Flatiron Stickers
A custom animated sticker pack created for the Flatiron NoMad Business Improvement District's “Glows Pink” winter campaign. Working from original illustrations by Emma Vitoria, I directed and executed all motion design and animation - transforming static artwork into 15 looping, transparent-background stickers optimized for cross-platform distribution across GIPHY's network. The pack reached 50K+ views across Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, iMessage, and WhatsApp, turning every user share into organic brand exposure for the district.
Sticker Collection
Strategic Context
The Campaign
The Flatiron NoMad BID's “Glows Pink” winter campaign centered on Mr. Pink - a branded character designed to drive community engagement and social media visibility across the district. The BID commissioned a suite of animated stickers as a lightweight, high-reach digital asset that could extend the campaign's presence into every messaging app and social platform where their audience already communicates. Illustrations by Emma Vitoria.
Distribution Strategy
GIPHY's infrastructure indexes stickers into the native search of Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and dozens of additional platforms. A single upload propagates across the entire messaging ecosystem. The strategic value: every time a user adds a Flatiron sticker to a message or Story, it functions as organic brand placement delivered by the user themselves, at zero marginal cost to the BID.
Creative & Motion Process
Animation Direction
Each sticker required a distinct motion personality that communicated its intent within the first 500 milliseconds - the window before a user scrolls past in a sticker picker. I developed a motion language that balanced playful character animation with the clean, looping cadence that GIPHY's format demands. Every animation was designed to read clearly at small scale and maintain visual integrity on transparent backgrounds.
Technical Execution
Emma Vitoria's illustrations were deconstructed in Photoshop into animatable layers - separating limbs, facial features, accessories, and background elements. Frame-by-frame animation and procedural motion were combined in After Effects to produce seamless loops. Each sticker was exported with optimized transparency, color palette constraints, and file size targets that meet GIPHY's technical requirements for indexed distribution.
In the Wild
“Snapping photos of Mr. Pink? Make them glow with our fun, interactive stickers! 📸✨ Find them by searching ‘Flatiron NoMad Glows Pink’ on Instagram Stories and tag us for a chance to be featured. 💗”
Distribution Pipeline
Search & Discovery
GIPHY's search indexing surfaces the stickers when users search for "Flatiron," "NYC," "pink," or related terms in any app's native sticker picker. Keyword optimization ensures maximum discoverability across platforms.
Cross-Platform Reach
A single GIPHY upload propagates to Instagram Stories, Snapchat, TikTok, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, and dozens of additional platforms. The stickers exist everywhere users communicate.
Organic Brand Amplification
Every user share becomes zero-cost brand exposure. The stickers travel with the user's own content, embedding Flatiron NoMad's visual identity into personal conversations and Stories far beyond the BID's owned channels.
