Case Study · Mascot Design · Character Development · Sports Branding
Smoony — Official Mascot of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships St. Moritz 2003
Professional development of the official event mascot from a winning schoolchild’s sketch into a complete character system for the 2003 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in St. Moritz.
Client: FIS Alpine World Ski Championship Committee, St. Moritz · Period: 2002–2003
Role: Character Designer · Illustrator · Visual Branding Consultant
The Starting Point
A child’s idea developed into a professional event mascot
Before I joined the project, the organisers had run a regional drawing competition among schoolchildren in the Engadin. The winning concept combined the sun and moon in a single character.
My task was to take that core idea and develop it into a mascot that could work consistently across print, signage, broadcast, merchandise and event applications. The resulting character was named Smoony, combining “sun” and “moon.”
01 · Character Development
From concept sketch to production-ready character
The mascot needed to retain the original sun-and-moon idea while becoming clear, consistent and reproducible across very different formats.
I developed the character proportions, facial expression, colour treatment, movement and simplified forms needed for both large event graphics and small licensed objects.
02 · Production Package
A mascot designed for many different uses
- Full-colour final character artwork
- Front, side and back views
- Dynamic skiing and action poses
- Artwork prepared for broadcast and animation use
- Licensing-ready merchandise artwork
- Simplified forms for small-scale production
03 · Event Use
From illustration to a working event character
Smoony was used throughout the Championships in spectator areas, printed material, television coverage and merchandise. The character therefore had to remain recognisable whether seen as a large event graphic or as a small physical object.
That range of applications is what makes mascot development different from a single illustration: the design has to survive changes of scale, pose, material and production method without losing the character.
Swiss Radio Interview
Talking about mascot design on DRS3
Swiss Radio DRS3, now SRF 3, interviewed me in Swiss German about mascot design and the development of characters for professional use.
Project Scope
Character design developed for real-world production
The project combined character development, illustration and production thinking: taking a strong original idea and preparing it for the practical demands of an international sporting event.
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Mascot & Character Design
Need a character that has to work beyond a single illustration?
If you are developing a mascot or character for an event, organisation, product or communication system, send me a short outline of where the character needs to be used.
