I've been asked about our process behind delivering a unique, on-brand mascot, so here's how we did it for LearnWise (took 2-3 months):
1. Strategy session
Product, brand values, audience, personality. You can't design a character until you know what it is and isn't.
2. x3 mascot variations + 1 BONUS one (overdelivering feels good)
Based on the strategy, three distinct directions, each a different answer to the same brief: confident, trustable, a little playful, not childish or corporate.
3. Refinement
We picked the strongest direction and refined it down to a single character that scaled cleanly across every context.
4. x7 expressions
We built the mascot into 7 unique expressions: thinking, encouraging, celebrating, explaining, etc., so it works seamlessly across the website, the product UI, and marketing.
5. Asset elivery & style guide
A single-page usage guide so the team can drop the mascot in correctly anywhere, on any background.
Today it's live, and I'm incredibly proud of how it turned out