mascot

Developing the design of our mascot, Me, was a long and challenging journey that spanned 2-3 months. From struggling to convey our vision to illustrators to leveraging AI and animation technology, the process became a creative adventure of its own.

If you prefer video format of storytelling, check out the video:

Struggling with Illustrators

Our initial approach was to work with professional illustrators to bring the concept to life. We reached out to about seven illustrators, providing them with detailed explanations and a wireframe reference to guide their designs:

However, the results were far from what we envisioned. The mascot design either leaned too heavily into cartoonish and childish styles:

Or presented overly literal interpretations of the concepts behind Me—such as the tree concept:

Among the options, the simplest versions came the closest. They managed to partially capture the contemplative and transcendent vibe we were striving for:

And we even considered stopping at one of them. Especially since it could be drawn in vector graphics making it much easier to animate. But we were cautious the overall home screen would look too dull with nothing catching the eye. And then there was our idea with wallpaper customization, for which we needed a mascot that stood out, serving as the centerpiece of any wallpaper universe.

Turning to AI: The Game-Changer

Frustrated by the lack of alignment with illustrators, I decided to experiment with AI tools like DALL-E. And it turns out AI understands me much better than people 🙂

DALL-E generated numerous incredible versions of the mascot design and the wallpapers, giving me a burst of inspiration and creativity.

At the same time it was incredibly difficult to choose the best version. What I can say for sure is that AI definitely complemented the concept. Just check out some of the coolest designs it came up with:

However, there was one major drawback with the imagery DALL-E created: they couldn’t be directly transformed into vector graphics, which are essential for animation. This is when Sasha Buratynskyi stepped in, recalling his artistic skills to recreate the chosen mascot design in vector form.

By simplifying the AI-generated image, Sasha made it possible to animate Me while retaining its essence.

Rive Animation

For animation, we chose Rive technology. With the help of Dmytro Ruban our Me was brought to life (it is literally breathing if you take a closer look!), but only in 2D for now – to animate in 3D it needs to be redrawn. So, if any of you reading this article is inspired by tTravel and would like to make a 3D version of Me, contact us by sending email to info@ttravel.me

Interaction with Me. Hints.

From the very beginning, we knew we wanted our Me to interact with users, to be their travel companion, guide and assistant. The question was how exactly it should communicate. Should we give it hands or face? Should it have any emotions depending on users’ actions?

At some point I came up with the idea of central cube animation – turning into different emojis or icons:

Ultimately we came up with a circle monitor and Yin and yang sign (check the article about Me’s concept and hidden senses) replaced by other icons from time to time, giving Me a more technological vibe, but still there’s part of me that has warm feelings about that versions with central cube’s animations 🙂

Plans for the Future:

Me’s evolution is far from over. Here’s what we’re working on next:

• AI-Powered Features: Me will act as your personal travel assistant, like a travel-focused Siri or Chat GPT. We’re planning significant expansions of Me’s interaction with users, of course backed by AI. It will search for travel information like weather conditions, hotels, car rental, flight info etc. Also, it will provide inspirational tips and help with itinerary building.
• 3D Animation: A fully animated 3D version of Me is in our sights, and we’re eager to collaborate with talented artists to make it happen.
• Customizable Skins: We’re planning to introduce multiple skins for Me, allowing premium users to choose their mascot’s look.
• Gamified Progression: Inspired by Journey, we aim to incorporate gamification, where Me’s appearance evolves based on users’ achievements in the app.

By: Artem Shambalov

Our mascot Me is the soul of tTravel app. Its bizarre look might evoke a lot of questions. In this article, I will share all the answers and reveal hidden senses behind Me.

If you’re more up to video content, here’s the video story based on this article:

Why Me?

In the initial concepts, we called our mascot “Istotka” (“creature” in Ukrainian)—a name I used when presenting the app concept to other co-founders.

However, in the final stages of development, we decided to change the name, and here are some of the most interesting versions we considered:

• Puzzle— rejected because of the letter “z.” ruzzian aggression against our country has tainted even a Latin letter, giving it negative associations.
• Riddle— commonly used in computer games, where it refers to a puzzle the player must solve to proceed. Rejected due to the narrow audience and complex meaning.
• t— an extra “t” in “tTravel” resulted from a typo by one of the co-founders, Oleksandr Buratynskyi, when he created the first group chat for co-founders. Naming our mascot “t” would be an additional justification for the name “tTravel”, but it still didn’t feel like the best option.
• Me— the name we came up with when recalling our website domain ‘ttravel.me’. We considered it the best option, as we wanted our mascot to be a mirror of the user, but metaphorically—not as an explicit reflection. Some might see it as an assistant. Others might consider it a kind of Tamagotchi. And some might view it as their avatar. Plus, this name works well with the hints Me gives to users.

Why Does Me’s Head Resemble a Rubik’s Cube?

Constructor

Think about a Rubik’s Cube: it’s a mix of colorful pieces that, at first glance, might seem chaotic. But each turn brings you closer to a perfect, seamless picture. Travel, too, starts with a beautiful mess: ideas, dreams, and destinations waiting to be pieced together. And that’s what Me symbolizes — the challenge and joy of solving a puzzle of a perfect journey by means of our itinerary constructor.

Self-discovery

Travel shapes us, expands our worldview, and reveals new sides of ourselves—just like solving a Rubik’s Cube reveals an unexpected, colorful harmony. Me’s head serves as a metaphor of self-discovery through traveling.

A striking reinforcement of our concept is the sculpture “In Search of Your True Self” by Ukrainian sculptor Bohdan Kazachenko. I came up with the concept of Me before seeing this sculpture, but it was a real pleasure coming across it, as it really shored up the idea behind Me’s concept.

The Meaning Behind Threads

Threads connecting Me with the map of the world is another hugely important feature of our mascot and Home screen in general.

When I came up with this idea, I couldn’t imagine our co-founder Kerdi Plok would implement it with such a cool mechanic — threads are reacting to you tilting the smartphone!

Let’s break down the symbolism behind them.

Mental Ties

Travel memories are among the most cherished and vivid ones. By means of threads I tried to depict special bonds we make while traveling, tying together places, people, and experiences. I call these bonds ‘mental ties’ with the world.

When Me grows mental ties with the map, it becomes a ‘Tree’ symbol — a symbol of life and growth. Thus, I aimed to give users a subconscious feeling of self-growth and fresh air in the app.

Tree

When Me grows mental ties with the map, it becomes a ‘Tree’ symbol — a symbol of life and growth. Thus, I aimed to give users a subconscious feeling of self-growth and fresh air in the app.

Matrix

Another source of inspiration for us was the concept of Matrix, where people plunge into the Matrix through cables connected to the back of the head. This way we also aimed to show that users can relive their travel memories in tTravel.

Conceiving

Finally, I metaphorically aimed to symbolize the process of conceiving a travel plan — I guess, no explanations needed after looking at the pictures 🙂

Yinyang, Colors and Drawing Style

When developing the concept of new tTravel, I was also greatly inspired by two indie games: Journey and Gris.

Journey

In Journey you play as an abstract wayfarer heading to the ‘Mountain’. Along the way, you meet companions that look very similar to you and ultimately you understand that it’s not about the final destination, but about the journey itself, which in fact is a never-ending one, and the companions you share it with. This idea had a huge impact on our concept.

The colors of Me are similar to the colors of a wayfarer you’re playing for in Journey, and the mountain behind Me’s back on the main wallpaper is in fact an Easter egg of the “mountain’ from Journey. Hence, the concept of Me metaphorically depicts both user and user’s travel companion.

The Yinyang symbol on Me’s screen is also a reference to Journey, as in the end of the game you realize that you were heading to the ‘mountain’ just to start your journey over and over again. This inspired me to come up with a never-ending cycle of travel content in the app: at first you plan your journey using the travel experience of other people, then this experience becomes yours and your updated knowledge serves as a guidance for the next travelers forming a never-ending cycle of travel content creation and updating.

Gris

Character and level design in Gris served as a huge inspiration for me as well. In terms of our mascot, its look was strongly influenced by a square-headed companion you meet along the way in Gris.

In terms of wallpapers I really wanted tTravel to have the same visual vibe. We achieved it by combining AI and human creativity.

But the main source of inspiration from Gris for me was its OST. Composed by Berlinist, it guided me through months of work over the new tTravel concept. The first concept video I pitched to my co-founders was accompanied by Gris OST. I dreamed of having a similar soundtrack in the app and it’s such a pleasure that we’ve achieved that. Soon, we will release an article about soundtrack creation as well, so stay tuned!

Conclusions

tTravel has been deeply inspired by the world of art in all its forms—cinematography, music, sculpture, video games, and even AI-generated art. These influences have shaped the app’s design, features, and overall experience, blending creativity with functionality to create a platform that isn’t simply a tool, but an artistic expression. From visual aesthetics to interactive elements, every detail reflects our passion for art and travel.

Follow tTravel for more stories and insights into the creative journey behind the app, and stay inspired to explore the world with us!

By: Artem Shambalov