Design tips for holographic stickers and labels

Creating a high-quality design for your holographic stickers can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be.

If you'd rather watch than read, check out our step-by-step guide below.

Embrace white space and let the material shine

White space, also called negative space, isn’t necessarily white.

It’s a graphic design term that refers to the empty or open space between your design elements.

This might sound counterintuitive, why pay for a sticker or label only to leave part of it blank?

Actually, white space can make your design more effective.

When you’re creating artwork for a holographic sticker or label, white space is your friend. It shows off the amazing material you selected and can immediately give your branding a more premium feel.

It also lets your design breathe and gives the eye a place to rest, which makes it easier for people to understand and appreciate what they’re seeing.

It helps create contrast too, so no single part of the design overwhelms the rest.

Here’s a great example of how white space can be used:

Create a partial holographic sticker or label with white ink

White ink is a powerful tool when designing with special-effect materials. Whether you’re printing holographic product labels or creating your own holographic anime stickers, white ink helps you control how and where the holographic effect appears.

There are two options:

• Print color directly onto the material — this creates a metallic, holographic finish for that color
• Print white ink underneath your color — this reduces the holographic shine and makes the color look bold and opaque

Here’s an image showing the difference between those two approaches:

If you want to create a partially holographic sticker or label, the second option is for you.

You can create these white layers yourself in your design software, or you can simply let us know which parts of your design should have white ink underneath.

Just leave a note with your order like “Can the border have white ink behind it?” or “I want all blue parts to print opaque.”

We’ll then send you a design proof that shows this and take care of the white ink printing for you.

Choose bold fonts and colors for better readability

Holographic material is a real attention-grabber and that’s exactly why we love it. But it’s something to think about when designing your artwork.

To help your message stand out, use bold fonts and solid colors like white or black that block most of the holographic effect. This makes sure your message is easy to read and doesn’t get lost in the shine.

It also improves legibility for your customers or audience, making sure they can quickly and clearly understand what you’re trying to say.

Read how holographic stickers can be used.

Try risk-free printed samples

What better way to find your perfect design than to test it out? With our risk-free sample option, you can try any design on holographic material for just $9.

We’ll proof, print, laminate, and cut 10 stickers and ship them to you for free.

If you love the result, you can reorder with one click and we’ll send it straight to print.

And if you have questions, you can reach out to our team, you’ll get a response within 24 hours.