The Surfin' Burrito
Donkeys & Diners

The Surfin' Burrito Header The Surfin' Burrito Header

The Client

The Surfin' Burrito is a world-famous burrito stand in the heart of sunny Cancun, Mexico.

The Challenge

To come up with a new take on their lovable surfing donkey mascot ahead of Guy Fieri's 'Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives' coming in to do a TV segment.

My Role

  • Character Design
  • Logo Design
  • Merchandise

My Tools

  • Hand Drawing
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe Illustrator
The Surfin' Burrito Sketch 01
The Surfin' Burrito Sketch 02
The Surfin' Burrito Sketch 03
The Surfin' Burrito Sketch 04

Initial Sketches

We agreed on the concept of something that mixed cute doggy character packaging we often see in the aisles with something a little serene and worthy of the ZenDog title.

Surfin' Burrito Pencil Sketches

Tightening Pencils

I came up with a few tighter pencils. They liked these a lot, but for the central image wanted sometihng easier to read from far away. So I went back to the drawing board!

Surfin' Burrito Digital Sketch

Another pass at the art

I decided to whip out the 'ol Wacom tablet and do a digital version of the art. This was a lot easier to read from far away, and they loved it. With that, I went right to the next step.

Surfin' Burrito Final Artwork

Final Art

I finished inking and coloringin Adobe Illustrator. I find using Illustrator for business related mascots makes for a really clean look that's easy to read.

Surfin' Burrito on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives!

Showtime!

With the art done, we rushed to get a t-shirt printed to be ready for Guy Fiera and his popular cooking show Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives! Check it out yourself, it's Season 26, Episode 6.