Designing CoChefyBot: Crafting a Friendly Face for the Easiest Recipe Generator
When we set out to build CoChefy, we knew we didn’t want the typical emotionless AI avatar. Cooking is emotional, it’s personal, sensory, and often vulnerable. So instead of a floating icon or abstract assistant, we wanted a companion. A mascot. A character that made the entire cooking experience feel more human.
And thus, CoChefyBot was born.
Where the Inspiration Started
Two major influences shaped the early vision:
Duolingo, proof that a character can be a product’s soul. You should check their blog about designing their characters.
WALL-E–style robots, expressive machines with warmth and charm, especially EVE, I mean, how do you fit so much personality into a character with only two shapes for eyes?
Luckily, we already had a base character for the product, and CoChefyBot naturally evolved from that starting point.
Defining His Personality
Before we ever drew a line, we decided what CoChefyBot needed to be:
- friendly
- quick to help
- comprehensive
- diligent
- fast
- confident
These traits guided every design choice, from his face shape to his posture.
Choosing the Visual Style
We knew from day one that the style had to be:
- vector-based
- clean and simple
- easy to animate
That meant rounded elements, simple geometry, and subtle gradients that would translate well into motion.
Building His Signature Look
A few elements define CoChefyBot instantly:
1. Round, approachable shapes
To keep him friendly and easily readable.
3. The chef toque
The subtle detail that instantly makes him a chef. Small, but iconic.
2. Minimal, expressive facial features
The neutral-happy expression was priority #1 — it’s the face users will see most.
3. A green palette
Chosen simply because it tied directly into the CoChefy brand.
4. Simplified anatomy
Five fingers, no legs, modular pieces, all decisions chosen to support future animation
Designing for Emotion
Even with simple shapes, we wanted range: thinking, listening, reacting, guiding. There was a moment when the round, soft shapes combined with the toque and that gentle confident smile, and the whole team felt it:
This is CoChefyBot.
A friendly face for the easiest recipe generator.