A few months ago I got an email from a guy named Ivan. He told me about his long-distance relationship with his girlfriend Jelena, how Viber’s helped them keep in touch across different continents, and how – when the sticker market launched – they found their alter-egos in Freddie and Eve.
Other couples have shared similar sentiments with me, and it warms my heart to dangerous temperatures, every time.
I’m a sticker artist. I draw stickers for a living. It’s a bloody awesome job, don’t get me wrong, but occasionally I find myself feeling frivolous, wondering what’s the point of doing what I’m doing. And then someone sends me a message on Facebook, telling me how the characters I created have become part of their relationship with their significant other, and cheer them up when they’re away from one another. It surprises and humbles me every time, and it’s the best damn reason I can ever think of to do what I do.
Back to Ivan and Jelena. Some time before writing to me, Ivan visited back home to propose. Jelena said yes. And since Freddie and Eve have been “with them” throughout their relationship, Ivan wanted to surprise her with real Viber wedding stickers, and found me. He said he knew it was a long shot – we don’t really create sticker packs “to order”, but his story really moved me (few work emails bring me to tears in the middle of the office, thankfully), and I passed the idea along to people more in charge than myself.
The result was one of the packs I had the most fun working on. I drew on experiences from my own wedding, stories and photos from my parents’ wedding, and of course every trope from every romantic comedy I’ve ever seen. And as a gorgeous cherry on top, the talented animators we work with animated the whole pack, and did a brilliant job at it, which you can see if you get it from Viber’s sticker market.
We even got Jelena’s reaction on video, in a surprise production by Viber.
This pack may have been created following Ivan’s request, but it’s dedicated to every couple who’s found joy, humour or comfort in these characters. You make me happy and proud to do my job.
Aviv
