Sticker Studio – J-Hope and Jimin Taiyaki

Sticker Studio – I think that’s what I’ll call my posts about sticker design. It’s funny I have quite a few of these posts, and I don’t even sell stickers.  I wasn’t planning on this current set. But I was chatting online with friends and we were talking about J-Hope’s military discharge and Jimin’s birthday. Both are happening around the same time in mid-October. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, BTS members have to serve in the Korean Army for 18 months. J-Hope is almost done serving and will be discharged soon.

Anyhow, I’m sharing this story because sometimes design inspiration comes out of nowhere when you least expect it.

Carlie had this idea of having an event to celebrate J-Hope and Jimin. She mentioned this place that sells the fish-shaped Taiyaki pastries. Instead of a cup sleeve event like we see at many BTS events, she thought it would be fun to have a sleeve for the Taiyaki. So I reached out the the Taiyaki place called Rice Culture.

At first I think I got an autoreply. But then when a real person responded I got an excited “Oh love this idea! I’m not sure how to make a BTS theme Taiyaki though”.

So Carlie asked ChatGPT and this is what it came up with:

1. RM’s Nam-nut Cream (Custard). A classic custard filling, but named after RM’s real name, Namjoon.
2. Jimin’s Mochi Matcha. Matcha cream filling , inspired by Jimin’s “Mochi” nickname and love for green tea.
3. J-Hope’s Honey Sunshine (Honey and Cream Cheese). A honey-flavored filling, representing J-Hope’s bright and sunny personality.
4. Suga’s Min Yoongi’s Sweet Dreams (Red Bean). A classic sweet red bean filling, paying homage to Suga’s quiet and deep persona.
5. Jin’s Worldwide Handsome Hazelnut, inspired by Jin’s WWH.
6. Jungkook’s Golden Bunny Banana (Banana Custard), reflecting Jungkook’s love for bananas and his “Golden Maknae” title.
7. V’s Taehyung’s Purple Love (Sweet Potato or Purple Yam), to symbolize V’s favorite color purple and the iconic phrase “I purple you”.
8. Butter Taiyaki (Lemon Curd and Buttercream). Inspired by their hit song “Butter,” this could be buttery and tangy lemon curd flavor.

I thought most of Chat GPT’s suggestions were good. Namjoon’s felt a bit skeevy.

We sent the list off to Rice Culture and they sent it to their production manager to get their input. To our surprise they came up with not just one, but six flavors! It was beyond what we were expecting. We were excited.

Feeding off their excitement, I felt inspired and starting sketching Taiyaki. How could I make it BTS themed? I went through different concepts. At the end I decided to draw BT21 themed Taiyaki. I created a J-Hope Mang, and a Jimin Chimmy. If you go to my Instagram page you’ll see how I sketched out Mang. Once the designs were final, I printed 100 of each design and trimmed to a square.

It didn’t feel complete. So then I created a photocard to go with it.

Now it’s complete. I packaged them and dropped them off at the store. I returned a week later when my order was ready.

J-Hope Freebies from CinderDazzle

In addition to the Taiyaki box, I also got a bracelet and Puzzle Game from CinderDazzle

If you can’t read the flavors, here’s what the card says:

• I Ube You. Ube Custard with white chocolate chips
• Hojicha Custard with Mochi
• Suga’s Sweet Dreams with Red Bean
• Dynamite Delight with walnuts, nutella and rice krispies
• Kookie Monster. Banana Milk Custard and Oreo cookie
• Permission to Passion. Passionfruit custard and toasted coconut flakes

I ate the passionfruit one and it was delicious. I froze the rest and will have it during the week. I do appreciate Rice Culture’s responsiveness; they were very quick to run with this idea. And they made a very special celebration for BTS ARMY.