Mascot Design: Examples, Types and Process

What Is Mascot Design?

Mascot design is the creation of a character that represents a brand, a team or a school. It gives people a face they can recognize and remember.

A mascot character is designed around a brand and has to keep working for years, while a character for a book only has to work inside its story. The characters of a video game sit in between: when they are the face of the game's website and the players' avatars, they are mascots. See how I designed five mascots for a real game.

This guide collects real examples, the design process and what affects the price. If you already want one, see the mascot design service.

Mascot Design Examples by Type

The main types of mascots I design. Each one has more mascot ideas in the gallery.

Industries Where Mascots Work Best

In these sectors people see the mascot every day: fans, students, homeowners and app users.

Mascot Poses: Custom or Modular

One drawing is not enough once a brand starts using its mascot every week. There are two ways to give it poses.

Mascot Design vs Mascot Logo

A mascot design is a detailed, full-body mascot illustration, made for larger applications like billboards or the side of a truck. Unlike a logo, it doesn’t have a fixed shape: it can change its message every time and talk directly to your audience.

A mascot logo is a logo that includes a mascot, and it follows the usual rules of logo design. It must work at small sizes, look good in one color and be recognizable at a glance, which means simplifying the character. It often comes with a mascot icon and an illustrative logo, like the ones below.

See how mascot branding works →

How a Mascot Is Designed

A good mascot is not drawn in one go. It is built in stages, and each one fixes a different problem before the next starts.

1. 

   Brief & sketches

   First mascot concepts, sketched from the audience, the brand and where it will appear.

2. 

   Refinement

   The chosen idea gets clean lines, shapes and a palette, revised with the client.

3. 

   Final files

   Vector artwork, color versions and poses, ready for print and screen.

See the process →

From Mascot Design to Mascot Costume

Many mascots end up as a costume at games, fairs and store openings. A specialized maker builds it from a design planned for a performer.

I work with agencies and costume makers in the USA, the Middle East and Europe. A handmade costume usually costs between $5,000 and $10,000, on top of the design.

Why Brands Use Mascots

A mascot helps a brand in three ways:

1. Memory: a face is recognized faster than a name or a typeface.
2. Attention: people stop to look at a character because they connect with it, and a logo rarely gets that.
3. Personality: the brand gets a voice that can joke and explain things.

How Much Does a Mascot Design Cost?

On freelance marketplaces a mascot can cost less than $100. An experienced mascot designer usually charges from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on what you order with it:

1. Poses: each extra pose or expression is drawn and charged on top.
2. Logo: turning the character into a logo that works at small sizes is a separate job.
3. Applications: packaging, signs or a brand guide add more hours.

For a quote on yours, tell me about it through my mascot design service.

Who Designs These Mascots

I’m Sergio Ordonez. I’ve been designing mascots for brands for 22 years, and I’ve seen which characters keep working long after the first drawing.

Some of my tutorials were published by design sites, and thousands of designers have learned from them:

1. Smashing Magazine, Create a mascot design in Photoshop.
2. Envato Tuts+, SOSFactory style mascot design.
3. Envato Tuts+, Mascot design in a real order.
4. SOSFactory, Drawing exercises for cartoon characters.
5. SOSFactory, Five mascots for a video game, a real case step by step.
6. SOSFactory, The world’s longest mascot coloring tutorial.

Mascot Design FAQ

How can I design my own mascot?

Mascot designing starts with a short brief. Sketch several ideas from simple shapes and pick the one with the clearest silhouette. The full mascot design process shows every step on a real project.

What makes a good mascot?

A personality of its own that your customers like, drawn as clean vector artwork. What matters most is the system behind it. New poses, expressions and versions can be added at any time, and that lets the mascot keep interacting with your audience instead of repeating one picture.

Where can I get a custom mascot made?

From a mascot specialist. A graphic designer masters logos but usually can’t draw a character, and an illustrator can draw but doesn’t know about design principles. A mascot needs both. Feel free to visit my mascot design service.

Can my mascot become a costume?

Yes. I design the views a costume maker needs, and a specialized manufacturer builds it. See how a mascot becomes a costume.

How long does it take to design a mascot?

About 30 hours of work from the first sketch to the final vector. The calendar time depends on how fast each stage is approved.

What files should a mascot design include?

Vector source files, which print sharp at any size, and PNG files with a transparent background for anyone who doesn’t use design software. Pantone codes keep the colors identical in every print, and a flat version without gradients is useful for embroidery or vinyl.

Can I modify my mascot later?

You can, but you need specialized software. Ideally you have the mascot in vector format and some basic Adobe Illustrator skills. Still, the best option is asking your designer, who will keep the mascot style consistent.

Can AI design a mascot?

It can help with brainstorming. The problem is that AI doesn’t know your company or your business, so its design decisions are random. And today it doesn’t give you vector files ready for print and production.