A house-shaped mascot is the friendly face of home maintenance in Wildish & Co.’s look for Ding

Pair a straightforward house shape with big, round, expressive eyes and you get one of (if not the) cutest mascots in the home services industry. This was the playful, character-driven approach London-based creative agency Wildish & Co. took in their branding for Ding, which offers trusted tradespeople for home maintenance and repairs through a subscription-based model – designed to be as straightforward as ordering a takeaway. “We knew a mascot would be essential in establishing a bold, memorable brand presence, especially for a new app,” Designer Alisha Mann tells us. “It also provides a friendly, trustworthy face at the forefront of Ding, helping to build instant connection and recognition.”

The brand’s visual language follows what Managing Director Sam Fresco calls ‘dopamine design,’ focusing on creating positive emotional responses through visual experiences. “When we looked at the home repairs industry,” he explains, “we saw a sea of sameness – muted blues, stock photos of people holding tools, and clinical corporate language. It felt completely disconnected from the emotional reality of home issues. When something breaks in your home, it’s stressful!”

In these times of household stress, he continues, people naturally gravitate towards solutions that feel both trustworthy and emotionally satisfying. Inspired by this insight and how other brands (in other industries) were creating these good mood interactions, they focused their attention on building a warm and “neighbourly” theme for the brand’s strategy, as defined in the concept ‘From ours to yours.’ Reliability and trust too, were key themes that influenced everything from the tagline (’Just Ding and it’s done.’) to the overall tone of voice.

With a trio of orange shades leading the primary palette, Ding radiates energy and optimism – a deliberate departure from the aforementioned industry norms. These warmer tones are complemented by fresh greens, yellows and blues in the secondary palette.

The typography reinforces this approachable aesthetic, with Kookie Black by F37 Foundry bringing “playful softness” to headlines, while Work Sans ensures clear readability for body copy. The Ding logo itself is a custom modification of Balgin by Studio Sun.

Beyond the main mascot, Ding’s character family includes a roster of friendly faces that, Man notes, “represent the different types of home repairs that Ding offers, no matter how big or small.” From ‘Big’ to ‘Odd,’ 'Urgent’ to ‘Tricky,’ these characters, along with simple icons and visual elements, help communicate the range of services while maintaining the brand’s approachable personality.

All of these elements come together to create a cohesive, friendly brand ecosystem that makes dealing with home repairs feel less daunting. The combination of the mascot-driven design, warm colour palette, and approachable typography, Fresco concludes, makes “Ding feel less transactional and more personal in comparison to its competitors, who traditionally take the more rigid practical route.”