Owl-bert is the affectionate nickname I gave to this Athenian inspired owl school mascot. The brief instructed to create a custom illustrated owl mascot that unites students in school pride. Students voted on an owl as their mascot and were asked to submit drawings as inspiration.

The drawings submitted by Calvert students, as well as an illustrated owl character used in worktexts for the early elementary students, kick-started the design process. The worktext character wears black rimmed glasses, while student sketches included owls with graduation caps and world globes. The initial concepts for Owl-bert did not emulate traditional mascots leading me to take more creative license with my next round of concepts.

Instead of designing a full owl, I did a study of wings and another of heads/faces. This allowed me to more quickly experiment and envision combinations. From there I sketched full bodied owls in various poses and digitally illustrated the most promising sketches. After several rounds of edits, Owl-bert was born.