Caravan and Motorhome Club
Meet Lizzie. A digital assistant built around how members actually travel
The Caravan and Motorhome Club came to us with a working illustration of their new digital assistant that they knew wasn't quite right. They had the thinking. They needed the character.
We started with the strategy, not the sketchpad, defining who the assistant was for, what members would expect of her, and the character traits that would let her be genuinely helpful on a question as personal as where to spend the weekend. Then we designed Lizzie and built her a toolkit so the Club can keep her consistent wherever members meet her.
Interpret + Define
Defining the character before drawing it
Projects like this can pull in every direction. Everyone has a view on what a digital assistant should look like, sound like and feel like. Without a clear point of reference, design becomes a long string of subjective preferences and small compromises. The Club had a starting visual, but no agreed character behind it.
We began with a strategic deep dive into the audiences who may want to use Lizzie. For each, we mapped what they would expect from a recommendation engine and what would make them trust the answer.
From that, we defined a clear set of character traits: ‘Warmly Confident’, ‘Reassuringly Calm’, ‘Quietly Modern’ etc. We turned that into a strategic deck the Club could use internally to align every team touching the project.
The CAMC team were happy with the strategy, and from that point on, every design decision had something to push against.
Imagine + Create
Meet Lizzie
With the strategy locked, the illustration brief wrote itself. Lizzie needed to feel like someone you would happily ask a question to, not a mascot or a styling exercise.
We then built her a toolkit so she could appear consistently wherever members meet her: a set of separate background environments, accommodation scenes, and Lizzie herself in a range of poses and expressions that the Club can combine as needed.
Each asset works on its own and combines with the others, so the Club's team can build new images for new contexts without commissioning new illustration every time.
Rise + Shine
Now live with members and the public
The client was delighted with both the strategy and the illustration work. Lizzie has launched to members and the public and is helping people find the campsites that suit how they actually like to travel.
A digital assistant is a character before it is a visual. The fastest route to a finished illustration is rarely the best one. Strategy first, design second, and the brief writes itself.