Pikaole’s sticker making behind story (Patreon)

I visited the sticker factory yesterday.

I think a lot of people were wondering how I make stickers.

So I made a simple video...

I wrote it simple, but it took me all day to edit this 2 minute video lol.

My voice comes out....

I can't pronounce the sticker 'sheet' very well, so I had to delete it for fear it would sound like profane lol.

My English will be obviously weird, but I added subtitles so you can understand😂

+ I used to get questions about manu from the fellow artist ,

Here is some more detailed information.

Q ) What program did you use to make the stickers?

A ) Image: Adobe Photoshop CC

Final edit:  Adobe Illustrator CC

It requires total of 4 layers for this sticker.

cut line

area of foil

white layer

Image file (must have more space than the cut line)

Q ) How long does it take?

A ) In my case I can't measure it because the time it takes to draw is all different. 

Except for the time to draw two illustration (jelly bean sea slug and octopus),

I worked on this sticker over 3weeks. It would have taken a lot longer since I was very inexperienced in using Illustrator.

Manu's production time is usually one to two weeks.

Last time it took 10 days, this time it went into production after 5 days.

This is the time it takes to check the digital file and book the schedule, and the sticker production starts in the morning of the same day.

It started at 9 am, and check the status of the sticker with me by 11 am.

Whole sticker production was all finished at 12 o'clock.

If my father hadn't come to pick me up by car, they would have sent it by courier.

Now in Korea, the courier union is on strike, so I took the sticker box home right away.

Q ) What is the minimum order quantity?

A ) Minimum order quantity is 3000 pieces (3 designs * 1000)

This is quite a burdensome number, so in Korea, three artists usually gather to produce.

The factory manager said that the original MOQ was 10,000 units 😲

Q ) Can I order from Korean manu from overseas?

A ) I asked the manager if he was interested in taking orders from abroad, but he said that, unfortunately, he only accepts orders in Korean because working with foreigners is too complicated.

As far as I know, not only here, but most Korean companies do not support English service.  For example, in Korea, paypal is not universal.

If you want to make something similar, Maybe you can found it on alibaba. As far as I know, the price will be 2-5 times cheaper than in Korea manu.

But I haven't tried it myself, so I can't recommend any place😅 In my case, for reasons such as time, communication, and quality, I tend to produce with Korean companies whenever possible.

Q ) How do I find information about manu?

A ) When I first wanted to make a sticker like this, there was absolutely no information.

I searched the internet, but there were only questions and no answers.

So I remember being really curious where the other people made it.

Then one day, my friend shared information about manu.

It was just a cell phone number and email, because there really is no website!

Later, I asked them why they didn't make a website, and they said it was too complicated.😂 Anyway, his factory looked super busy even without a homepage. Maybe that would be the real reason.

+ This is my first time visiting a sticker factory myself.

It was an impressive experience, so I wanted to share my process with you :D

More sticker sample photos will be updated in the following post.