tagline with all the rainbow colors. For a design like that, you can use a black or white background and fill in the text color with a holographic sheen. 

Pretty sweet, huh?

Know your design

Where’s the best place to use holographic stickers? Anywhere you want. 

Holographic stickers can punch up any custom sticker design and build awareness for your brand, whether it’s a soap business, a brewery, an event coordination company, etc. The rainbow-flecked sky's the limit!

While you may want to go whole hog and make your entire sticker holographic, sometimes, less is more. For example, the holographic material provides an excellent replacement for white space on a high-contrast monochrome design. 

But they’re also suitable for full-color design styles. So it just depends on your brand and the overall effect you want to achieve with your sticker design. 

For example, holographic stickers with a full-color design may darken the colors slightly, but at the same time they will make the overall appearance vibrant and eye-catching. Using a highly saturated palette will make the holographic reflection all the more impressive and increase the vibrancy.

Now, let’s get into our top tips and tricks for designing a holographic sticker that’s delightfully intense.

Best practices for holographic sticker design

• Keep it simple — too much going on with your design can be overwhelming and take away from the holographic effect.
• Ensure your design is high-contrast — This will help ensure the holographic effect is visible.
• Use bright, attention-grabbing colors — Since the goal is to make your sticker stand out, you want to use colors that pop against the background.
• Use different shapes and patterns — Contrasting shapes and patterns will add interest and dimension to your design without being too busy.
• Avoid gray — Replace any gray shades with transparent space to make for a more striking design. 

We recommend avoiding gradients or half opacity since this will take away from the overall design. Also, make sure the section you want holographic is completely transparent. 

Now that you know the basic dos and don'ts of custom holographic stickers for small businesses, here’s your design inspiration. 

Design inspiration 

Still not sure if your design is suitable for turning into a custom holographic sticker? Here are some of our favorite stickers where the holographic element elevates the entire design. 

#1. Full black and holographic contrast

You can never go wrong with black. But what better way to level up a chic gothic design than with a holographic effect? In this example, the holographic hue gives an air of serenity to a whimsical image. 

#2. Full-color holographic sticker 

Want to go all out with a far-out holographic? In this example, we have a full-color holographic with a highly saturated color palette. If you’ve got something big to say and a larger-than-life sticker to say it with, why not go full color like this? 

#3. Primarily black with holographic highlights

Does your brand prefer to whisper rather than shout? In that case, you can go with something more subtle, like in this design. 

A primarily black sticker with flecks of holographic highlights can effectively catch someone’s attention without being the noisiest sticker in the room. 

Turn it up with Stomp.

Are you bored with your brand stickers? 

Holographic material offers an excellent way to shake up a design without going completely back to the drawing board. No matter what you want to say, holographic backgrounds elevate any design and give you a chance to flex your creative muscle in a way that other stickers can’t allow. 

Whether you want to go with an all-black sticker with holographic highlights, a full-color holographic, or an iridescent luster paired with white contrast, Stomp is here to turn your technicolor dreams into reality. 

So, if you’re ready to try something new and get a little experimental with your brand, there’s no better way to do it than with custom holographic stickers.

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