Yanlong Biotechnology Mascot: A Little Blue Dragon with a Sprout

Xiao Yanlong: a little blue dragon with a sprout on its head

In 2023, Xinming Design created Xiao Yanlong (小晏龙), the mascot of Yanlong Biotechnology (晏龙国科), for 晏龙国科(山东)科技集团有限公司. It is a little blue dragon with a round face, big eyes, a pair of heart shaped horns, a white belly and muzzle, and a tail that curls upward; on top of its head grows a green sprout. Its character card names its species as a "sprout dragon", lists skateboarding and singing as its hobbies, and describes it as lively. The design provides four views, 12 expressions, 6 role outfits and 6 scene illustrations. Xiao Yanlong is still in use today.

This was Xinming Design's second project for Yanlong. In 2020, Xinming Design created its logo and visual identity.

Why a biotech company needs a dragon

Yanlong Biotechnology is a biotechnology company. The 2020 identity work summed it up in three brand keywords: probiotic Chinese medicine, biological gene technology and fermented natural medicine. These are specialist fields, and not easy for the general public to understand.

A logo and visual identity can make a company look professional and trustworthy. To make people feel close to it and remember it, the brand also needs a character that can speak and show feeling.

A dragon was the obvious answer: the company name Yanlong (晏龙) already contains the character for dragon, 龙. That ties the mascot to the brand without any explanation, and brings with it the good fortune a dragon carries in Chinese culture. The remaining question was how to make this dragon belong to a biotech company, rather than to anyone.

A sprout dragon: the sprout in the logo grows on its head

The answer sits on top of Xiao Yanlong's head.

For the 2020 Yanlong logo, the design gives the formula biological gene + brand letter Y + natural health = logo, and its layered blue bands read like a new sprout. But that sprout is expressed only through shape: the whole identity uses only blue and grey, with no green.

On the mascot, the sprout grows on Xiao Yanlong's head as a cluster of three fresh green leaves, and for the first time the sprout has a colour. That is why its species is called a sprout dragon.

Xiao Yanlong's body is a bright, high value blue that continues the blue of the identity; the touch of fresh green on its head adds growth and health. Blue speaks for science, green for life, matching the two sides of Yanlong, technology and nature.

Round face, heart shaped horns, white belly

Xiao Yanlong is simply built:

· Head: a round face with a cluster of sprout leaves on top, and a few small white dots on the forehead and back;

· Horns: a pair of heart shaped horns on either side of the head;

· Face: big dark blue eyes, a white muzzle and two pink cheeks;

· Body: short, with a white belly and a tail that curls up into a hook.

The design gives front, three quarter, side and back views. A big head, a short body and round eyes are the usual proportions for a friendly character; the heart shaped horns and the sprout keep it recognisable even when reduced to a small avatar.

The character is presented in 3D, with soft, clean surfaces suited to the website, short videos, posters, exhibitions and social media.

Twelve expressions

The design gives Xiao Yanlong 12 expressions:

· Emotions: puzzled, angry, dizzy, wistful, crying and in love;

· Daily life: sleeping, singing, taking a bath, good morning and eating;

· And one more: a halo over its head and a look of perfect innocence.

A corporate mascot is used most often as stickers on social media and in chat. Half of these 12 expressions are emotions and half are daily life, so that a biotech company can also speak in a chat.

Six roles: from the lab to Spring Festival

The design also gives Xiao Yanlong 6 role outfits, in two groups, work and life:

· Work: a lab technician in goggles and a white coat holding a flask; a researcher at a microscope; a business partner in a suit with a tablet;

· Life: a teenager in headphones and a hoodie on a skateboard; a Tang suit and a lantern for Spring Festival; a Santa Claus outfit with a sack of gifts.

The character introduction in the design puts it this way: in research and at work it is calm and reliable; in daily life and at festivals it turns at once into an energetic young man. The same dragon can stand for the company's expertise and celebrate the holidays with everyone.

A further set of 6 poses on round bases, waving, sitting with eyes closed, sleeping on its belly, holding a snack, lying on its side and sitting upright, reads like a set of desk figurines.

Six scenes

Each of the 6 roles is placed in its own scene illustration:

1. Future lab: among robotic arms and laser beams, Xiao Yanlong holds up a bubbling flask;

2. Research room: in goggles, focused on a microscope;

3. Skate park: in headphones, riding down a ramp;

4. Office: with a briefcase and a tablet, leaping over a desk;

5. Spring Festival street: among lanterns, a dragon dance and a crowd, in a Tang suit with a lantern;

6. Christmas village: running through the snow past a Christmas tree and a sleigh with a sack of gifts.

Before the 3D illustrations, the design sketches a 4 panel line storyboard: thinking about the formula for glucose in a lab, crouching at the start line on a running track, reading data in an office, and singing into a microphone on stage.

In the Spring Festival scene, Xiao Yanlong appears in the same picture as a festival dragon: a traditional dragon, and the little dragon of a biotech company.

Deliverables and extensions

Character design

· Xiao Yanlong main character and character card (sprout dragon; hobbies: skateboarding, singing; personality: lively)

· Front, three quarter, side and back views

· 6 poses on round bases

Expressions

· 12 expressions: puzzled, angry, sleeping, singing, bath, good morning, dizzy, wistful, eating, innocent, crying, in love

Role outfits

· Lab technician, researcher, business partner, skateboarder, Spring Festival in a Tang suit, Santa Claus

Scene illustrations

· 4 panel line storyboard

· Six 3D scene illustrations: future lab, research room, skate park, office, Spring Festival street, Christmas village

Looking back

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Find the character in the brand name. Yanlong contains a dragon, so the mascot connects to the brand without explanation.

2. Let the mascot carry the meaning of the logo. The sprout that the logo expressed only through shape becomes a visible sprout on the mascot; three years apart, the two projects tell the same story.

3. One character, two modes. At work it is a lab technician and a business partner; in daily life a skateboarder and a dragon celebrating the holidays. Expertise and warmth are carried by the same character.

The mascot of a biotech company should be at home in the lab, and in a group chat.

How to verify

· Client: 晏龙国科(山东)科技集团有限公司

· Brand: Yanlong Biotechnology (晏龙国科)

· Mascot: Xiao Yanlong (小晏龙)

· Year: 2023

· Client website: www.yanlongbio.com

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3304.html

Further reading

· Yanlong Biotechnology Brand Identity: A Gene, a Y and a Sprout in One Loop (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3207.html)

· SOFAR Brand Character Xiaohang: Turning an Energy Technology Company into a Character People Remember (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3054.html)

· Growth Assistant Mascot: A Young Eagle That Grows Up with the Child (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3074.html)

FAQ

Who designed the Yanlong Biotechnology mascot?

Xiao Yanlong (小晏龙), the mascot of Yanlong Biotechnology, was designed by Xinming Design in 2023 for 晏龙国科(山东)科技集团有限公司 and is still in use. Xinming Design had earlier created the Yanlong logo and visual identity in 2020.

What does Xiao Yanlong look like?

A little blue dragon whose species is called a sprout dragon: a round face, big eyes, a pair of heart shaped horns, a white belly and a green sprout growing on its head.

What does the sprout on its head mean?

It echoes the new sprout in the Yanlong logo. The logo expresses the sprout only through the shape of its blue bands; the mascot turns it into a visible cluster of fresh green leaves.

Why is the Yanlong mascot a dragon?

The company name Yanlong (晏龙) already contains the character for dragon, 龙, so the mascot connects to the brand without explanation and carries the good fortune a dragon has in Chinese culture.

What did the project include?

Character design and four views, 6 poses on round bases, 12 expressions, 6 role outfits (lab technician, researcher, business partner, skateboarder, Spring Festival in a Tang suit, Santa Claus), a 4 panel line storyboard and six 3D scene illustrations.

Which brands can learn from this case?

Biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and health companies; research led companies with specialist work that need a friendly character to talk to the public; and brands that already have a logo and identity and want a mascot that carries the meaning of the logo.

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