SOFAR Brand Character Xiaohang: Turning an Energy Technology Company into a Character People Remember

A face that is an O

In 2022, as it prepared for its IPO, SOFAR commissioned Xinming Design to refresh its brand, and the brand character Xiaohang (首小航) was part of that work. Its head is a white "screen face": the outline of the face is a rounded square open at the top right, with a small aurora green square set into the opening, the same shape and colour as the letter O rewritten in SOFAR's new logo; across its chest runs a blue band carrying the SOFAR logo. Xinming Design wrote a full character profile: born on 7 June 2013, the day SOFAR was founded; a research and development engineer by profession; warm, curious and quick to make friends. It then completed three views, a 3D model, 12 expressions, four professional outfits, poses and key visuals. In January 2023, SOFAR launched its new brand identity simultaneously in Shenzhen and Frankfurt, and Xiaohang appeared alongside it.

The more technical the product, the more it needs a face

SOFAR was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. It makes PV inverters, storage inverters and storage batteries, does most of its business overseas, and listed on the ChiNext board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in April 2025.

Inverters and storage systems come with complex specifications, yet more and more of their buyers are ordinary households: residential storage goes straight into homes, and overseas markets span many languages and cultures. A logo lets people recognise SOFAR, but it hardly helps them remember it. The brand needed a way in that was warmer than a logo and easier to remember than a specification sheet, without weakening the professionalism and trust an energy technology company needs.

Xiaohang is often called SOFAR's mascot. In SOFAR's brand system, its job is to be a human interface: a steady, recognisable character at trade shows, on social media and in customer communication, lowering the threshold for understanding a technology brand.

Grown from the logo, not borrowed from cartoons

Xiaohang does not follow the usual route of a humanised cartoon. It starts directly from SOFAR's new logo.

In the logo evolution on page 3017, the letter rewritten in the SOFAR wordmark is the O: a rounded square open at the top right, with a small aurora green square set into the opening, which the proposal describes as "a circle within a square, a square within a circle". Xiaohang's face is that O:

· The outline of the face is the O: the open blue rounded square on the screen face has the same shape as the O in the logo;

· The green square is there too: the square at the top right is the same colour as the only touch of green in the logo;

· The eyes and mouth sit inside the O: two upright eyes and a smile turn the O into a face.

So Xiaohang is not a character made to go with the brand; it is the logo growing a body. See Xiaohang's face and you see SOFAR's logo; see the logo and you think of the face. The SOFAR band across the chest states the link once more.

The body stays geometric and modular: white, rounded, with short limbs, like a piece of energy equipment given form rather than a person in overalls.

A believable personality

The character introduction page sets out a full profile:

· Name: Xiaohang

· Birthday: 7 June 2013, Gemini

· Profession: research and development engineer

· Personality: warm, curious, quick to make friends, restless, overflowing with energy

· Hobbies: meditation, generating power from love, being a tech enthusiast

· About: endlessly curious about the world; kind, frank, optimistic, endearing and dependable; committed to using technology to "build a circular ecosystem and create low-carbon living together"

The birthday is SOFAR's founding date, so the character and the company are the same age. "Generating power from love" and "overflowing with energy" turn the language of the energy industry into personality. The self-introduction page reads: Xiaohang is a super intelligence, the most reliable partner, a source of happiness, and SOFAR's rising star.

Professional, reliable and joyful: those three lines are exactly what a technology company wants its customers to feel.

One character, four roles

Xiaohang has four professional outfits, each with a line:

· Business manager: suit and tie, "communication is the start of exchange and the bridge to friendship";

· Engineer: lab coat and goggles, "pressing forward on the road of research";

· Astronaut: spacesuit, "exploration never ends";

· Safety supervisor: a SOFAR hard hat and reflective vest, "safety always comes first".

The four roles match four kinds of situations SOFAR faces: customer communication, research, exploring the future, and the safety the energy industry cares about most. The same face in a different outfit can appear in sales materials, technical articles, brand events and safety training.

There are also 12 expressions (Hi, What?, Let's go, No no, Yeah, Down, Awesome, Go for it, Go away, OK, Thanks, and a heart) and a range of poses, ready for social media, trade shows and internal communication.

Three colours, from the same source as the brand

Xiaohang uses three colours: light grey (C10 M0 Y0 K10), aurora green (C60 M0 Y25 K0) and blue (C80 M55 Y0 K0), from the same palette as SOFAR's Cerulean Blue (#3A70D3) and Aurora Green (#5FC8CE). The white body and light grey shading keep it clean, blue is used for the outline of the face and the chest band, and green appears only in the small square at the top right, as restrained as in the logo. The proposal gives no PANTONE values. It also provides reversed, line and green-ground versions, so the character works on dark, light and single-colour backgrounds.

From screen to figurine

The proposal takes Xiaohang from flat to three-dimensional:

· Three views: in line and flat styles, front, side and back;

· 3D model: glossy white material, rendered from several angles;

· Key visuals: opening in space beside the moon, Xiaohang flies in under "I AM COMING", followed by "HELLO! I'M XIAOHANG";

· Figurines: a single gold Xiaohang standing among rows of silver or white figurines.

Deliverables and extensions

Character profile

· Name, birthday, star sign, profession, personality, hobbies and description

· Character colours, with reversed and line versions

Form system

· Three views (line style and flat style)

· 3D model and multi-angle renders

Extension system

· Expression set (12)

· Professional outfits: business manager, engineer, astronaut, safety supervisor

· Poses

Key visuals

· Launch key visuals ("I AM COMING", "HELLO! I'M XIAOHANG")

· Figurine renders

The space scenes, figurines and pose images on this page are renders; some are marked "PROTOTYPES SHOWN. FINAL PRODUCT MAY BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT".

Looking back four years on

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. A technology brand's character is best grown from its own logo. Xiaohang's face is the new logo's O, so character and logo remind people of each other instead of speaking separately.

2. The profile has to match the company. The birthday is the founding date, the profession is engineer, the personality comes from the language of energy: the character is believable because every detail has a source.

3. A character has to move between settings. Four outfits and 12 expressions let one face enter sales, research, events and safety training.

Xiaohang appeared with SOFAR's new brand in Shenzhen and Frankfurt in January 2023. The logo is there to be recognised and the character to be remembered; the best brand character is a logo that has grown a face that smiles.

How to verify

· Client: Shenzhen SOFARSOLAR Co., Ltd., ChiNext 301658, website cn.sofarsolar.com

· Public launch: SOFAR press release "SOFAR Reveals New Brand Identity and Website Reflecting Its Focus on a Net-zero Future" (PR Newswire, 12 January 2023), which states that SOFAR also unveiled its brand avatar Xiaohang

· Parent project: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3017.html

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3054.html

Further reading

· SOFAR: A Solar and Storage Company's Brand Refresh Before Its IPO (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3017.html)

· Cmsemicon: Refining the Identity of a Chip Designer Before Its IPO (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3016.html)

· Many Idea Cloud: A New Identity Built on Connection and Flow for a Marketing Technology Company (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3272.html)

FAQ

Who designed Xiaohang?

Xiaohang (首小航) was designed by Xinming Design in 2022 as part of SOFAR's pre-IPO brand refresh, which also covered the brand house, logo evolution and visual identity. In January 2023, SOFAR launched its new brand simultaneously in Shenzhen and Frankfurt, and Xiaohang appeared alongside it.

Where does Xiaohang's look come from?

From SOFAR's new logo. Xiaohang's face is a rounded square open at the top right with a small aurora green square in the opening, the same shape and colour as the rewritten letter O in the logo; the SOFAR logo is printed across its chest.

Why is Xiaohang's birthday 7 June 2013?

It is the day SOFAR was founded, so the character and the company are the same age.

Is Xiaohang a mascot?

It is often called one. In SOFAR's brand system it works as a human interface: a steady, recognisable character that lowers the threshold for ordinary users to understand a technology brand.

What outfits does Xiaohang have?

Four professional outfits: business manager, engineer, astronaut and safety supervisor, along with 12 expressions and a range of poses.

Which companies can learn from this case?

Technology companies whose products are specialised but who need to speak to ordinary users; brands that do most of their business overseas and need recognition across languages; and manufacturing and new energy companies preparing to list that want a more approachable brand.

Xinming Design is a brand systems design firm. Its work centres on systematic judgment, turning brand strategy into structures that can run and be inherited. www.xinming.sg