In 2017, The Ohio State University reached out to several design firms to help them reimagine their beloved mascot, Brutus Buckeye.
Their existing athletic branding was not going away, rather they were looking for an alternate Brutus that was more animated and gregarious, seen all across campus (not just the in the ’Shoe or the Schott), and a reflection of the entire student body. After all, Brutus is really just a nutty college kid in a costume!
While Slagle Design and team made it to the final round (top 2), we eventually lost the project to a super-talented agency whose work we admire.
None of this work has been seen outside of our creative team and the the small group of people working on the client side at OSU. We put a TON of work into this and we want to share our take on solving their unique problem…. even though we didn’t land the project.
Phase 1: Sketches by Rafael Rosado
I knew as soon as I got the call for this project, I needed to reach out to my buddy (and OSU Alum) Raf, one of the most talented guys I know. He jumped in and blew us all away with his amazing sketches. He definitely understood the assignment!
Concept sketches by Rafael Rosado
Phase 2: Design and concept execution by Slagle Design
Working from Rafael’s sketches, we chose a few to design for the presentation. Brutus needed to look great in scarlet and gray but easily adapted to single-color options, all the while looking great on a t-shirt and other gear. We also reimagined him as an expressive set of emojis. The goal was to mix traditional university athletics style with a more expressive and versatile animation to present a more dynamic Brutus to the fans.
Phase 3: Animation by 2Tall
Greg Walter joined in to help bring Brutus to life and show the client the endless possibilities of creating a mascot that is more flexible and animated. He also cut a video together using the history and traditions of Ohio State athletics to our new concept.
Phase 4: Strategy & Story by Thad DeVassie of Ratchet Strategy + Communication
My long-time friend (and OSU Alum) Thad, jumped in and listened well, took plenty of notes, dug deep into the OSU athletics history and came out with a gold mine of content. His content and clarity really brought the project to life and served as a map for the rest of us to follow as we worked from a deep well of OSU tradition and attempted to create the next evolution of the beloved mascot. You can download the entire presentation here.
More about Thad at www.ratchetstrategy.com
Click image to download the Presentation
Despite losing the project, we all learned a ton and had a blast working together on something we were all proud of. Thanks to Raf, Greg, and Thad for joining me on this crazy journey.