Gadget Buddy
Friendly 3D mascot
Rebranding challenges
London agency, TDG, came to us with a unique challenge from the Rock Insurance Group to rebrand their specialist gadget insurance service, Gadget Buddy. The brand was being completely refreshed and so their existing mascot needed to be updated too, as character design experts this is where we came in.
A contemporary CGI mascot
The old Gadget Buddy had been well received whilst the brand was growing but it was felt that it was time for a more sophisticated, modern character that would have a greater appeal to their wide target market.
Our character design strategy
The top items insured by Gadget Buddy are high end mobile phones and tablets, so we wanted to incorporate this into our design. We decided to mirror the slick, minimal styles of brands such as Apple and Samsung. Our thinking behind this plan was that Gadget Buddy’s design should be consistent with products available in the industry.
In safe hands
Of course gadget buddy also had to be your friend, an open and trustworthy guy you would be happy to entrust your expensive devices with. So we had to work hard to make sure that we gave him the perfect personality.
Back to the drawing board
We began this project on papar, which allowed us to explore many options quickly. We scrutinised every detail of our designs and if any particular feature couldn’t be rationalised then we took it away until we couldn’t simplify it any more.
A smooth 3D model
As we worked the designs into full 3D glory we were careful to ensure that Gadget Buddy was composed of smooth, simple, elegant lines. The complexity came from the realistic, appealing lighting effects that we applied.
Ready for anything
We created Gadget Buddy to be a versatile character as we knew the work would be used across a variety of different marketing scenarios. With the fully articulated CGI character we had created we were able to quickly and easily pose him in all manner of situations depending on what was needed.
