With the launch of DevPath, a new sub brand by Educative, I was tasked with creating the mascot characters that would be used for as the brand voice for advertising. This new brand would be focused on strengthening team collaboration with learning and documentation tools so showing that interconnection between the characters would be important.
Working in collaboration with the Creative Director and another graphic designer, I began the design process with a style mood board to ground the initial character sketches.
In the mood board above, we loved the color blocked style of the monsters and figure shapes in the left side most, so that was the direction that I followed to create these initial character silhouette options.
To further explore how these characters would relate, I also illustrated small groups of the characters together and played with arrows to represent interconnected thoughts and ideas.
To further explore how these characters would relate, I also illustrated small groups of the characters together and played with arrows to represent interconnected thoughts and ideas.
I shared these versions with the team and received feedback to lean further into the idea of connection and communication. This inspired the next round of character samples that shift toward brain shapes and the idea of a hive-mind.
In the next round of feedback, the team decided that there would be more room for expressive freedom with the characters if they were in organic and geometric shapes instead of the more literal brains.
This direction led to the team's favorite characters, a group of shapes with limbs nicknamed the "Devsters" of DevPath. Using their arms and eyes, the characters can be expressive, friendly, and playful together while remaining polished.
With the design settled for the "Devsters," I created a few samples of graphics that play with the storytelling opportunities with these characters. By keeping the characters limited to one color, the printing process for brand event materials would be simplified and distinct.
