Yetti Stickers

Personal Project
Role: Creative Direction, Illustration, Product Strategy
Year: 2016

The Opportunity

 In 2016, Apple introduced major updates to iOS, expanding functionality within iMessage—including GIFs, animated stickers, and visual effects. As one of the most widely used messaging platforms in the U.S., iMessage became a key space for user engagement, especially among millennials. The update opened a new market opportunity for playful, expressive, and interactive sticker apps tailored for everyday conversations.

The Hypothesis

Users would embrace well-designed, animated sticker packs as a fun and impactful way to express themselves within iMessage—especially if the design, tone, and characters resonated with their lifestyle and humor.

Approach & Methodology

 A lean, end-to-end design process:

• Trend sensing and opportunity analysis
• User research (primary and secondary)
• Concept development and visual tone testing
• Character design and illustration
• App branding and packaging
• Sticker development and animation
• iOS integration testing and optimization

The Solution

 We launched two original animated sticker packs: YadaYetti and Yettilicious. Both featured playful, food-loving yeti characters designed to inject humor, emotion, and personality into iMessage conversations.

🧊 YadaYetti

“Sometimes a Yeti sticker is worth a thousand words.”
 A pack of 24 animated stickers designed to help users express everyday emotions—from “ugh” to “yay”—with quirky yetis doing the talking.

Impact

• Successfully launched on iOS Sticker Store
• Positive user feedback and strong engagement at the launch
• Demonstrated the power of character-driven design in driving interaction and stickiness (pun intended) in messaging platforms
  

🍩 Yettilicious

“Yetis love food, just like you do.”
 23 animated food-themed stickers, combining expressive emotions and relatable food cravings—from ramen slurps to donut love.

Impact

• Successfully launched on iOS Sticker Store
• Positive user feedback and strong engagement at the launch
• Demonstrated the power of character-driven design in driving interaction and stickiness (pun intended) in messaging platforms
  

heraclio@designstgy.com