Waffle.io makes project management painless for engineers by allowing them to create Kanban boards on top of Github Issues and Pull Requests. The charming robot behind the scenes is the WaffleBot—and we're proud to have worked with Megan and the Waffle marketing team to bring it to life.
Inspiration
Github's OctoCat was definitely an inspiration for this project. Github repurposes their OctoCat in dozens of different costumes, and lends personality to what could otherwise be a very dry product (source control! who wants to talk about that?).
We threw in Wall-E and a few other mascots for good measure.
Wafflebot Moodboard
Rough Sketches: Waffle Direction
We knew the Waffle icon would be the launching point for the mascot.
But how? A waffle iron? A delicious waffle brought to life? A robot with a possibly unhealthy—and improbable—obsession with waffles?
The awesome thing about a project like this is that there aren't any right or wrong answers—so we started sketching to see what we all liked.
Check out the range of adorable waffle-inspired characters from the first round (and this is just a selection!)
WaffleBot rough sketches
Second Round: Arms & Bots
So, it turns out there is such a thing as Too Much Waffle. No matter how adorable.
We scrapped what we had and explored ways we could incorporate the Waffle icon without being too on-the-nose about it.
We pushed down the path of devices and robots—a character that spoke to the service the WaffleBot would provide. This is where "arms and bots" developed into a solid direction.
Robots and arms sketches
Focused Direction & Collaboration
With the arms, we landed on something everyone loved.
Take a look at how Megan, Waffle's Marketing Director, worked with Corey, our illustrator, through Lightboard to go from rough sketch to final, polished illustration:
WaffleBot design process
Shazam! We're delighted to welcome the WaffleBot to the world. Here's the final WaffleBot version, gloriously animated:
Hungry for more? Take a look at WaffleBot and Waffle.io to see the mascot in action.
