Buddy the Bear
Whether visiting patients or making friends at community events, Buddy the Bear always lends a furry paw.
Bear Hugs Bring Big Smiles
Children go through many stages of growth and development, so their healthcare needs are very different from those of adults. Prisma Health Children’s Hospital has child-friendly features on every floor in an environment designed specifically with children and adolescents in mind. One of these key features is their mascot – Buddy the Bear.
Buddy sometimes appears in-person, but in most cases he can be seeing in exhibits, murals, and various printed materials around the hospital. Working in partnership with Prisma Health, I created an updated mascot design for Buddy which expanded into a library of spot illustrations for marketing purposes.
Illustrator
Justin Gammon
Making Over a Mascot Design
Buddy the Bear
In 1986, Buddy the Bear joined what is now Prisma Health Children’s Hospital as its fuzziest and friendliest team member. While visiting patients or making friends in the community, Buddy the Bear always lends a furry paw. His big smile, endearing spirit, and trademark bear hug have brought joy and hope to many children across the South Carolina Upstate for 34 years.
Prisma Health is a merger and rebranding of two competing hospital systems – formerly Greenville Health System and Palmetto Health. During this process of rebranding, it was made clear that Buddy the Bear had to remain intact. He is an integral part of the Children’s Hospital and the community. At first, updated mascot designs were explored by the branding agency, Monigle, but in the end, Prisma Health brought me in to refine Buddy’s traditional mascot illustration style.
Museum Exhibits New Mascot Design
Buddy on Parade
Prisma Health Children’s Hospital also sponsored a new exhibit in the Children’s Museum of the Upstate–Greenville. The exhibit was designed to introduce children and their families to healthcare in a child-friendly, engaging way. It occupies over 1,600 square feet on the museum’s main floor and features various interactive components for intentional learning and imaginative play.
Throughout the exhibit, the updated Buddy the Bear mascot design can be seen on wall murals, reinforcing the fun, friendly vibes of Buddy and the Children’s Hospital. Children also can learn with Buddy about common medical equipment and procedures in interactive exhibits. This allows children to experience a healthcare environment in a stress-free space in the hopes of reducing anxiety should they experience clinic settings in real life.
Using Art to Inspire Children
Buddy’s Got Your Back
Buddy the Bear represents every child who steps foot into the Children’s Hospital. He epitomizes the cute, fun innocence of childhood youth, and in the mascot illustrations, he is often presented in outfits and scenarios the represent what a child patient may be going through. Whether it’s a friendly Doctor Buddy character or a depiction of Buddy in proper swimming safety gear, Prisma Health utilizes this cute, lovable mascot design to educate and alleviate any kind of apprehension about the medical setting or situation with a reassuring smile and outreached arms prepping for a bear hug.
Art Style Exploration Goes Full-Circle
Bring My Buddy Back
During Monigle’s rebranding of what is now Prisma Health, Buddy the Bear also got a makeover to better fit the new bright, simplistic logo, and radiant color scheme. Having explored several options, the mascot illustration style became a cleaner, bolder, and more refined version of Buddy from years past.
This visual approach introduced a new look for Buddy. Chiefly, it retained the character traits the hospital staff, children, and families had come to expect and appreciate. A nostalgic love for the original look of Buddy the Bear and his prevalent appearances all around the hospital had became abundantly clear.
Made-to-Order Mascot Illustration
A Buddy for Every Occasion
Greenville Health System and Palmetto Health’s Children’s Hospital had amassed a large collection of Buddy spot illustrations over the years in their marketing. Depictions of Buddy in virtually every outfit and scenario were used in signage, promotions, and any other application a child could relate to.
The next challenge in the process was sorting through the years of Buddy poses and recreating each one in the new, bolder, cleaner art style. This allowed a complete mascot design update to all internal marketing, signage, and an expansion to new events and activities that need custom illustration.