Lately I’ve been engrossed by vaccine news, actively searching for any semblance of hope in this long dark winter. My optimism and excitement about the novelty of staying at home has long faded away, and I’m completely burnt out from doing nothing.

But one thing has always remained: I channel my feelings into drawing. My latest weekend project is one of hope. When we get vaccinated, we will be free from this pandemic. Inspired by the all the stickers folks created for the 2020 election that visually symbolized a cultural movement, I wanted to design stickers that encourage others to get vaccinated.

I’m not the biggest fan of stickers, but I believe they are a powerful temporarily identity, a badge people can proudly wear for a day. They symbolize unity among people who share beliefs or facets of their identities. In the past half decade or so they’ve made their mark on social media, and have become fun ways for individuals to express their values and interests in an online presence. What better way to educate the public and start a movement (to get vaccinated and save our communities!) than making it popular to?

I chose a blue and red color palette, plus a warm kelly green, to personify patriotic unity and a world that’s healing. A combination of catchy phrases and icons tell a story of positivity and allude to a brighter future. These designs are meant to empower belief in science and send a pro-vaccine message to let people know that “it’s okay, it’s safe.” I purposely chose not to show blatant imagery of unappealing syringes, because honestly we just want the vaccine. No need to think about a needle.

I miss graphic design. I miss when I could just be creative with a paper and pencil with all the colors in the rainbow, graphic elements, brushes, and cheeky marketing slogans at my disposal. I fell in love with graphic design and got into design because it was light and fun and happy. My designs made people happy without a brand style guide or A/B tests or ulterior motives. No matter where I go in my design career, I never want to lose that passion and meaning in my work.

Let me know which stickers you like! My favorites are Rosie the Riveter (second gif) and Sir Vaccine the brave knight (last gif). And more importantly, when are you getting your shot?

APRIL UPDATE: I got these stickers onto Instagram Stories!

Now that the social media generation is starting to get their “Fauci Ouchies” and sharing the exciting news, I thought it was a perfect time to get my stickers out in the wild for people to use to tell their stories and encourage a movement. After a whole process of getting verified as an artist account on Giphy, I published GIF versions of my stickers for y’all to use. Enjoy!