Doodles

A heritage mascot refresh for Chick-fil-A, updating Doodles the Rooster for a new generation of merchandise, environments, and brand applications.

Chick-fil-A

Drawing from Heritage to Remake a Classic Mascot

Before the cows became the face of Chick-fil-A, Doodles the Rooster was the brand’s original mascot. He appeared throughout its early history on packaging, kids’ materials, signage, and promotions before gradually stepping aside in the 1990s. When Chick-fil-A decided to bring him back for a new heritage collection, the challenge was updating a familiar character without losing the charm that made him recognizable.

Working with Chick-fil-A’s in-house team, I refreshed Doodles with a cleaner, more versatile illustration style while keeping the personality and visual cues of the original. I developed a range of new poses and production-ready character artwork built to work across different sizes and formats. The refreshed Doodles went on to appear across apparel, merchandise, stickers, and environmental graphics throughout Chick-fil-A.

CLIENT
Chick-fil-A

AGENCY
Chick-fil-A In-House

STUDIO
Weirdo Works

YEAR
2024

MY ROLE
Mascot Refresh
Character Illustration

DELIVERABLE
Character Artwork
Pose Library
Merchandise Graphics
Environmental Artwork

RESULTS
Doodles artwork rolled out across apparel, merchandise, stickers, office environments, and Chick-fil-A’s heritage collection

vintage Illustration of a cheerful cartoon chicken character wearing a red T-shirt with the word 'Doodles' on it, confidently walking against a tan background.

Illustration of a cheerful cartoon chicken character wearing a red T-shirt with the word 'Doodles' on it, confidently walking against a light blue background.

Chick-fil-A | Doodles Mascot: Before & After

Chick-fil-A | Doodles Vintage Mascot Costumes

Throwback to Chick-fil-A’s First Mascot

Doodles Ruled the Roost

Long before the cows showed up, Doodles was Chick-fil-A’s mascot. He appeared in kids’ menus, activity books, promotional materials, and even full-size costumes, complete with tights, tail feathers, and a giant rooster head.

That history gave the refresh something real to work from. Doodles already had a recognizable silhouette and personality, and even after disappearing as the primary mascot, traces of him remained in the brand, including the chicken profile built into Chick-fil-A’s “C” logo.

A sketch of a cartoon chicken character in various playful poses. The chicken is drawn in black and white, wearing a shirt. The poses include: jumping with arms and legs spread, standing with hands on hips, waving with one hand, sitting with legs extended, and walking with one leg lifted. The background is a light beige color.

A cartoon character resembling a chicken in various playful poses. The chicken is wearing a red shirt with "Doodles" written on it. The background is a solid teal color. The chicken is depicted in five different actions: jumping with legs spread and arms outstretched, standing with hands on hips, waving with one hand, sitting with legs extended, and walking with one leg lifted.

Chick-fil-A | Doodles Mascot Sketches-to-Illustrations

Sketching the Digital Transformation of an Icon

Doodles for Doodles

I started by sketching Doodles in a range of poses to figure out how much of the original character needed to stay and where there was room to loosen things up. The goal wasn’t to redesign him into something new. It was to make the old Doodles feel alive again.

Once the poses were working, I rebuilt the character as clean vector artwork so the illustrations could scale across everything from small embroidered details to oversized environmental graphics. Keeping the system simple also made it easier to expand the character into additional poses without losing consistency.

Chick-fil-A’s Mascot Makes a Stylish Comeback

Classic Mascot for Modern Merch

The refreshed artwork quickly moved beyond the original illustrations and into a much broader merchandise system. Doodles appeared embroidered on hats and apparel, printed on mugs, stickers, buttons, pens, and other heritage pieces, and eventually scaled up into environmental graphics inside Chick-fil-A’s corporate offices.

That range was a good test of the character system. The same artwork had to hold up as a tiny embroidered patch, a full-character sticker, and a large wall graphic without feeling like a different version of Doodles each time.