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 game or a book only has to work inside its story. See a character design process on a real project.
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.
Company Mascots
Brand characters that make a company friendlier and easier to remember.
Kids Mascots
Characters for kids’ apps, books and toys that children want to collect.
Monster Mascots
Friendly monsters for kids’ brands and the games they play on screen.
Industries Where Mascots Work Best
In these sectors people see the mascot every day: fans, students, homeowners and app users.
Teams and Events
Clubs, leagues and international events that need a face for the crowd and the cameras.
Schools and Universities
Characters students cheer for at games and see on team shirts, banners and the website.
Home Services
Plumbers, cleaners and pest control companies that put the mascot on vans and yard signs.
Apps
Apps and platforms that use the mascot for stickers, rewards and onboarding screens.
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.
Modular Poses
Parts are swapped on one base body, making every new pose faster and cheaper.
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.
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.
Brief & sketches
First mascot concepts, sketched from the audience, the brand and where it will appear.
Refinement
The chosen idea gets clean lines, shapes and a palette, revised with the client.
Final files
Vector artwork, color versions and poses, ready for print and screen.
Get your mascot
Because your customers will notice.
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.
Thunder
University
The illustrated Thunder that Grand Canyon University uses on shirts, merchandise and events.
Jameel
Football
Created for the Saudi Pro League and adapted for motorsport and esports over 10 years.
Al Hilal
Football
One of the 15 club mascots I drew for the Saudi Pro League, all in the same style.
Why Brands Use Mascots
A mascot helps a brand in three ways:
- Memory: a face is recognized faster than a name or a typeface.
- Attention: people stop to look at a character because they connect with it, and a logo rarely gets that.
- 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:
- Poses: each extra pose or expression is drawn and charged on top.
- Logo: turning the character into a logo that works at small sizes is a separate job.
- 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:
- Smashing Magazine, Create a mascot design in Photoshop.
- Envato Tuts+, SOSFactory style mascot design.
- Envato Tuts+, Mascot design in a real order.
- SOSFactory, Drawing exercises for cartoon characters.
- SOSFactory, Character design process on a real project.
- 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.
Get your mascot
Because your customers will notice.