Lushi

Growing up with Hello Kitty, Sanrio has clearly been an immense inspiration for my approach to making cute things. I have always admired their simple yet iconic designs, and I still collect Sanrio items to this day. Their philosophy is みんな仲良く, which translates to "everyone getting along together." I think that by keeping their designs minimal, they have created characters that are harmonious both visually and philosophically.

To express my appreciation, I challenged myself to create my own Sanrio character. I studied some of Sanrio's most popular characters to get an idea of what people like. Out of more than 450 characters, the most liked characters are dogs. I also noticed the similarities between the well-known characters are large heads with anthropomorphic bodies. While an owl may not be as common in the Sanrio community, I decided to apply similar attributes to make the owl more cohesive with the style and veer away from typical owl features. 

Lushi is a sweet, shy owl who likes to tend to her garden. In her garden, she grows fruits, vegetables, and flowers for her community. She hopes to move right into the Sanrio universe, debuting in a notebook for people to write down recipes or bouquet orders.