Product Mascot Character Sheet Generator

Generate professional, magazine-style character reference sheets for product mascots with consistent layout and typography.

Overview

This skill generates comprehensive character reference sheets with a specific layout optimized for product mascots and brand characters:

• Left Panel (40% width, full height): Large isometric view (3/4 angle) as the main showcase
• Right Top Row (60% width): Front, back, and side orthographic views
• Right Bottom Row (60% width): Five distinct emotion/pose variations
• Typography: Libre Baskerville font for professional label presentation
• Integration: Uses gemini-imagegen skill with quota fallback support

Perfect for brand guidelines, design documentation, animation references, and maintaining character consistency across marketing materials.

Quick Start

Basic Usage

To generate a mascot character sheet, provide:

1. Character description (what they are, personality)
2. Art style (flat vector, 3D, illustrated, etc.)
3. Color palette (brand colors)
4. Product context (what product/brand they represent)

Example request:

"Create a character sheet for a friendly penguin mascot for our ice cream brand. Flat vector style, blue and white colors with pink accents."

The skill will generate an optimized prompt following the standard layout format.

Layout Specification

Magazine-Style Multi-Panel Layout

┌─────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┐
│             │  FRONT │ BACK │ LEFT │ RIGHT        │
│             ├──────────────────────────────────────│
│  ISOMETRIC  │  HAPPY │ FRIENDLY │ EXPLAINING      │
│  (3/4 VIEW) │  REASSURING    │  CELEBRATING       │
│             │                                      │
│  (FULL      │                                      │
│   HEIGHT)   │                                      │
└─────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────┘
   40% width              60% width

Panel Descriptions

Left Section - ISOMETRIC VIEW:

• Large showcase view at 3/4 angle (between front and side)
• Full panel height for maximum impact
• Shows depth, personality, and character details
• Primary reference for character appearance

Right Top Row - ORTHOGRAPHIC VIEWS:

• FRONT: Straight-on facing view
• BACK: Rear view showing back details
• LEFT: Left side profile view
• RIGHT: Right side profile view
• All four views equal size, horizontal arrangement

Right Bottom Row - EMOTION POSES:

• HAPPY: Big smile, excited expression
• FRIENDLY: Welcoming, warm demeanor
• EXPLAINING: Engaged, communicative pose
• REASSURING: Calm, gentle expression
• CELEBRATING: Victory/success pose
• All five poses equal size, horizontal arrangement

Prompt Template

Use this template structure for consistent results:

Professional product mascot character reference sheet. [ART_STYLE] illustration.

CHARACTER: [DESCRIPTION - species, personality, role, props/accessories]

LAYOUT - Magazine-style character sheet on white background with subtle polka dots:

LEFT SECTION (40% width, full height):
Large ISOMETRIC VIEW (3/4 angle) - main character showcase

RIGHT SECTION (60% width, split into two rows):
TOP ROW: Four orthographic views
  - FRONT view | BACK view | LEFT view | RIGHT view (equal sizes)

BOTTOM ROW: Five emotion poses
  - HAPPY (big smile, [specific action])
  - FRIENDLY (welcoming gesture)
  - EXPLAINING (showing/demonstrating)
  - REASSURING (gentle, calm pose)
  - CELEBRATING (victory/success pose)

STYLE: [Flat vector/3D/Illustrated] with [gradient/no gradients/shading details]
  - Bold outlines: [thickness]
  - Color palette: [PRIMARY], [SECONDARY], [ACCENT] colors
  - Simple geometric shapes / detailed rendering

TYPOGRAPHY: Libre Baskerville font for all panel labels
  - Clean, professional label placement
  - Labels positioned [above/below/corner] each panel

BACKGROUND: Clean white with subtle [polka dots/grid pattern]

Professional character design reference for [BRAND/PRODUCT] mascot.

Best Practices

Character Consistency

1. Establish core features first: Define key identifying features (shape, color, props) that remain constant across all views
2. Maintain proportions: Keep body proportions consistent between views
3. Color consistency: Use exact color values across all panels
4. Personality alignment: Ensure all emotion poses reflect the character's core personality

Art Style Guidelines

For Product Mascots:

• Flat vector: Best for logos, icons, simple brand characters

  • No gradients, solid colors only
  • Bold outlines (3-5px)
  • Geometric, simplified shapes

• Cel-shaded: Good for playful, cartoon characters

  • Limited shading (2-3 tones per color)
  • Bold outlines
  • Some depth without complexity

• Illustrated: For detailed, personality-rich characters

  • Textures and subtle shading allowed
  • More anatomical detail
  • Character depth and dimension

Emotion Pose Tips

• Make poses distinct: Each emotion should be immediately recognizable from silhouette alone
• Use props meaningfully: If character holds objects, vary how they interact with them
• Exaggerate expressions: Especially for small-scale usage (icons, avatars)
• Consider brand context:
  • B2B/Professional: Subtle, friendly expressions
  • B2C/Playful: More animated, energetic poses

Integration with Gemini-Imagegen

This skill uses the gemini-imagegen skill under the hood. When API quota is exhausted, the system will provide your optimized prompt for manual generation at gemini.google.com.

Recommended Settings

• Model: gemini-2.5-flash-image for speed, gemini-3-pro-image-preview for complex characters with text
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (optimal for the horizontal layout)
• Resolution: Default (1K sufficient for reference sheets)

Command Example

python .claude/skills/_branding/gemini-imagegen/scripts/generate_image.py \
  "Your optimized prompt here..." \
  output_character_sheet.png \
  --model gemini-2.5-flash-image \
  --aspect 16:9

Typography: Libre Baskerville

Font: Libre Baskerville - A webfont optimized for body text and display

Why this font:

• Professional, legible serif typeface
• Excellent for labels and documentation
• Web-safe and widely available
• Works well at small and large sizes

Usage in prompts: Always specify: "Typography: Libre Baskerville font for all panel labels"

The AI will render text labels in this style for a cohesive, professional appearance.

Examples

Example 1: Tech Startup Robot Mascot

Request: "Create a character sheet for a friendly robot mascot for a productivity app"

Generated Prompt:

Professional product mascot character reference sheet. Flat vector illustration.

CHARACTER: Small friendly robot with rounded rectangular body, expressive LED screen face,
stubby arms, wheeled base. Holds a digital tablet showing checkmarks. Tech-forward but
approachable personality.

LAYOUT - Magazine-style character sheet on white background with subtle polka dots:

LEFT SECTION (40% width, full height):
Large ISOMETRIC VIEW (3/4 angle) - main showcase with robot at dynamic angle

RIGHT SECTION (60% width):
TOP ROW: FRONT view | BACK view | LEFT view | RIGHT view (showing wheel details)
BOTTOM ROW:
  - HAPPY (LED smile, tablet raised)
  - FRIENDLY (waving with one arm)
  - EXPLAINING (showing tablet screen forward)
  - REASSURING (calm LED expression, thumbs up)
  - CELEBRATING (arms raised, confetti around)

STYLE: Flat vector with NO gradients
  - Bold 4px black outlines
  - Color palette: Electric blue (#0066FF), Silver gray (#C0C0C0), White (#FFFFFF)
  - Geometric, simplified robot shapes

TYPOGRAPHY: Libre Baskerville font for all panel labels
  - Labels positioned below each panel

BACKGROUND: Clean white with subtle gray polka dots

Professional character design reference for productivity app mascot.

Example 2: Food Brand Animal Character

Request: "Generate a character sheet for a giraffe dentist mascot for a children's dental brand"

Generated Prompt:

Professional product mascot character reference sheet. Flat vector illustration.

CHARACTER: Cheerful giraffe personified as pediatric dentist. Sunny yellow body with
circular brown spots. Wears crisp white dentist coat with pocket. Holds modern tablet.
Friendly, professional, child-appropriate.

LAYOUT - Magazine-style character sheet on white background with subtle polka dots:

LEFT SECTION (40% width, full height):
Large ISOMETRIC VIEW (3/4 angle) - giraffe at 3/4 angle showing personality

RIGHT SECTION (60% width):
TOP ROW: FRONT view | BACK view | LEFT view | RIGHT view
BOTTOM ROW:
  - HAPPY (big grin, winking, tablet raised)
  - FRIENDLY (welcoming wave, warm smile)
  - EXPLAINING (showing tablet screen, engaged)
  - REASSURING (gentle smile, calm posture)
  - CELEBRATING (both arms up, excited face)

STYLE: Flat vector with solid colors only
  - Bold 3px black outlines
  - Color palette: Sunny yellow (#FFD700), Chocolate brown (#8B4513),
    Crisp white (#FFFFFF), Mint green (#98FF98)
  - Geometric simplified shapes, NO shading or gradients

TYPOGRAPHY: Libre Baskerville font for all panel labels
  - Clean professional label placement above each panel

BACKGROUND: Clean white with light gray polka dots

Professional character design reference for children's dental health brand mascot.

Troubleshooting

API Quota Issues

If you encounter quota exhaustion errors, the skill automatically provides your optimized prompt. Simply:

1. Copy the prompt from the error message
2. Visit gemini.google.com
3. Paste and generate
4. The web interface has a separate quota from the API

See the gemini-imagegen Troubleshooting section for more details.

Character Consistency Issues

If views don't match:

• Use the multi_turn_chat.py script for iterative refinement
• Establish the isometric view first, then generate other views referencing it
• Be more specific about distinctive features (colors, shapes, props)

Layout Problems

If the layout doesn't match the specification:

• Add more explicit layout instructions
• Specify panel sizes in percentages
• Use terms like "magazine layout", "reference sheet", "character turnaround"
• Try the pro model (gemini-3-pro-image-preview) for better instruction following

Related Skills

• gemini-imagegen: Core image generation (this skill uses it)
• brand-guidelines: For establishing brand color palettes
• theme-factory: For consistent color schemes

Resources

scripts/

Contains helper utilities for character sheet generation and composition.

references/

Detailed guidelines for mascot design, character consistency, and typography best practices.

assets/

Example character sheets and layout templates.