The Playbook for Singapore’s Heritage Trail Mascot
Year
2024
Services
Visual 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 on this project, I spearheaded the structural design guidelines for the mascot and personally executed its thematic creative variations:
Mascot Strategy & Guidelines: Collaborated closely with an illustrator and copywriter to develop the foundational Mascot Character Playbook. I defined the visual guardrails, proportions, and application rules to ensure long-term brand consistency across NHB's digital and physical touchpoints.
Creative Adaptation & Conceptualisation: Brainstormed ways to adapt the mascot for specific event themes without losing brand recognition. For the Singapore Night Festival, I conceptualised the transformation of Kai into a retro-gaming persona.
Asset Execution: Personally designed and executed the specialised pixel art variation of Kai, creating the visual assets utilised throughout the interactive "Night Walk" festival trail.
As the Lead Designer on this project, I spearheaded the structural design guidelines for the mascot and personally executed its thematic creative variations:
Mascot Strategy & Guidelines: Collaborated closely with an illustrator and copywriter to develop the foundational Mascot Character Playbook. I defined the visual guardrails, proportions, and application rules to ensure long-term brand consistency across NHB's digital and physical touchpoints.
Creative Adaptation & Conceptualisation: Brainstormed ways to adapt the mascot for specific event themes without losing brand recognition. For the Singapore Night Festival, I conceptualised the transformation of Kai into a retro-gaming persona.
Asset Execution: Personally designed and executed the specialised pixel art variation of Kai, creating the visual assets utilised throughout the interactive "Night Walk" festival trail.
Impact
1 Mascot Playbook • 1 Custom Festival Art Style
Features: Unified brand governance blueprint alongside agile, event-specific asset creation.
Outcome: Custom art style for Kai following Singapore Night Festival's theme and established 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: Custom art style for Kai following Singapore Night Festival's theme and established a future-proof framework for NHB's digital companion.
