How to create a mascot for your small business

A mascot is the cheapest brand asset you will ever own. It works on a cup, a sign, a social post and a game, and customers remember it long after they forget your tagline. Here is how to make one that lasts.

Start with one trait, not a drawing

The mascots people love are a personality first. Friendly and slightly chaotic. Grumpy but lovable. Proud of the neighborhood. Pick the one trait your regulars would use to describe the place, then design a character who obviously has it. The drawing follows the trait; it never works the other way around.

Choose the kind of character

• An animal is the safest choice: expressive, easy to simplify, no uncanny faces. Pick one with a local or product connection.
• Your product with a face works surprisingly well for packaged goods and online stores, because it puts the product on screen every time the mascot appears.
• A person (the chef, the founder) is strongest for restaurants, and risky if that person ever leaves.
• An object from the shop (the espresso machine, the neon sign) is the quirky option and great for a game.

Design for the smallest place it will live

Your mascot will be a half-inch tall on a cup sleeve and a thumbnail on a phone. Design it there first: a clear silhouette, two or three colors, one defining feature (ears, a hat, an apron). If it reads at half an inch, it will read everywhere.

Give it a name and a voice

A named mascot gets talked about. Keep the name short and sayable. Decide how it talks (two or three sample lines) so social captions and game dialogue stay consistent.

Put it to work

Sleeves, tents, the window, the receipt, social, and then the places that pay back: a game where the mascot is the hero and clearing a level earns a reward. That is where a mascot stops being decoration and starts bringing customers back. If you do not have one yet, designing it is part of every game we build.