Viber’s last call for entries to sticky fingers competition: my city, my vibe

Viber Press Release
Tigrai Online, November 4, 2015

Artists and Creators are invited to Submit Original Designs for Stickers to be Sold on Viber’s Global Platform

London – November 4th, 2015 – Viber, one of the leading messaging apps with more than 600 million unique users worldwide, announced on October 15th the launch of its second Sticky Fingers initiative, “My City, My Vibe,” a search to uncover new design talent from all over the globe, in partnership with Talenthouse. African artists and designers still have two weeks left to submit their creations to Viber as part of the global contest.

What is Sticky Fingers: “My City, My Vibe”?

Sticky Fingers: “My City, My Vibe” is a global design initiative inviting artists and creative minds to create original stickers inspired by their favorite international city. Artists are encouraged to submit three original designs that bring to life the vibe and personality of their favorite city.

A judging panel including Viber Creative Director Erez Shocher, Stanislav Makarenko, aka ‘Drawk’ (the Selected Artist of the first Sticky Fingers), online personality Julieanna “YesJulz” Goddard and graffiti artist Alec Monopoly, will select 20 finalists which will then be narrowed down to five Selected Artists. The Selected Artists will receive the opportunity to work with the creative team at the Viber design studio to see their image come to life in a Viber sticker pack, which will be sold throughout the world and used by millions of people worldwide, putting their designs on a global stage. The Selected Artists will also receive a revenue share for every sticker sold.

The Creative Invite brief is open to anyone 18 years old and over and will run from October 15 to November 18, 2015. The twenty finalists will be announced on 9 December, 2015 and the five Selected Artists on 15 December, 2015.

How to Submit

Anyone interested in entering the Creative Invite can submit his or her original artwork at www.viber.com/MyCityVibe before November 18, 2015 at 10:00 AM PST.

“With more than 600 million Viber users all over the globe, we wanted this Creative Invite to celebrate the diversity and unique style of cities around the world in the form of our favourite creative expression, stickers,” says Shocher. “We encourage people to submit designs for a sticker pack that best represents the culture of their city. We don't want you to focus on the famous landscapes or buildings; we want to see how you can create a communicative sticker pack inspired by your favourite city's vibe, colors and soul.”

“It’s cool that a messaging app is giving artists like myself a huge platform to show their work and creativity in a new and unique way,” says Alec MonopoIy. “I can’t wait to see the different sticker creations from around the world and discover how creative talents bring the My City, My Vibe design brief to life.”

Emma Trant, Talenthouse’s Chief Revenue Officer says: “We are excited to partner with Viber on their 2nd global design initiative. Viber are all about spreading 'good vibes' to the world which aligns perfectly with our goal to provide the next generation of creative talent with opportunities to drive their careers forward."

About Sticky Fingers

My City, My Vibe is the second Sticky Fingers initiative. The first Creative Invite, which was a brief to design a mascot for Sticky Fingers, saw illustrator ‘Drawk’ chosen as the Selected Artist for his quirky squirrel character, ‘Chew’. Launched in partnership with creative platform Talenthouse, the first initiative elicited thousands of design submissions from more than 100 countries around the world, setting the record as one of Talenthouse’s most successful brand campaigns. Drawk travelled to Viber’s office in Tel Aviv, where he spent a week designing a sticker pack featuring his character Chew with the creative team. The Chew sticker pack is now available for download from the Viber sticker store for £1.49/$1.99 with Drawk receiving a share of the revenue. You can download the sticker pack here: viber.com stickers chew.

“I have been drawing and sketching characters since 2008, but being Selected for Viber’s first Sticky Fingers Creative Invite was a dream come true,” says Drawk. “It was such an incredible feeling to be selected, but also a great responsibility. I got the opportunity to work alongside professional artists at an international level, to travel more and now my sketches are in a sticker pack that will be used around the world.  I’m looking forward to helping choose the Selected Artists of ‘My City, My Vibe’ and I encourage all entrants to get inspired, be yourself and let your original style come through in your sketches.”

About Viber

Viber freely connects users around the world with the people that matter to them most, sending good vibes every day and making great things happen. With more than 606 million unique users on the platform, Viber gives people the ability to connect in the way that works best for them, whether it is through individual messaging, video calls or group chats or following brands and celebrities on Public Chats. Viber can be used on iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phones and tablets, Windows Phone, Windows®, Windows 8®, Mac, Linux and Symbian devices over 3G/4G or WiFi connections. Viber is a Rakuten Group company.

For media enquiries, please contact galixo@viber.com

About Talenthouse

Talenthouse was built to help professional creatives be seen, heard and compensated. Since 2009, Talenthouse has democratized creative work, giving independent artists from all over the world direct access to creative briefs from leading brands, agencies and entertainment clients. Over the last six years, Talenthouse has built a multi- disciplined artistic community who deliver on-brief and on-brand content at scale.

Brands and icons who have partnered with Talenthouse include, Spotify, Universal Pictures, adidas, Marriott, Microsoft, Sigur Ros, Avicii, Deadmau5, Rankin, Stevie Nicks and Jessie J. Talenthouse’s board of investors and advisors include, Google co-founder, Eric Schmidt; MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe; actor, Gerard Butler, and musician, Dave Stewart.