Mojo

I drew the first version of Mojo almost twenty years ago. A simple green monster with dot eyes, a big mouth, and a headband. ClassDojo needed a character that felt safe enough for a kindergarten classroom but had enough personality to stick. That was the whole brief.

Two decades later, Mojo has been seen by hundreds of millions of people around the world. He starred in an animated series. He became a plush toy that kids carry around like a best friend. He's been built into a six-foot walkable mascot for school events. He's a set of iOS stickers that parents send each other before the morning bell. He went from a sketch on my desk to something that kids in São Paulo and Tokyo and Chicago all recognize on sight.

There is no formula for that kind of reach. You draw something honest, give it real warmth, and keep refining it over the years as the product and the audience grow together. With Mojo, the character and the company grew up side by side.

From Flat to Full

Mojo lived as a 2D character for years, and that worked because the app was flat and the contexts were simple. But as ClassDojo grew into richer experiences, Mojo needed to exist in real space. Depth, light, weight.

The hard part about bringing a 2D character into 3D is that all the little cheats stop working. A flattened silhouette, a face that only reads from one angle, proportions designed for a single view. We had to figure out who Mojo actually is when you can rotate him, light him from any direction, and put him in a cowboy hat. The result is a Mojo who feels more solid and more alive while still being the same character millions of people already know.

The Animated Series

Mojo went from app icon to animated series. ClassDojo's show was built around social emotional learning, teaching kids about empathy, perseverance, and growth mindset through stories that actually held their attention. The first episode alone hit six million views on YouTube.

The series went through multiple production runs, each one a different approach. We did After Effects animation, frame-by-frame hand-drawn work, and eventually a full 3D character puppet for YouTube. Each style pushed Mojo's design in a different direction and taught us what the character could handle.

Mojo in the Wild

Part of designing a character that lasts is pushing him into every medium you can. Mojo starred in an animated series. He became a six-foot walkable mascot for school events. He's a plush toy that kids carry around like a best friend, a set of iOS stickers parents send before the morning bell, and a fan art favorite that classrooms recreate out of construction paper and trash bags.

Every new format is a design challenge. Animation needs fluid expressions. A plush needs to feel right in a kid's hands. A mascot costume needs to read from across a gymnasium. Each one forces you to understand the character a little deeper, and Mojo keeps showing up stronger every time.