Google and Anyways commission 19 illustrators to create over 500 works for Allo app launch

An international roster of illustrators has been commissioned to create unique stickers to be used on Google’s Allo messaging app that launched in the US yesterday and in the UK today. Illustrators and designers from across the world including Jean-Michel Tixier, Rob Flowers, Marylou Faure, Ding Ding and Jean Jullien have created concise and vibrant works that can be used to quickly convey sentiment in a succinct, and often humorous way. Developed in sets of 24 the images, three of which are animated, relate to topics such as travel, nights out, relationships and dating, and much more.

The project, art directed by Anyways (the creative agency that is part of the HudsonBec Group with It’s Nice That), has seen over 500 individual artworks designed to express emotions, actions and state of mind. “Primarily, Google stickers are meant to be an aid to communication," says Alice Moloney, a creative at Anyways. “The images are designed as a way to say something more engaging than with just words – another way to bring a conversation to life.” Working collaboratively with the team at Google, Anyways pushed the illustrators to really look at the subtleties of communication and develop ideas that could be understood the world over. The challenge for all involved was to create sticker sets that could sum up a point of view or state of mind very quickly with visual information. “When sending a written message, so much can be lost in translation,” says Alice. “The stickers are designed to help convey nuances that aid in communication – tone, body language, sarcasm and more.”

Below we present a glimpse of the full sticker sets.