Nich's Character Design

Turn around of Pete Pigeon, buff and ready to brawl!

Keeping his design simple at the back, more detail around his facial area

Final colour palette choice, lightened the cream, and lightened the brown too.

Promotional material for my British olympic mascots!

My task was to create four mascot characters that could be used in a redesign of the 2012 London Olympics. 

I decided to use the domestic pigeon, British bull dog, red squirrel and European mole for each character, because they are important animals to Britain, iconic, some not necessarily found only in the UK but are used in a wide range of literature and media from Britain. I also chose these animals as they each bring different qualities of build and personality to the over all design. The pigeon is an animal I think of in relation to London, although its usually seen as a pest, I wanted to try give it more positive qualities and challenge myself to make a likeable pigeon character since theyre usually seen as creepy or gross. The British bull dog was picked due to it being a very well known breed of dog, as well as many dog breeds originating in the UK, dogs are an important to people, becoming mans best friend. The red squirrel was picked because red squirrels are exclusively found in Europe, and their populations have been declining due to the widespread grey squirrel population from America competing for resources. Lastly I chose a mole because I wanted an animal representing the paraplegic athletes to be naturally impaired in some way, rather than chopping off their leg just because. I was also interested in the blind running and football, and how they would have seeing athletes that accompanied them while playing. I created Billy Badger to be Mandy Moles seeing aid and companion. 

I experimented with different shapes silhouettes seeing which features I could push to convey their personality and purpose. I knew straight away for Pete I wanted him to be strong, simply because the idea of buff birds makes me laugh, and often people don’t like pigeons because they can look freaky, so since I can’t make him beautiful or cute, making him funny is great! I wanted to bring an element of comedy and lightheartedness to the characters, after all people of all ages would have to enjoy them from children to elderly across the country. Because of this I focused on top heavy, strong shapes for him, ones that would emphasise his arms and head. For Sandra, a key feature of theirs is the tail and cute little feature, I thought the glove on the tail as well as their little paws would be great! So i went ahead with making the tail super big and heavy, and focusing on round shapes, like fists and juxtaposing with angular shapes like the feet and ears as I wanted their personality to be ambitious and feisty. Biff I wanted to be cheerful and passionate, as a supporter and fan he is the solid thing that brings it all together, there wouldn't be an Olympics if no one watched it after all. Dogs are loving and loyal creatures, bull dogs in particular are solid and strong, so i went for block shapes, but more rounded than angular since i still want him to be friendly. And Mandy I wanted to be gentle and loving but also capable and focused to contrast with the rest of the group. Moles shapes are often very round and sort of roll looking, I loved the thought of Mandy running along with her big claws and paws made for digging, but still quite small feet in comparison with the rest of her body. I went with a more bottom heavy, balanced shape for her silouette to differ from the other silhouettes. 

As for naming I researched names with English origins, though some are more alternate versions of the original. Pete means solid stone, like his personality. Mandy means deserving of love, as I believe that many disabled people, physical or mental are still stigmatised and suffer from prejudice, I wanted Mandy to not be a character to be pitied or disgusted with, as disabled people are often in society, but like the athletes that actually perform be a loving role model that’s really awesome at her sport! Sandra means protector, she’s gonna punch her way through anything, her opponents, the patriarchy, and endangerment of her species (even though they’re low risk now). Biff means playful fighting, which suits his personality of supporter and fan, to cheer on the athletes, as well as a dog, always up for some fun, as well as alluding potentially to his origins as a fighting breed that can now be a house hold loving pet.

Colour schemes I didn’t want to be too obvious (such as flag colours or olympic colours, which can look very clashing together) and I wanted a range of bright popping colours to draw attention and create a fun vibe, i also wanted some more neutral colours to contrast with that. 

As for markings I wanted to allude to the angular lines and shapes in the British flag without being too obvious, and have a constant pattern or motif within each design across all of the characters.

Patriotic, passionate, courteous, noble, ambitious, pioneeering, brave, strong and true. An established ‘old’ country, with lots of rich history, wars, victories, and pride. Unicorn and Lion coat of arms (symbolic of country pride, and joining of all regions of the UK, by war or conquest, England being the Lion and the Unicorn Scotland). One of the only countries with Royal family and nobility still in power (sort of), and having a long history of monarchy, actually relating to Spanish and Germanic blood lines. 

Manners, Passion for football. English tv shows showing varying amounts of comedy, drama, reality, murder, lifestyle. Great literature, Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, J RR Tolkien, George Orwell, CS Lewis, JK Rowling, Virgina Woolf, Agatha Christie, to name a few. 

Origin of many sports, including rugby and several of its sub forms, boxing, football, cricket, croquet, tennis, squash. 

Third most populated island country in the world. 

Small but full of many different people from all over the world and many generations of different religions and races spread about. Some areas of the UK are very mixed racially and with established communities spanning generations, with origins from China, India, Africa, Spain, South America, Middle East etc. while other areas can be very homogeneous, with mainly Caucasian people in tight nit communities. 

Areas span from highly densely packed ares of people living together in cities such as London and Manchester, to Suburban and Rural areas such as Market Harborough or Kent. 

Iconic celebrities and figures are: Queen Elizabeth II, David Beckham, Simon Cowell, Churchill, Margret Thatcher, Princess Diana, Robbie Williams, Julia Andrews,Elton John, Gordon Ramsey, Adele, Danielle Radcliffe, Alfred Hitchcock, 1 Direction, Anthony Hopkins, Ian Mckellen, Amy Whinehouse, Stephen Fry, Billy Idol, Oasis, Sex Pistols, Charlie Chaplan, Michael Caine, Noel Fielding.

Some of their most well known athletes, not necessarily just for the olympics, include: Jessica Ines Hill, Mohammad Farah, Andy Murray, Paula Radcliffe, Steve Redgrave, Kelly Holmes, Colin Jackson, Bobby Moore, Jacky Stewart, Lenox Lewis.

Main Religions: Christianity, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islamism, etc.

more mole studies for Mandy! i want to focus on her bread loaf shape, but also round her out more, kind just make her a cute round loaf.

also drew her with flowers because even though she cant see them they must feel soft and nice (given to her from a fan).

Thinking of colour palettes besides the obvious flag colours and olympic ring colours and important meaning for each colour. also debating still between which animals to go with. I’ve decided against rabbits since they are found in other Western countries, aren’t necessarily British. A robin is cute, but I’m really keen on buff pigeon and don’t really want two bird species since Britain doesn’t come across as a super bird country. Also changing mr badger and swapping him for a mole instead as my paraplegic character, since i wanted an animal that has a disability in reality as well, rather than just amputating their leg or crippling them.