Character.com is the UK’s leading brand for children’s and adult character clothing, nightwear and accessories. After many years of partnership, we had the opportunity to elevate its brand to the next level. Building on the existing brand strategy, we redefined the visual identity to solidify its online market-leader position, provide a better platform for a growing number of physical stores and make the brand more manageable for the internal teams.
What we did
Brand refinement
Design system
Brand rollout
Store branding
Website design
Visit the site
Project goals
Bring 'Wear a Smile' to Life
Refresh the 'wear a smile' brand strategy to truly connect with customers by introducing a new, engaging and bold visual style.
Streamline brand application
Develop a brand system that's easy for the internal team to use, ensuring it works seamlessly across email marketing, social media, and internal communications.
Enhance brand assets
Unify the design across all assets to improve consistency, especially when working with partner brands like Disney, Marvel, and Minecraft.
Fit for the retail experience
Bring the brand to life by transitioning from digital to physical spaces, introducing a dynamic style that captivates younger audiences and scales seamlessly across multiple stores.
Elevate the e-commerce experience
Upgrade the website to align with the new brand identity, incorporating major UX improvements to enhance the overall shopping experience.
Add brand flexibility
Create a design system that supports growth, seasonal sales, new brand launches, and themed campaigns while maintaining core brand consistency.
Results
14.8% increase in email open rate
Email campaigns and flows are driving stronger engagement, with more opens, higher clicks, and increased purchases across the board.
106% increase in click-through rate
A noticeable boost in click-through rates, driven by compelling email content, clear calls to action, and audience-focused brand messaging.
Increased retail appetite and ambition
The new brand is now fit for purpose for the recently launched retail store concept, with 3 new stores opened since launch, and more planned for the next 12 months.
Our goals for the brand
Character.com needed a flexible, user-friendly brand identity. The existing branding was rigid and inconsistent, with the mascot 'Miles' clashing with the personalty of the products and making it hard for the internal team to use the brand. An overhaul was needed to address these challenges:
- Create a more usable and consistent brand from top to bottom
- Make the smile part of the brand ethos, rather than a character
- Improve colour use, typography and layout across all touch-points
The Character Brand — Before & After
The Character Brand — Before & After
Symbolising the smile
The old brand featured a smile-based character called Miles that was competing for attention and fighting against established brand partners, such as Disney and Peppa Pig.
We replaced Miles with a more iconic 'smile' icon which now more discreetly supports the brand, rather than trying to take centre stage. A redrawn wordmark was developed that is more subtle and refined, but still echos the smile concept, setting the foundation for the wider brand.
Toward’s work and support have been a game changer for us. From strategic rebranding to skill-building sessions and detailed asset creation, they have consistently demonstrated agility, approachability, and exceptional design expertise.
Emma Wilkins
Brand Manager, Character.com
Joyful typography
Since the characters are the real stars—ranging from Disney and Minecraft to Peppa Pig, with big, bold colours, patterns, and graphics—the Character.com brand needed to be more refined, yet still connected to the idea of ‘wear a smile.’
We chose a typeface that reflected the essence of a smile. Its quirky elements and curved edges gave the impression that the type itself was smiling, making it a perfect fit for the brand.
Different typographic treatments such as the jumble and 3D styles create flexibility and freshness, while maintained a unique personality.
Made for the retail environment
Character.com have ambitious plans to expand into the retail space, with plans to open a number of stores across the UK. The new brand provides the flexibility to create unique, product-led environments that incorporate partner brand elements, while staying true to the core identity and ethos.
We ensured the brand translated seamlessly across every touchpoint—from bags and packaging, tags and labelling to internal branding and signage. Our team led the art direction for the store design, helping Character.com bring their new brand to life in a way that felt authentic and dynamic.
Our new brand guidelines and logo simplification were exactly what we needed, ensuring that our brand stayed strong and cohesive even as we evolved from a digital focus to physical retail.
Emma Wilkins
Brand Manager, Character.com
Embracing the characters
The Character.com brand was designed to champion the brands they sell, with a key focus on putting those partners in the spotlight. This was central to the new identity, and integrating partner brands into their own visual system was one of the biggest challenges we faced. To address this, we developed comprehensive guidelines and toolkits tailored to each partner brand, enabling the internal team to confidently create digital and print assets.
Our robust brand guidelines allowed the Character.com team to easily manage their brand and seamlessly market new products and partnerships without needing to rely on external design resources. This flexibility ensured that they could consistently maintain a high standard across all channels.
We set out to create a design system that was both fun and easy to use. The biggest challenge was balancing the relationship between Character.com and its brand partners. To solve this, we developed a simple, toolkit-based system that seamlessly integrates both while staying true to the ‘Character’ identity.
Dave Griffiths
Senior Designer
Enhancing the ecommerce experience
The website was the most crucial touchpoint for the brand. Working in collaboration with Platter, we designed a new Shopify theme that introduced a more engaging and interactive shopping experience.
We enhanced the ecommerce experience by adding features like smart search, custom navigation, an A-Z product search, and integrated product upsell and cross-promotion functionalities. This gave Character.com greater flexibility in managing their online store.
Given the vast catalogue of brands, it was essential that the website offered the tools and functionality to adapt to an ever-changing product inventory. This allowed Character.com to respond dynamically to trends, prioritise top-selling items, and efficiently promote seasonal sales and campaigns.
Guidelines that can grow
Given the complexity of the Character.com brand, especially when collaborating with high-profile partners, it was essential to provide clear and comprehensive guidance on brand usage. We developed an extensive set of guidelines to ensure the brand was applied consistently and correctly across all platforms.
These guidelines equipped the marketing team to effectively manage the brand across key touchpoints like email marketing, social media, and in-store displays, ensuring a cohesive brand experience regardless of the output.
