Mascot Analysis: Europa Osaka'25

Her name is Europa, after the mythological figure, and she was created to represent our continent and our political union at Expo 2025 in Osaka, where she meets Japan’s official mascot.Accompanying her on this journey is the mascot representing Italy, appearing in a series of photos alongside other characters from around the world.Yes, of course, there is also a walking physical version, in addition to various plush toys and gadgets.

Personally, I find the idea of an official mascot for the European Union quite appealing—it's one of those symbolic elements that can truly help nurture a sense of unity among European citizens.Unfortunately, I don’t know who the designer or the studio behind it is, and I think that’s a problem.It’s important to give more visibility to the creative minds working behind the scenes on projects like this.

From a marketing perspective, too, there are some things worth pointing out: the mascot has a rather limited social media presence.Sure, she’s very active on the Instagram account “European Union at Expo 2025 Osaka” (currently with 3,467 followers), but she only appears once on the “European Commission” profile, which has over a million followers.Creating a shared mascot was a bold move, but it should be used across more platforms to truly become the face of the project.

At this point, you might say: “Give it time, maybe they’re waiting to see how she does in Japan!”Fair enough. But this leads to another point: the mascot is clearly designed to appeal to Eastern tastes.This is evident in the hairstyle, the superhero-like cape, and above all in the style of the eyes, both open, closed, and in profile.

Truth be told, even the official mascot of the Jubilee 2025 has a design heavily inspired by manga — though it should be noted that it was designed by Simone Legno, and that has always been his style.All of this suggests that we’re looking at a broader trend, and after all, manga and anime are more present than ever in our markets today.

On the other hand, we also see the influence of American character design.So perhaps it’s worth exploring what might truly define a “European” design—but that deserves a whole separate post!

For now, with the utmost respect for the creator of Europa—whom I sincerely congratulate on this assignment—I’d simply like to share my own alternative take on the mascot, a version I sketched out in about an hour.But first, let me explain what I did:

• I adjusted the proportions, making her look younger: larger head and hands, narrower shoulders, and a shortened torso.

• I really liked the idea of the tied-up hair, but I removed the long side lock.

• I emphasized the star that fastens the cape, as well as the stars on her socks (which now reach up almost to her knees), while I removed the little stars from the hair ribbon, which I felt were a bit redundant—this character already has stars everywhere.

• I liked the idea of what appears to be a crossbody pouch or bag, and I kept it as it is.

• Finally, I opted for a more varied line quality, unlike the more uniform outline of the original. I’m well aware that mascots typically require a cleaner, more "graphic" line—but you can get there by refining a more expressive sketch.

I’m not fully convinced by the many fragmented strokes in the hair; in my view, they detract from the sense of motion rather than enhance it.

I believe expressiveness is key in a mascot, since the goal is to give a friendly face to something that has none, and to create an emotional bond with the public.Yet too often, this aspect is sacrificed in favor of a “kawaii” aesthetic—a different philosophy, effective in its own right, but not the only possible route.

Ultimately, this post is not a critique of the original mascot’s designer, but simply an attempt to show other creative directions the character could take.After all, creativity is always a matter of choices!

time lapse my Europa mascot

my version of Europa mascot