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Photo Credit: Anderson Phung (@plntrs dot shop). Photo ID: A finger is holding up a transparent sticker of an orange basketball planter character in a Jumpman-like pose, against a blurry backdrop of basketballs and plants. Sticker design: A circular sticker with an illustration of a surprised orange basketball character in a Jumpman-like pose holding a smaller, frightened basketball in their hand. The basketball characters have plants growing out from the top of them, the signature "basketball planter" product made by plntrs.

plntrs.

Categories:

✿ Marketing
✿ Illustration
‍

Deliverables:

✿ Character Design
✿ Posters

Team:

Concept, Graphic Design, & Photography:
Anderson Phung
‍
Character Design & Illustration:
Ashley Kim

plntrs. (@plntrs.shop) is a growing small business located in Costa Mesa, California. They rethink basketballs as homes for plants, valuing quality and thoughtful curation. The client wanted a basketball planter-themed character to further develop the storytelling of their brand. My goal was to create a playful, eye-catching character that could be easily adapted for different social media and marketing uses, across digital and print. What we accomplished was a character full of personality, swag, and humor.

Process

Beginning Sketches

The first drafts of the design were focused on generally establishing the character with the client. I drew inspiration from mascots in the Olympics and basketball teams.

First sketches of cartoon basketball planter character for plntrs. Image ID: on the left, a b&w sketch of a smiling basketball planter character with pilea hair and wearing sneakers. On the right, the same character but in color with little flames coming outside of their sneakers

First Drafts of the Character.

Second iteration of orange and green cartoon basketball planter character for plntrs. Image ID: an illustration of a surprised orange basketball planter character in a Jumpman-like pose holding a scared mini basketball planter

Second Sketches for Logomark.

After finalizing the general feel of the character with the client, I further pushed the design so that it represented more of the brand's basketball story. I parodied Nike's infamous "Jumpman" pose to add some humor and more personality.

Final Design

In the final design, the client and I established the full color of the character, updated the sneakers, and added a dynamic background to reflect a crowded basketball arena. We solidified a persona for the character and named him Plntrman.

An illustration of a surprised orange basketball character in a Jumpman-like pose holding a smaller, frightened basketball in their hand against a blurry backdrop of a basketball stadium. The basketball characters have plants growing out from the top of them, the signature "basketball planter" product made by plntrs.

Readaptations

Since the creation of Plntrman, further iterations have been created to continue developing the character and brand story across plntrs.'s social media and e-commerce site.

A digital illustration of an orange and green basketball planter cartoon character watering itself and a small basketball planter to its right. "Plant Care Is Self Care" is written in pale yellow around the character. The character is watering with two red watering cans

A colorful illustration of a shiny, smiling, orange and green cartoon basketball planter character watering themselves and a mini planter to their left with red watering cans. The standing character is wearing white and black sneakers. The background is a backyard wooden fence on pavement. Behind that is a light blue sky with clouds

All designs and photos below courtesy of Anderson Phung.

©Ashley J. Kim 2024. All rights reserved.