Brainrot approached my friend and superstar art director Dario looking for a visual branding overhaul and a makeover of their already beloved mascot. As soon as it was clear they were up for an illustrated brand, Dario brought me on board and we started collecting inspiration.

Brainrot had already found some images online that captured the mood they wanted. We ran with their idea and started identifying visuals that felt fresh, a little edgy, but still wholesome. Something memorable and funky. At this early stage of the process, alignment with the client is crucial, so once we landed on a possible direction, we checked in with them. I rarely use AI in my process, but this is one case where it made sense: we could use AI to quickly make mockups of our ideas in the style we were considering, to make it easier for our client to visualise the possible applications.

The most important first step in shaping the look of the app is the mascot design. There’s so much that goes into character or mascot design - apart from the visual style itself, the character has a specific personality that communicates itself in every line of its appearance. It needs to capture the precise mood of the brand - whether it’s friendly, sleek, professional, or cute. The process of designing the mascot is often a revelation for the brand owners themselves, because it requires them to get clear about the personality of their product. For me, this means lots and lots of sketches. I identify several broad directions, then iterate on them by changing small details.

We were reminded again of the importance of checking in early and often with clients. Brainrot liked our ideas, but after sleeping on it, they realized that none of them hit the right tone. They decided to go back to their original AI-generated mascot as inspiration and asked us to create something similar to the character they already knew and loved.

At last we hit on a mascot that Brainrot could fall in love with! This is the fun part in any design process. The groundwork is laid and it’s time to go full speed ahead on breathing life into the illustrated world. We also started adding personality to our mascot, who we nicknamed Nugget.

With our mascot taking shape, Dario started diving into the app designs. An illustrated world started to spring up, shaped and being shaped by the UI and UX decisions. We brought in Arsen for animation tests and continued to collaborate closely on app designs and illustrations.

Nugget is living his best life in the Brainrot app. Check out the appstore or thebrainrotapp.com. But Dario and I still have plenty of mascot ideas we’d love to bring to life! Drop us a line if you want to start your own mascot designing adventure. Studies show that mascots help increase brand recognition and improve sales of digital products. Get in touch and let’s see what we can create!