We’re excited to introduce you to the newest addition to our crew – meet Sweedy, our adorable blue dinosaur buddy. We’re eager to take you behind the scenes and chat about how Sweedy came to life, what makes him tick, and why he’s more than just a cute face for our brand.
So, why bring a mascot like Sweedy into the picture? Well, a mascot does a whole lot more than just look cute. Sweedy’s here to tell our story in his own unique way, weaving together our brand’s values and essence into something that’s not just seen but felt — simplicity and reliability.
Through his design and the tales we tell about him, Sweedy’s all set to give our brand that special spark that brings everything together. Let’s dive in and get to know Sweedy better!
How it All Began
Sweedy didn’t just pop up overnight. Our journey with him started way back in December 2012. Picture this: a small, cozy team huddled together, brainstorming and sketching, until what started as a fun, emoticon-like bot began to take shape into the Sweedy we know and love. We got the idea from seeing how some really cool mascots brought life to other tech brands, and we thought, “Hey, why not us?”
We wanted to bring a bit more warmth and personality to our platform, something to make it feel more human. So, we dug deep into what makes Swydo, well, Swydo. We wanted Sweedy to be a mirror of our core values and traits, to really embody what we’re all about. Fast-forward to 2024, a whole 11 years later, and it was time for a little glow-up for Sweedy. Inspired by the charisma of some big-name mascots in the tech world — like Mailchimp’s Freddie, Slack’s Slackbot, Duolingo’s Green Owl Duo, and Reddit’s Snoo. We decided to revisit the drawing board and give Sweedy that extra sparkle, perfectly in tune with Swydo’s spirit.
Sweedy: Modern, Friendly, Playful
When Alina Cliucinicov, our creative designer, began thinking of ideas for the Sweedy revamp, her concepts ranged widely. She thought of everything from a mascot resembling a cat to an automated robot and even considered a pea theme inspired by the “two peas in a pod” idea. One aspect we were certain about was that Sweedy had to embody a unique personality and charm that everyone at Swydo could connect with.
So, here’s what went down: we all got together and checked out the designs. We were looking for ones that cracked us up or looked adorable and caught our attention. After that, we hopped onto Illustrator and whipped up several options for each.
We spruced them up and presented them anew. In the end, we chose the cat, the pea idea, and the dinosaur. After that, all that was left was to pick an option, determine the next steps, and figure out how to incorporate Sweedy into empty states using its various avatars.
Both the cat and the robot were enjoyable, though they didn’t really connect with Swydo. The pea had an interestingly quirky charm, but it still didn’t quite fit right.
We wanted the mascot to be part of our brand identity, so we used elements from the logo. Beyond just being entertaining and easy to relate to, we could mold it as our own, and we thought it perfectly captured the essence of what it feels like to use Swydo. So ultimately, in the end, it was the Dino who took the prize.
Even his hair got special treatment. We started with colors from our logo for his mohawk, but then thought, why not go full-on fun and turn it into a Dino style?
Imagining Sweedy looking at himself in the mirror with a playful smirk, he completely adopted his new look – both cute and bold.
That’s the Sweedy Story. After playing around with a bunch of ideas, we came up with this adorable Dino character for Sweedy’s makeover. You’ll spot Sweedy hanging out in different spots in our app and even chilling in the corner of the chat window on our help page. It took us a couple of months to get it all just right, which might sound like a lot for something so small. But to us, it’s these little touches that show our users who we are – that behind the scenes, we’re just a bunch of folks (or, you know, the occasional Sweed-inos).