How to design a mascot?
A mascot is essentially a well designed cartoon character with strong connection to the company it represents. The following elaborates on qualities of a good mascot – things to aim for.
1.Connection to company profession and values. Simplest thing is to have character do the job the company is best known for. Then give the mascot personality, style and way of doing things that reflect the best things the company stands for. Colour palette-connection would help as well.
2.Background story. Giving a mascot a story makes all future decisions easier as we know WHO he/she/it is. Personal goals and story give mascot things to do, provides material for campaings and overall offers mascot some beliveability.
3.Appeal. A live-action actor has charisma, animated character has appeal. With people charisma means a lot more than just ‘cute’ or ‘handsome’, and so it is with cartoon characters, too. There appeal stands for simplicity, pleasing design and charm/magnetism. Why these give appeal? Simple is both easier to read and communicates better than complex. Pleasing design means good forms and it doesn’t always mean they are pretty, more like well drawn and stylised. What visual style is effective varies from character to character, but one overall solid trick is exaggeration in dimensions and characteristics. Finally we have charm or personal magnetism; It is, in my opinion, the ability to communicate with emotion (usually something positive).
4.Style for target audience. Cute mascots attract the female and young children audience. Cool (and sexy) is a bigger hit with males. Consideration here should of course be about your company image, what represents it better?
Props and accessories add to the design and are way to say more about the mascot.
Ref from :http://www.cgmascot.com/design/mascot-design/
