Research question. Can an abstract character add recognition and warmth to Grounded while staying optional, adult in tone and separate from the information an airport traveller needs to act on?

The mascot is one part of Grounded’s identity, not the service itself. The primary audience is autistic adults travelling independently through airports. Maia’s Critical Report gives the project useful context about independence and control, sensory environments, changing support needs and fragmented information. Its ten self-declared autistic respondents did not evaluate this character, and they cannot tell me whether a wink, a loop shape or a mascot is right for every autistic traveller. I treat the following visual meanings as design interpretations to explore, then test.

1 · What I noticed in the character references

The supplied characters vary in style and purpose, but several visual devices recur: simple silhouettes, a small number of facial marks, expressive poses and bright colour. These are observations about this selection of images, not universal rules about successful mascots. The useful question is how Grounded can be distinctive without taking over a practical travel task.

Supplied character reference collage

This white-ground board recomposes Maia’s six supplied references without added labels. Their common device is a simple body with very small facial marks or gestural limbs; the different examples range from abstract shapes to character-led app screens. Finch is a useful comparator for an ongoing companion, though it is a self-care app and cannot establish what is suitable for airport information. The provenance/creator credit for some supplied images needs checking. I have used them as inspiration, not as designs to reproduce.

2 · The character’s job in Grounded

The character should help the identity feel recognisable and approachable, but it is not the wayfinding system. The traveller needs to find the current gate, understand what changed and decide whether to open another step. The character must not become a guide who gives orders, carry operational meaning, or claim to know how someone feels. It should be possible to hide it and still use every essential feature.

For the intended audience, “friendly” needs to remain adult and optional. Autistic adults do not share one sensory profile or one preferred communication style. Maia’s small self-selected questionnaire gives a reason to prioritise agency and clear information; it did not measure mascot preference. I will use these audience needs as design criteria and leave preference claims open until the character is reviewed with travellers.

3 · Shape associations as design hypotheses

The current silhouette direction is an abstract loop or ribbon. My interpretation is that a continuous curve can suggest a journey that carries on, while an open centre can suggest space for a next step. These meanings are not fixed: the same shape might read as a knot, a letterform or decoration. Rounded edges give this drawing a softer visual tone than angular alternatives, but that is an aesthetic judgement, not evidence that rounded forms are inherently more comfortable for autistic adults.

Abstraction lets the character sit across different travel moments without representing a particular traveller. A compact, distinct outline may be easier to recognise at small size, but that also needs testing. The useful question is whether the shape reads as a companion and whether it stays visually separate from the route line and gate panel.

4 · Body shape studies

I separated the body from its face so I could judge recognition through silhouette alone. The studies compare an open loop, a taller sweep, a lower curl and a compact bend. I am looking for a shape that carries the route idea without becoming a literal arrow or map, and that still reads at the small scale of a phone. The lime is held constant at #DDFF4E so these comparisons are about form rather than colour.

The open loop remains the strongest direction because it has a clear outer contour and an open centre. That is my visual interpretation, not a claim that autistic travellers will all read it as movement or openness. The next check is whether people can recognise it without relying on its face or nearby text.

5 · Face and expression studies

With the silhouette held steady, I compared paired open eyes, a small smile, the wink with a cheek, an open mouth, a neutral face and an asymmetric expression. The study uses the saturated lime body, warm-white eye detail, ink linework, pink cheek and orange mouth from the working palette; it does not introduce softened or pastel versions. Separating facial features makes the expression decision visible instead of letting it hide inside a finished character.

The selected expression is one open eye and one wink, a short smile and small colour accents. I read this as lively but restrained, and it relates to the playful character references Maia selected. A wink can also feel knowing, confusing or too young; no participant has confirmed its tone. The mascot must never stand in for a person’s feelings, and it should be hidden when it competes with a serious or time-sensitive message.

6 · Colour-role studies

I then kept the loop form consistent and compared the exact colour tokens already used in Grounded screen studies: lime #DDFF4E, lilac #E7A7FE, pink #F153AA, aqua #62D8CF and yellow #F8F479. These are full-strength swatches, not pastel tints. The question is which colour gives the mascot a recognisable identity beside the lilac route and warm-white/charcoal information surfaces.

Lime is carried forward because it is already the character role in the current screen direction and stays visually distinct from the lilac journey line. This is a brand-system decision, not a status code: lime does not mean a gate is safe, confirmed or resolved. The sheet helps compare roles; it does not establish accessibility on real devices. The colours of the large body are not being treated as text, and small facial details still need checking at intended display sizes.

7 · Posture and gesture studies

After choosing the loop direction, I explored how the figure could sit, stand and move. The seated pose in Maia’s reference gives the character a compact, settled base; the standing and moving alternatives take up more vertical space and feel more active. A small gesture can make the mascot feel present, but wide arms or a large pose could compete with the gate card.

The seated loop is selected for the first character artwork because it preserves the sweeping silhouette and keeps the pose contained. The raised hands and crossed, relaxed legs are expressive details rather than instructions. The posture should stay decorative, with enough separation from route lines, gate numbers and tappable controls.

8 · Final character

The final candidate now follows the supplied reference more closely: a large sweeping loop, an upper-right face, one open eye and one wink, raised line-drawn hands and a low seated posture. I have changed the body to the project’s saturated lime #DDFF4E and retained the small pink cheek #F28689, orange mouth #F28A55, ink #171717 and warm-white ground #FFFDF4. This is a new Grounded drawing based on the pose and visual language of the reference, not a copy of its lavender lighting treatment.

Its job is to add a recognisable companion to welcome and optional support moments, and to appear only as a small decorative element near a change alert when the essential facts stay dominant. It does not provide airport information, detect emotion or start support by itself. The app must remain usable if the character is absent.

9 · The mascot inside the app

I placed the same character into three phone contexts to check scale, hierarchy and role: the gate-change alert, the next-step view and an optional-support screen. In the first, the character sits beside the journey motif while A04 and the next action remain the strongest elements. In the second, it is reduced so the step stays legible. In the third, it accompanies choices but does not make a choice for the traveller.

These screens are static design studies using fictional BA256 information. Their sample route wording is illustrative and must be checked against airport signs in any real journey. They show where the mascot could fit; they do not test comprehension, visual load, contrast, assistive technology or autistic adults’ preferences. A useful next comparison is the gate alert with and without the character, followed by a task-based review of the three screens.

Conclusion · a companion with a limited job

The lime seated loop is the current mascot candidate because it carries forward Maia’s chosen character direction while keeping the core travel information separate. Its defining features are the open-loop body, restrained wink, small facial accents and relaxed seated pose. Each remains a provisional design choice until autistic adult travellers can say how they read it in context.