If you’re looking for a way to bring your brand to life in a bold, memorable way, a custom mascot might be exactly what you need. From energizing events to building stronger community connections, mascots create engagement that traditional marketing simply can’t replicate.
But before your character ever steps into the spotlight, there’s important groundwork to consider. For first-time buyers especially, the planning process can feel overwhelming — timelines, budgets, approvals, and design considerations can add up quickly. While this guide outlines helpful things to think through ahead of time, none of them are required to get started. We’re here to guide you through every step and make the process as simple as possible.
In Part 1 of our First Time Mascot Buyer’s Guide, we’ll walk you through everything that happens before your mascot goes into production. From early planning and creative direction to budgeting and understanding your timeline. By the end, you’ll feel confident, informed, and ready to move forward.
The most important part of buying your mascot is being prepared. As tempting as it is, avoid starting with ideas and instead start with research and thoughtful planning. Before designing your mascot, be sure to ask yourself some questions. Who is the main audience of your mascot? Would you like your mascot to be more active, like at a sports game, or will they be at community events? This will help us determine if you should go with a standard or a foam mascot. It will also help us decide durability, recommended ventilation, and mobility as well.
It’s equally important to consider performers and storage before designing your mascot. Will it be one performer? How tall is each performer? It’s usually safe to go within the average height range of 5’8-5’10. The other person to consider is the handler, who can help guide your mascot around. They often act as a manager as well, scheduling events and performances. Finally, consider where you will store your mascot as well to be sure you have ample space.
Designing your mascot is one of the most fun parts of the process — and arguably the most important. Your mascot will be serving as a reflection of your brand, literally coming to life. Their name can be reflective of your company’s name, brand, location, or origins. Take Wisconsin’s Bucky Badger for example. His name comes from a lyric in the school’s fight song. He was chosen as a Badger because the state’s lead miners “lived like badgers” in tunnels to stay warm through winter. Your mascot represents YOU, so be creative and show off what makes your organization unique. Create their own personality and use that to help your creative process. There are no rules on creativity, and originality is what makes a mascot memorable.
It is also important to consider what your mascot will be used for. If they’ll be dancing and flipping, be sure to keep your design simpler and lightweight. But if they’re just saying hi, feel free to get funky. Try to plan for the performer you have in mind and what they’re comfortable doing. If you don’t have a performer yet, there’s no worries. That’s why we’re here to help.
Purchasing a mascot is an investment. When beginning your process, it’s important to consider factors that can influence the cost of one. For starters, foam-sculpted mascots often cost more than standard mascots. This is because of their unique shapes that require extra labor, coupled with specialized materials to ensure the costume lasts for a long time.
Accessories also impact pricing. Adding a shirt, hat, jersey, or props add material and fabrication time. Size and body design play a role as well, especially muscle tone. Our production team makes the muscle suits completely by hand, which can be a long (but rewarding) process. As a rule of thumb, the more custom you want your mascot to be, the more it will cost.
Each mascot is unique, and their price is variable. For information on pricing, check out our blog on mascot pricing. Companies working with a smaller budget may consider simpler, more common mascots. This includes animals like tigers, lions, bulldogs, or simple shapes like cubes or spheres. These can be made more efficiently while still offering a custom look.
While it’s important for your mascot to look super unique, make sure it’s still comfortable for your performer. Safety and comfortability are the keys to putting on a great performance, whether it be daring stunts or a relaxed community event for your mascot.
Visibility is one of the most important design considerations. We often like to recommend designing the mascot with the mouth open as this is the best way to hide the mesh that serves as your performer’s eyes. But if you’re set on a specific design, we can get creative by providing vision through the nose or neck. While mascot costumes are generally pretty lightweight, they will always be hot inside. Be sure to incorporate ventilation into your designs to keep your performer comfortable, or consider a cooling pack or fan.
When requesting a quote, it’s extremely helpful to have 2D artwork prepared. For best results, we like to recommend going to a creative agency. However, AI generated designs do the trick. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it helps to give us an idea of what you’d like so we can perfect your mascot. From there, we may suggest subtle adjustments to ensure the final build not only looks great but fits well for the person wearing it.
Understanding the timeline and process of having your mascot created can be reassuring. Here at Olympus, the process begins after you fill out our “Request a Quote” form. From there, our team will reach out via call or email to gather details on the project. Once we receive your design and hear all your ideas, we’ll give you an initial quote. Your feedback means a lot, and we include two rounds of free revisions (three total including the initial sketch) to ensure your mascot looks the way you envisioned.
Once the sketch is approved, we’ll send the contract and ask for 50% of payment before beginning work. When production has started, we make a point to keep you in the loop every step of the way, including pictures with updates so you can see your mascot come to life. Once we finish the product, we collect the remaining 50% of payment before shipping the mascot to you.
All your mascot files are securely archived for long-term support. If you need refurbishment, repairs, or another costume, we can efficiently do it using the original design files.
Planning sets the foundation — but the real magic happens once your mascot is finished. In Part 2 of our First Time Mascot Buyer’s Guide, we’ll walk through what happens after production, how to prepare your performer, and how to launch your new character with impact.
Ready to start your own mascot journey?
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Check out Olympus Mascots Wrapped for 2025, where we’re highlighting the top mascots we created this year. From sports teams to iconic brand names, these custom mascot costumes brought unforgettable characters to life. Take a look back at the designs, collaborations, and creativity that defined our year.
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