Brand Identity Designer & Character Illustrator for Premium Retro-Surf Watercraft Academy

We are launching "StokeFoil Academy" (SFA), a premium, mobile eFoil (electric surfboard) instructional school based in Lake Tahoe. We need a talented graphic designer/illustrator to build out our comprehensive brand visual identity, brand guidelines, and a multi-pose vintage mascot character sheet for use on web, social media, high-end apparel, stickers, and vehicle decals. The aesthetic is "Retro Alpine Surf"—blending the effortless, free-flowing cool of 1960s/70s California surf culture with the high-end, rugged beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The parent vehicle is a Land Rover Defender towing a custom utility workshop trailer, so the branding must bridge casual fun with premium execution. --- DELIVERABLES REQUIRED: 1. THE MASCOT CHARACTER SHEET (Vintage 1920s Rubber-Hose Style) Our mascot is a 1920s "rubber-hose" style animation gnome. We need a master vector character sheet featuring this gnome in five (5) distinct, high-impact poses for merch and stickers: - Pose 1 (The Flagship): Riding/flying gracefully on an eFoil board, looking cool. - Pose 2 (The Wipeout): Mid-wipeout, falling off the eFoil in a hilarious, dramatic, slow-motion splash style (to pair with our slogan: "Look incredibly rich. Fall incredibly hard."). - Pose 3 (The Surf Walk): Walking down the beach with a large eFoil board resting on his shoulder. - Pose 4 (The Welcome): Standing proudly, pointing or waving welcomingly (used for beachside check-in apps and signage). - Pose 5 (The Chill): Sitting back on a cooler or beach chair, holding a coffee or drink, wearing retro sunglasses. Character Specs: Stout build, bushy grey beard, floppy knit hat with a pinecone accent, pie-cut eyes, and long, flexible "noodle arms and legs." Stylized hand-drawn black linework, stippling/halftone textures, with a distressed screen-print finish. 2. THE LOGO SUITE & TYPOGRAPHY SYSTEM - Primary Logo: Full text "StokeFoil Academy" built with a custom, free-flowing, fluid 1970s retro surf-inspired headline font (think Cooper Black weight with soft, organic, wave-like rounded terminals). - Shorthand Monogram: A clean, fluid interlocking "SFA" monogram emblem. The letters must feature smooth surf-script curves with a stylized hydrodynamic hydrofoil wing elegantly flowing through the letter 'F'. - Regional Locking: A modular layout that allows us to append regional text underneath (e.g., "Donner Lake" or "Lake Tahoe") for future franchise scaling. 3. MINI BRAND STYLE GUIDE - A clean, 2-page brand book detailing typography tracking rules and our core color palette application guidelines. --- THE BRAND COLOR PALETTE ("TAHOE LIQUID & PINE"): All assets must be designed strictly within these four cohesive colorways: - Base: Tahoe Navy (Rich, deep indigo-navy) - Accent A: Emerald Bay Teal (Clear, vibrant, translucent teal-cyan) - Accent B: Alpine Pine Green (Deep, rich forest green) - Highlight/Neutral: Granite Sand / Warm Cream (Soft, organic off-white; never stark pure white) --- REQUIRED SKILLS: - Proven experience in character design/illustration, specifically vintage vector illustration (1920s cartooning, rubber-hose animation style). - Strong typography skills with an eye for retro/vintage layouts and apparel placement. - Ability to deliver print-ready, clean vector files (.AI, .EPS) with proper color separations, alongside high-res transparent rasters (.PNG). To be considered, please attach your portfolio showing examples of character sheets, vintage mascot branding, custom typography, or apparel design layouts. *** To weed out automated bot bids, please start your cover letter with the phrase "STOKED TO FLY". Applications without this will be automatically archived. ***