Live collection
Launched as a real Shop Peterbilt ecommerce collection, not just a character concept.
Character & Merchandise
Petey & Piper
A character-led merchandise system for Peterbilt, built across ecommerce, apparel, plush, accessories, and production-ready product artwork.
- Character / Illustration
- Product & Merchandise
- Ecommerce
- Role
- Senior Graphic Designer / Character & Merchandise Designer
- Client
- Peterbilt / PACCAR, through BDA / DesignLab
- Year
- 2025
- Deliverables
- Character concepts, Final character artwork, Merchandise artwork, Apparel graphics, Product mockups, Pattern applications, Backpack and lunch cooler artwork, Sticker and accessory artwork, Ecommerce product assets, Production-ready proofing support
- Tools
- Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Product mockups, Production proofing, Ecommerce asset preparation
Challenge
Peterbilt needed a kid and family-friendly merchandise collection that could turn the brand into something more playful, approachable, and collectible. The work needed to connect with fans through character, product artwork, and ecommerce without losing the recognizable Peterbilt truck personality.
Approach
I developed Petey and Piper as a character pair that could carry the collection across plush, apparel, lunch coolers, accessories, product artwork, and ecommerce assets. The system needed to be simple enough for production, expressive enough for kids, and flexible enough to work across multiple product types.
Final character system
Petey and Piper were designed as a matched character pair, with simplified forms, clear color logic, and expressions that could translate across product types.
Concept evolution
Early exploration helped define the balance between truck accuracy, kid-friendly personality, and merchandise appeal before the final character direction was selected.
From character system to merchandise collection
The character system expanded beyond concept art into a broader merchandise collection spanning toys, accessories, books, apparel, and school-ready products. The final designs were flexible enough to support a range of kid-friendly applications while maintaining clear character recognition and brand consistency.
Ecommerce launch
The final system also extended into a retail-friendly ecommerce assortment, showing how the characters scaled across multiple product categories in a clean online shopping experience.
Extending the character family
The system was also explored beyond Petey and Piper with Pacey, a younger third-character concept based on an in-between cab style. The goal was to test whether the visual language could support a broader family of characters while keeping each truck distinct in silhouette, proportion, and personality.
What I owned
- Explored early character directions and visual styles.
- Developed final Petey and Piper character artwork.
- Extended the character system across apparel, accessories, bags, lunch coolers, stickers, water bottles, keychains, plush, and other merchandise.
- Created product artwork and production-ready visual assets.
- Helped translate the character idea into ecommerce merchandise presentation.
Why it mattered
Petey and Piper gave Peterbilt a friendly character system that could reach families, kids, and younger fans without losing the brand's truck identity. The project helped turn a vehicle brand into a more flexible merchandise and ecommerce system.
Outcomes
What the work made possible
Merchandise family
Extended across apparel, accessories, bags, lunch coolers, stickers, bottles, keychains, plush, and other retail items.
Production-ready system
Created character artwork that could scale across product categories while staying recognizable, kid-friendly, and production-ready.
Brand extension
Helped Peterbilt reach families and younger fans through a more playful merchandise system without losing truck-brand recognition.