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Violette
Junior Assistant Associate Social Media Manager. Also the butterfly in your stomach. A dating app has nothing to show but a screen, so we gave Hily a character people can actually feel something for.
Nothing to show but a screen
Dating apps have no product on a shelf and no store to walk into. Hily needed something more emotional than a phone screen: a face people would recognize and remember.
The butterfly in your stomach
The feeling of falling for someone, and of being real about it. A character that is a little awkward, a little chaotic, and fully believes in real love, just like Date as You Are.
Test, don’t guess
Nine months of concepts, research and testing before a single costume went public. Every stage had to earn its place with real audience reactions.
From idea to Violette
Five legends, three survivors
We wrote five character concepts, each with its own legend, and tested them. Three made it through.
Look and voice, tested again
Each finalist got a first visual and a voice. The winner: a butterfly in your stomach, a symbol of falling in love but also of being real.
Shaped by perception
10+ rounds of character design, each one adjusted by how people actually perceived the character.
Built to be worn
20 more iterations finetuning the details: figure, proportions, head, facial expression, and, with professional costume makers, the costume, plus production cost, ease of care and fit for different bodies.
Moth → butterfly
At key stages we tested the character in short dance videos for emotional response and open feedback. Too many people wrote “moth.” We tweaked the wings and eyes until 85% said “butterfly.”
A voice and a story
Finally, who she is: one of us, a very junior social media manager at Hily. She got a separate guide, both for the visual and copy parts, with the concepts and scripts checks later being automated with the Claude skill.
Some character iterations
A few of the 30+ rounds, from early 3D renders to the costume that went into production.
Testing the feeling
The same caption over different designs. We measured emotional response and read hundreds of open answers, interpreting and making sense of the comments people made.
Made by hand, made to last
Built with professional costume makers: fleece chosen for color and easy care, an inner harness for comfort and fit across different bodies, and a design that is affordable to reproduce, easy to transport and care.
Who she is
Violette is one of us: a very junior social media manager at Hily. Fun, easygoing, a bit chaotic, dreamy and sweet. She always ends up in some story or adventure, but she wholeheartedly believes in real love and helps people find it.
“CEO of redownloading dating apps after claiming I’ll never use them again.”
“He texted me he’s free all weekend and I replied ‘get some rest.’”
“When the date is going well but unfortunately you’re not on it.”
Where she lives
Owned social, artist and creator collaborations, offline events and merch. Next, she moves gradually into the product and PR.
85%recognize her as a butterfly
A mascot is a long game, and Violette is still a young brand asset. But she already proves what emotion, connection and realness do for the relationship between a brand and its audience: she represents something real, in a way no other brand asset could.
My role
Head of Brand & Communications at Hily. Beyond graphics and copy, the brand had too few assets to work with. I wanted a brand vehicle that could carry more emotion and flex across every channel, and that led me to the idea of a mascot. I led Violette from concept to launch: research and testing, character and costume development with professional costume makers, and her voice and story, with my team bringing her to life in content at least once a week.