Adventure Ted Rebranding

Not Original Work

Client: Childhood Cancer Society

Role: Graphic Designer

Project Goal: The goal of this project was to reposition the "Adventure Ted Social Hour" concept from casual venues to the luxury dining community of Northern New Jersey, partnering with two high-profile chef David Burke restaurants (Solaz and Red Horse) and major publications (Dining Out NJ). This required a complete visual update to meet the expectations of an affluent, ticketed event audience during the cold winter season.

The Challenge:

Mascot Identity: The existing character was too casual (see left) and needed to project sophistication and warmth for the Northeast winter climate.
Flyer Complexity: Create high-impact digital flyer's that successfully merges the distinct, high-end aesthetics of two different luxury restaurant brands.

The Solution: My approach was to develop a functionally driven design system that translated the original character's identity into a polished, high-end visual system appropriate for the new audience and setting. This involved:

Character Redesign: Evolving the mascot's wardrobe and color palette to align with a luxury, winter aesthetic.
Aesthetic Synthesis: Creating a cohesive digital flyer design that prioritized ticket conversion and successfully merged two distinct luxury brands.

Not Original Work

ORiginal Mascot Analysis

Original Mascot Identity (See Above): The previous version of Adventure Ted embodied a casual, "Miami Prep" aesthetic, featuring a palm-tree Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and sunglasses. While successful in its original context of bar events, this look presented a clear disconnect with the elevated target audience and the cold-weather luxury environment of the New Jersey dining scene.

Specific Flaws Addressed in the Rework:

Climate: The short-sleeved, summery attire was inappropriate for the ticketed events scheduled for late January and early February in New Jersey.
Sophistication: The casual wear and resort aesthetic clashed with the formal atmosphere of Chef David Burke's high-end restaurants (Solaz, Red Horse).

First Inital concept

The original character was transformed into a sophisticated, cold-weather ensemble that preserved the preppy foundation while aligning with the high-end venues.

This solved:

Winter Attire: Adventure Ted is now featured in a layered high-neck sweater, slacks, boots, and a structured camel overcoat. This fixed the climate constraint and elevated the character's perceived value to match the luxury venues and ticketed audience.
Color Palette: I introduced rich deep tones (camel, dark forest green, and slate gray) which shifted the aesthetic from resort casual to sophisticated and premium, aligning with luxury winter fashion.
Signature Element: It was requested to keep the existing pose and martini glass, so those elements stayed. This amplified brand reconigtion while reinforcing the core concept of the "cocktail social"

Upon review, the concept required functional adjustments to accommodate potential product sponsors and brand requirements. This demonstrates professional flexibility and attention to detail:

Liquid Color Change: The liquid in the martini glass was updated to a yellow/gold tone. This was done so for product placement, and I ensured that it was functional without disrupting the overall aesthetic quality.
Garnish Swap: Replaced the lime garnish with a skewered cherry trio. This further aligned with the sponsor's wishes to add some product placement into the illustration, as well as further polished the visual for a high-end feel.

Venue Specific Character Design

Concept

Revision one

Revision two

Following stakeholder review, the initial redesign was replaced with a formal, venue-specific approach to closely align with the distinct aesthetics of the David Burke restaurants. This pivot demonstrates the ability to execute rapid iteration and strictly adhere to client specifications.

Solaz Outfit: Mediterranean Polish (3 Revisions):

The Solaz event required a refined, business-casual look that spoke to the restaurant's Mediterranean feel. The design was finalized over three micro-revisions, focusing on emotional and functional integration.

The Constraint: Client specified a white collared shirt and slacks to represent the Mediterranean theme, while incorporating existing sponsorship constraints (liquid color, garnish).
Wardrobe Execution: The tailored gray slacks, white collared shirt, and polished shoes were successfully incorporated into the illustration, as well as the sponsored yellow liquid and cherry garnish from the previous concept. This delivered the interpretation of the client's ultra-specific request while managing external constraints.
Goggles Integration: The mascot's signature goggles were added to the top of his head by client request, which integrated a core brand element back into the illustrations.
Facial Expression: The smile was refined through two iterations to achieve a wider, open-mouth "jollier" expression. This demonstrated my ability to execute precise, nuanced character revisions to meet specific emotional branding goals.

Concept

Revision one

Red Horse Outfit:

The Red Horse event required a highly formal, classic look to align with the Rumson venue's sophisticated steakhouse environment. Leveraging the finalized details from the Solaz revisions (goggles, smile, garnish), this execution focused on precise wardrobe adaptation.

The Constraint: The client specified a suit blazer, red tie, and a red handkerchief to embody the formal steakhouse aesthetic.

The Solution: The final design (see above) successfully translated the character into a dapper, formal icon ready for the high-end event.

Wardrobe Execution: The specified black suit with a red tie and red breast pocket handkerchief was executed. I adhered strictly to the client's detailed requirements, establishing a distinct formal look for the second venue.
Style Consistency: I maintained the goggles on the head and the sponsored cherry garnish/yellow liquid from the Solaz revisions. This ensured brand consistency across both venue-specific assets, showcasing efficient workflow management.
Emotional Consistency: The subtle smile was adjusted to the wider, open-mouth "jollier" expression finalized during the Solaz revisions.

red horse steakhouse promotional flyer

solaz promotional flyer

Flyer Design

The final stage involved translating the redesigned character and the project's goal into two high-impact digital flyers designed for email marketing and ticket conversion.

The Design Challenge: The core challenge was to create a cohesive campaign feel while successfully integrating the distinct, high-end aesthetics of the two luxury restaurant brands (Solaz and Red Horse Steakhouse) onto two different flyers. This required a functionally driven design system that allowed for consistent layout and typography, but flexible color and texture to co-brand each venue effectively.

The Solution: To achieve seamless integration with the luxury venues, I employed a strategic color-adaptation approach:

Campaign Consistency: A standard layout structure, headline hierarchy (e.g., "Dining Out Jersey," "Adventure Ted's Social Club"), and typography were applied uniformly to both flyers to ensure they were instantly recognizable as part of the same ticketed event series.
Venue-Specific Branding: The background color and associated texture were strategically chosen to adopt and reflect each restaurant's unique brand identity:
- Solaz Flyer: The rich, deep dark blue/navy palette was selected to harmonize with the established Solaz branding and atmosphere, creating a sophisticated and distinct look. This paired with the white-shirt, semi-formal Adventure Ted outfit
- Red Horse Flyer: A rich red and deep maroon palette was used to directly align with the formal, classic, and signature branding of the Red Horse Steakhouse. This paired perfectly with the formal tuxedo Adventure Ted outfit.

Functionality for Digital Marketing: In preparation for distribution via email, the entire bottom section of both digital flyers was deliberately left empty. This critical functional decision allowed the client to later embed a clickable URL directly into their email marketing template, prioritizing ticket conversion and efficient tracking.

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