Koala Character Design for a Swim School Mascot

I had the great privilege to work on another fun character design project for a swim school called Australian Swim School. This school has been teaching California kids how to swim since the 1970’s! I really enjoyed helping them in their new branding efforts.

Whenever I work with a corporate business client on development of a new character, I always try and get a full understanding of their business as well as their customer base. Knowing these things helps me cater the look and feel of a character to reflect their company and appeal to their customers. This client wanted a really appealing character- Buffy the Koala – to be the face of their company. They wanted this character to appeal to children in a fun and inviting way. Learning how to swim can be intimidating for a young child, so to have a cartoon character can put them at ease and make the swimming school feel more welcoming and safe.

Once I have a full understanding of a brand, then I create a few character style sketches. I like to offer a range of choices, as this helps the client to really pinpoint the look that appeals to them.

After the client saw the initial concept art sketches, they loved number 2, but asked if we could use number 3’s body proportions. Not a problem! I adjusted the sketch to match their request…

And after their approval, I like to finalize the first pose, before working on any additional poses and expressions.

You can see, for much of my business mascot artwork, including this koala character, I will finalize the artwork in vector format. What that means is that this final artwork is fully scalable. The client can use it for something the size of a billboard or as small as a business card, without losing quality or becoming pixelated. Vector artwork provides the most versatility for products, t-shirts, marketing materials, etc.

After the first pose is complete, I will work on the additional pose sketches for our character. The client requested specific poses and expressions, which I was happy to create for them.

The client approved all the additional drawings very enthusiastically! That allowed me to finalize these other images quickly for them.

Of course, I love Buffy and his silly expression with the surfboard best. I hope the kids at the swim school do too!

I’m always excited to design new characters for your business, brand, film, or animation. Feel free to reach out to me and we can talk about how I can help boost your brand!