SOOT — Mascot of LAST DRAFT Every creative person has a SOOT inside them.

SOOT is the official mascot of LAST DRAFT — a fictional stationery brand built for people who start things beautifully and abandon them gloriously. SOOT is a small, round creature made entirely of graphite smudge and dust. He has no legs — he just floats, unbothered. He has oversized expressive eyes that carry the weight of seventeen unfinished projects. And he always, always carries one unfinished thing. It's never the same thing twice.

He's not sad about it. He's weirdly proud. THE BRAND IDEA

LAST DRAFT exists for the beautifully unfinished. Not for people who quit — for people who start with full intention, get distracted by a better idea, and begin again. The brand lives on stationery, notebooks, and merch — products for people who buy notebooks but never finish them. Sound familiar?

Tagline: "For everything you'll finish someday." CHARACTER BRIEF

Name: SOOT Role: Brand mascot of LAST DRAFT Form: Small round graphite smudge creature — no legs, tiny stubby arms, oversized expressive eyes Personality: Unbothered, chaotic, soft, perpetually mid-thought, oddly proud of unfinished work

SOOT is the patron saint of good intentions and better beginnings. Warm and chaotic, he shows up on every LAST DRAFT product as a reminder that starting is the whole point. He has been working on something for three years. He doesn't mind. Neither should you. THE SYSTEM Every element of LAST DRAFT was designed to feel like it belongs together — and like nothing else out there. Color palette: Three colors only. Deep charcoal #1C1C1E, warm paper off-white #F5F0E8, and a single burnt amber accent #D4622A — used sparingly, like a pencil tip. Typography: Bold serif for LAST, italic serif for DRAFT — because one thing is certain, and the other is still being figured out. SOOT across five applications:

Sticker Pack — Six emotional states: happy, tired, shrugging, focused, done, pretending to work. Because SOOT contains multitudes.

Dark Poster — Pure charcoal background, SOOT centered with breathing room, one orange pencil. Tagline at the bottom in the smallest possible font. Less is the whole point.

Notebook Cover — SOOT peeking from the bottom edge of a kraft paper cover, just his eyes and the top of his head visible. Because the best notebooks are the ones you almost finish.

Social Post Template — "another unfinished thought." SOOT holding a crumpled paper, looking directly at you. @lastdraft. This is the post format that would make anyone who has ever abandoned a project stop scrolling.

T-Shirt Merch — SOOT on a clean white tee, small and centered. "still working on it." in tiny lowercase. The most relatable shirt ever made. WHY SOOT WORKS

Most mascots are aspirational. SOOT is the opposite — he's deeply, specifically relatable. Every creative person, every student, every person who has ever bought a notebook and not finished it will see SOOT and think: that's me.

That's the point. A mascot people laugh at themselves through is a mascot they remember.

SOOT is distinctive enough to own a silhouette. Simple enough to stay consistent. And human enough to make you feel seen.

He's been working on something for three years. You already know what it feels like. That's LAST DRAFT. 🔗 Full Recraft Project: https://www.recraft.ai/project/adad844a-479d-4b83-86ff-665bf04fca89

Loved the merch

Hello, meet my Character name is [BOLI].

What started as a simple character sketch became an entire visual world.

For this challenge, I designed an original mascot with its own personality, custom wordmark, signature color palette, and a complete identity system that stays consistent across posters, stickers, packaging, and social media.

The goal wasn't just to create a cute character—it was to build a mascot that feels like it belongs to a real brand and can live across endless applications without losing its identity.

Created entirely in Recraft Studio using Exploration Mode, Vector, and reference workflows to keep every design on-model. https://www.recraft.ai/project/35ea36f7-8c40-48dc-b5de-1006c4daf9c3

I'd love to hear what you think!

#Recraft #Contra #MascotDesign #BrandIdentity #CharacterDesign #GraphicDesign #CreativeChallenge

BOLI looks like if a cotton candy got feelings 😭 That pink + green eyes combo is so striking. "Simple sketch to entire visual world" is exactly what a good mascot should do 🔥