Character case study / Christmas 2025

GUS.

From a doodle to a character children could meet, follow and take home.

Blanchardstown CentreCharacter design + 3DCreated at Nebula Creative

Gus the Elf waving hello in his final green and gold costume — welcome / meet Gus ✦

01Idea
02Sketch
03Character DNA
043D
05World
06Campaign
07Real life

01 / idea

A character with a job to do.

The challenge was to create a warm, recognisable elf who could work as a campaign mascot, a digital guide and, eventually, a physical toy. Gus needed enough personality to lead the story and enough flexibility to communicate real visitor information.

not just cute — useful too ↗

Gus initial front and back sketches alongside visual references for his costume — **It all started with a doodle.**Procreate sketch + visual research

02–03 / sketch + character DNA

Finding Gus meant refining, not just adding.

The first exploration followed a familiar red Christmas palette. The final direction connected Gus to the Grotto's green-and-gold world, clarified his silhouette and gave the character a more ownable identity.

First 3D exploration of Gus in a red and white costume — Traditional palette / early costume direction

Final approved 3D design for Gus in a green and gold costume — Distinctive silhouette / campaign-aligned colour

WarmHelpfulExpressive

Gus character turnaround showing front, side and back views — **Designed to stay recognisable from every angle.**Front · side · back

04 / 3D · from shape to character

Simple volumes. Specific personality.

The sketch evolved through iterative sculpting, proportion refinement and look development until Gus was ready to perform across different poses, messages and formats.

ProcreateNomad SculptZBrushPhotoshop

Gus 3D sculpt progressing from simple blockout to detailed mesh — Blockout → proportion → detail

Detailed front wireframe view of the Gus 3D model — the invisible work behind the friendly face ✎

Final 3D version of Gus pointing towards the sculpting process

Santa's Enchanted Grotto website world featuring several Gus poses

05 / world

A character needs a world to belong to.

Gus became part of the Santa's Enchanted Grotto visual system, connecting the character with a theatrical red, gold and green campaign world across web, booking and visitor touchpoints.

06 / campaign

One character. Many jobs.

The pose system allowed Gus to deliver practical information, accessibility, customer support and community stories without losing his personality.

Gus campaign artwork directing visitors to the Grotto WhatsApp help line

Service

A helpful digital guide

Gus made practical information feel like part of the story, guiding visitors towards support without breaking the campaign world.

Accessible Christmas campaign artwork featuring Gus in a wheelchair

Inclusion

Accessibility, in character

An adapted pose helped communicate wheelchair accessibility with warmth, clarity and the same visual personality as the wider campaign.

Customer review campaign artwork featuring Gus making a heart with his hands

Community

A voice for real stories

The character system also supported reviews and community content, giving social proof an emotional and recognisable face.

Instagram campaign grid for Santa's Enchanted Grotto

the wider campaign ecosystem

A flexible visual system

From useful information to small pieces of magic.

Gus could scale from a social post to a calendar, a certificate or a take-home activity while the wider campaign remained visually consistent.

Blanchardstown Christmas visitor calendar featuring Gus — Visitor calendar

Santa's Nice List certificate created for the visitor experience — Nice List certificate

Colouring activity showing Gus and the Christmas character family — Colouring activity

The finished Gus plush toy held in Bia's hand — the very real Gus / Christmas 2025

07 / real life

From pixels to something you can hug.

At Nebula Creative, we turned Gus into a physical toy for the 2025 visitor experience. My role focused on character concept and 3D development, while physical production was completed collaboratively by the wider team and manufacturing partners.

yes, I held the idea in my hand ♡

Santa's Grotto team photo with Gus plush toys visible beside the performers

Gustavo, the inspiration behind Gus, surrounded by Gus plush toys — the two Guses finally meet ♡

Outcome / what the idea became

One character. A complete experience.

A recognisable character with consistent design DNA
A flexible 3D pose and expression system
Applications across web, social, print and accessibility content
A digital character successfully translated into a physical toy

Created at Nebula Creative for Blanchardstown Centre. Character concept, sketching, 3D development and selected visual applications by Bia Busnello. Wider campaign and physical production developed collaboratively with the Nebula Creative team and production partners.

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