The Real Mob: Mascot Characters for Mafia-Era RPG
Situation: Creating Mascot Characters for Leading RPG Platform
The Real Mob is a world renowned RPG that allows players to emulate the life style of the Mafia era with an online playing environment.
Players move through rounds of different challenges progressing through the RPG. With over 150,000 members, TRM is a leading RPG platform in it’s genre.
The RPG gaming market requires brands that communicate authenticity, immersion, and unique visual language. The Real Mob needed mascot characters that would brand their platform with a unique visual language while representing various player roles.
Task: Create Mascot Characters for Leading RPG Platform
TRM came to Spellbrand to help them create a set of mascot characters. The challenge required:
- Multiple characters: Mascot characters representing various player roles
- Mafia era authenticity: Characters that are classic yet have modern look and feel
- Visual language: Unique branding for the platform
- Character development: Complete process from concept to final digitized artwork
- Historical accuracy: Characters that reflect Mafia history from 1920s prohibition to modern era
Action: Strategic Brand Development
Brand Strategy: Immersion and Research
Having worked on dozens of mascot character design branding projects in the past, the Spellbrand team immediately went into an “immersion” mode that is the starting point of all character design projects that we undertake. During this phase, we research the context of the character to learn as much as possible about the character and how it interacts with its world view.
We researched the history of Mafia starting from the prohibition in the 1920s all the way up to the current incarnations. We gathered hundreds of reference photos of real life characters from the early periods to understand their clothing, accessories and look and feel.
Brand Solution: Pencil Sketching to Digitization
We then started sketching the characters on paper with a pencil. Mascot characters that are sketched in pencil always tend to come out better compared to the characters that are created directly on the computer. This could be because the sketching process helps refine and fine-tune the subtle characteristics of the characters and give them a more natural look while still retaining their “cartoon” like base.
We ended up with dozens of pencil sketches for the 10 different characters. Working with the client, we fine-tuned each sketch to arrive at the final mascot character design branding which was then rendered in ink and then digitized on the computer by scanning the sketches and converting them into vector shapes.
The final step was the coloring phase which involved applying colors in layers starting with the base colors and then ending with accentuated effects and shadows for depth.
Result: Mascot Characters That Brand the Platform
The mascot character design we created for The Real Mob successfully brands their platform with a unique visual language. The comprehensive brand transformation delivers:
Strategic Outcomes
- Multiple characters: Mascot characters successfully represent various player roles
- Mafia era authenticity: Characters successfully are classic yet have modern look and feel
- Visual language: Brand successfully creates unique branding for the platform
- Character development: Process successfully completes from concept to final digitized artwork
- Historical accuracy: Characters successfully reflect Mafia history from 1920s prohibition to modern era
- Complete brand system: 10 mascot characters, brand identity system, and visual language create unified experience
Implementation Success
Today, The Real Mob uses these comprehensive mascot characters to attract and engage players in their world-renowned RPG. The 10 different characters representing various player roles combine classic Mafia-era authenticity with modern appeal, creating memorable mascots that help players identify with their chosen roles in the game. The brand successfully positions The Real Mob as a leading platform with over 150,000 members that allows players to emulate the lifestyle of the Mafia era through authentic, well-designed character representations, with mascot characters that brand their platform with a unique visual language.
