Piggy Express Merkkarakterontwerp by Du Qingyu and Dong Xiuxiu

Piggy Express Merkkarakterontwerp by Du Qingyu and Dong Xiuxiu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award in Brons in Grafisch, Illustratie en Visuele Communicatie Ontwerp Competition Category.

BronsGrafisch· 2026

Piggy Express Merkkarakterontwerp

by Du Qingyu and Dong Xiuxiu

Client: Piggy Express Creative Design Team

A' Design Award in Brons Winner in Grafisch Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #173387

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Piggy Express Merkkarakterontwerp

Piggy Express is een merkkarakterontwerp gecreëerd voor een ride-hailingdienst. Het karakter ontwikkelt het varkensicoon van het merklogo tot een vriendelijke reisgenoot. Een kleurenschema met hoge verzadiging verhoogt de visuele zichtbaarheid met 42 procent, en een onafhankelijk silhouet houdt het karakter herkenbaar in alle media. Animaties begeleiden gebruikers bij taken zoals het inwisselen van kortingsbonnen en het volgen van routes. Het karakter werd verfijnd door middel van dertig rondes van vormiteratie en getest met meer dan honderd gebruikers in Chinese steden.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in Brons

Piggy Express Merkkarakterontwerp is winnaar van de A' Design Award in Brons, een hoogst prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan uitstekende ontwerpen die zich onderscheiden door creativiteit, vindingrijkheid en scherpzinnigheid. Winnaars in Brons zijn ruimschoots vaardige en opvallend creatieve artefacten die de grote ervaring, verbeelding en het vernuft van hun ontwerpers bevestigen. Piggy Express Merkkarakterontwerp wordt verwacht een hooggewaardeerd, bewonderd en gekoesterd object te zijn dat opmerkelijk professioneel en innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in Brons heeft gewonnen, verwerkt de beste praktijken in kunst, wetenschap, ontwerp en technologie en is uitstekend door zijn aandacht voor detail. Piggy Express Merkkarakterontwerp bevredigt schitterend behoeften, raakt verlangens, charmeert gevoelens en spreekt de nieuwsgierigheid aan.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The design went through 30 rounds of shape iteration, and was tested among more than 100 users from first, second and third tier cities in China, to verify its cross regional cultural acceptance and visual recognition. The multi level sampling focused on two core indicators, visual recognition speed and user affinity. Empirical data from different urban demographic groups guided the optimization of the structure and core visual features of the character. The high saturation color scheme increases the visual visibility of the character by 42 percent, and the independent silhouette design ensures recognizability in all media scenes.
Dimensions & Packaging: The sizes depend of the media where it is applied
Tags: Brand Character Design, Visual Identity Design, Visual Communication, IP, Emotional Brand, Gamified Experience, User Research, Commercial Conversion
Production Technology: The visual system is made with Adobe Creative Suite, Cinema 4D, and Octane Render, with standardized specifications to ensure IP consistency and extensibility across digital, physical, and vehicle media, solving industry adaptation problems.
Design Challenge: The core challenge of this project is to transform static brand visual symbols into a complete brand character IP with emotional value. We must ensure the character carries the brand's emotional tone while retaining high recognizability across complex multi scene applications. By balancing a friendly visual style with a unified brand specification system, we integrate the character into the brand's full channel visual system, helping it build differentiated competitiveness in a homogenized market.
Research: This study addresses the emotional coldness and functional homogenization in the ride hailing sector. By establishing a multi dimensional evaluation model, we bridged the gap between visual recognition and emotional resonance. The process involved targeted user surveys and iterative testing across multi tier Chinese cities. The final design aligns brand visual identity with emotional value against traditional industry schemes. This project offers a quantifiable, reusable framework for transforming transactional services into humanized brand experiences.
Inspiration: The ride hailing industry is highly homogenized, with most brands prioritizing functional efficiency over emotional connection with users, leading to generally low user brand affinity. This project was created to fill this gap. The character inherits and evolves the core visual elements of the official logo of the brand, redefining the pig icon, a widely recognized symbol of savings, into a friendly travel companion, reshaping the emotional tone of the brand, and humanizing the digital mobility experience for users.
Project Duration: Launched in Beijing in 2024, the project continues to iterate across multiple scenarios including digital interfaces, vehicle livery, and collaborative activities.
It now covers full-channel communication and serves more than 1,000,000 users.
Operation Flow: The Brand Character functions as a living interface element. Through anthropomorphic animations, Piggy Express Character guides users through complex workflows, such as coupon redemption and route tracking. These purposeful micro-interactions have catalyzed a 35% increase in daily active engagement, turning routine tasks into moments of delight. The derivative ecosystem, covering both physical and digital touchpoints, maintains a positive sentiment rate of over 90%, proving that emotional design is a powerful driver for brand affinity and commercial conversion.
Team Members: Du Qingyu
Dong Xiuxiu
Liu Jiaqi
Shen Fangyuan
Image Credits: Piggy Express