The Playbook for Singapore’s Heritage Trail Mascot
Year
2024
Services
Graphic Design
Branding
Client
National Heritage Board
Overview
Kai the Eagle serves as the official digital companion for the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Heritage Trails, guiding users through immersive "phygital" journeys across Singapore’s historical sites and major cultural events. To ensure Kai could seamlessly scale across various sub-brands and future campaigns while maintaining a unified identity, we developed a comprehensive Mascot Character Playbook. This strategic blueprint acts as the definitive brand guideline for Kai, anchoring his core visual identity while allowing flexibility for diverse artistic styles. A prime example of this adaptability was executed for the Singapore Night Festival; to align with the festival's theme of play, Kai was reimagined into a specialised pixel art style for the interactive "Night Walk" trail, blending nostalgic gaming aesthetics with physical exploration.
Kai the Eagle serves as the official digital companion for the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Heritage Trails, guiding users through immersive "phygital" journeys across Singapore’s historical sites and major cultural events. To ensure Kai could seamlessly scale across various sub-brands and future campaigns while maintaining a unified identity, we developed a comprehensive Mascot Character Playbook. This strategic blueprint acts as the definitive brand guideline for Kai, anchoring his core visual identity while allowing flexibility for diverse artistic styles. A prime example of this adaptability was executed for the Singapore Night Festival; to align with the festival's theme of play, Kai was reimagined into a specialised pixel art style for the interactive "Night Walk" trail, blending nostalgic gaming aesthetics with physical exploration.
My Role
As the Lead Designer, I established the structural design rules for the mascot and personally executed its event-specific variations:
Brand Guidelines: Co-developed the Mascot Character Playbook with an illustrator and copywriter, establishing the official look and usage rules to keep Kai’s branding consistent across all digital and physical marketing.
Creative Adaptation & Execution: Adapted Kai into a custom pixel art character for the Singapore Night Festival, creating the visual assets featured in the "Night Walk" trail app.
As the Lead Designer, I established the structural design rules for the mascot and personally executed its event-specific variations:
Brand Guidelines: Co-developed the Mascot Character Playbook with an illustrator and copywriter, establishing the official look and usage rules to keep Kai’s branding consistent across all digital and physical marketing.
Creative Adaptation & Execution: Adapted Kai into a custom pixel art character for the Singapore Night Festival, creating the visual assets featured in the "Night Walk" trail app.
Impact
1 Mascot Playbook • 1 Custom Festival Art Style
Features: Unified brand governance blueprint alongside agile, event-specific asset creation.
Outcome: Delivered a custom pixel art style for Kai that matched the Singapore Night Festival’s theme, while establishing a future-proof framework for NHB's digital companion.
1 Mascot Playbook • 1 Custom Festival Art Style
Features: Unified brand governance blueprint alongside agile, event-specific asset creation.
Outcome: Delivered a custom pixel art style for Kai that matched the Singapore Night Festival’s theme, while establishing a future-proof framework for NHB's digital companion.
