Recover
Start with the original character history and visual DNA instead of treating the mascot as a blank-sheet redesign.
Case Study / Character + Campaign
KELLEY& DAWSON.TEMPY.
Reviving a mascot Kelley & Dawson had stepped away from nearly 40 years earlier and rebuilding him into a flexible, expressive character system for modern branding, campaign creative, motion and sound.
Creative DirectionCharacter DevelopmentDesign2D AnimationSound DesignCampaign Creative
43RD ANNUAL TELLY AWARDSBronze — Best Use of 2D Animation
The assignment
Bring an old mascot
back to life.
Tempy wasn't a new character. Kelley & Dawson had stepped away from the mascot nearly 40 years earlier and wanted to bring him back. The challenge was to reconnect the brand with a character customers could remember while updating Tempy enough to work naturally in modern advertising, social media and motion.
ClientKelley & Dawson Service
My roleCreative Direction + Execution
DisciplinesCharacter, Design, Animation, Sound
RecognitionBronze Telly Award
01 / THINK IT.
Respect the history.
Expand the possibilities.
The original Tempy character had been out of active use for nearly four decades. The goal wasn't to reinvent him for the sake of making him look current; it was to understand what made the original recognizable, preserve that visual DNA, and create a version Kelley & Dawson could confidently return to.
The resulting system could support logos, seasonal advertising, social creative and animated storytelling without losing the connection to the original character.
Rebuild
Create cleaner, usable logo and character applications that preserved the recognizable Tempy silhouette.
Activate
Extend the character into campaign art, 2D animation and sound so Tempy could carry actual advertising stories.
Design evolution
Old Tempy.
Meet new Tempy.
I created this animated comparison specifically to show the design evolution from the original Tempy to the updated version. It let the client see that the redesign was an update—not a replacement—and made the connection between the nearly 40-year-old mascot and the revived character immediately clear.
Campaign execution
Tempy became more than a logo.
02 / MAKE IT.
Motion +
Sound Design.
Animation gave Tempy personality beyond the still artwork. I handled the motion work and sound design as part of the finished production, using pacing, visual beats and audio together to turn the mascot into a character that could carry a commercial rather than simply decorate one.
RESULT / RECOGNITIONBRONZE
TELLY
TELLY
43rd Annual Telly Awards
Best Use of 2D Animation
Tempy Caught in the Cold
03 / MARKET IT.
The mascot became
a campaign system.
The value wasn't a single redesigned character or a single animation. Tempy could now move between identity work, seasonal advertising, social content and motion while still reading as the same established mascot.
That is the through-line I still bring to marketing work today: understand the brand, build the creative so it can actually be used, then extend it across the channels where the audience will encounter it.