Hand-Redraw Vector Illustration & Rig-Ready Layering — 2 Mascot Characters (Gauge & Flex)

Project Description

I need two cartoon mascot characters converted from raster reference art into clean, hand-drawn, layered vector artwork, ready for animation rigging.

Characters: Gauge (a pressure gauge) and Flex (a hydraulic ram). Four reference images are attached: one hero pose and one neutral pose per character.

This is not a simple vectorisation job. The output needs to work as a rig, not just a picture — see the two rules below before you quote.

The two rules that matter most
Hand-redraw only — no auto-trace. Image Trace, Vector Magic, or similar tools produce hundreds of stacked junk paths with no structure. That's unusable for rigging and can't be edited. Every shape must be manually redrawn as a clean path with the minimum number of anchor points.
Gauge's needle must be a separate object, with its transform origin at the exact centre of the dial. The needle gets rotated in code to four fixed angles — this is the single most important function in the artwork. If it's merged into the dial, or the pivot is off-centre, the deliverable fails. I'll want the pivot point confirmed in your first draft.
Required layer separation

Every part below must be its own independently editable object, in a named layer group, on a single artboard per character.

Gauge:

Hard hat (crown, brim, ridge as one group)
Bezel ring; rivets (4, individual)
Dial face
Scale segments — four separate paths, one per colour, in order
Needle — separate, pivot at dial centre; needle hub
Eyes (whites + pupils separate — pupils need to move), eyebrows (separate), mouth (separate)
Left arm, right arm, left hand, right hand
Left leg, right leg, left boot, right boot

Flex:

Head / hex gland nut
Eyes (whites + pupils separate), eyebrows separate, mouth separate
Neck collar; barrel body; barrel highlight; hi-vis band
Port bosses (individual); end caps (top, bottom)
Upper arm and forearm as separate objects, each side (the rods extend and must slide independently)
Fists (left, right); legs (left, right); feet (left, right)
Colour

Exact values below, global swatches (so a colour can be changed once across the file). No gradients other than the specular highlights already visible in the reference art.

PD maroon #76232F PD orange #F58220
Slate grey #5B6770 Grey mid #7C878E
Navy #333F48 Chrome #A9B0B5 / #C3C9CC
Off-white #F5F1E8 Outline #14161A
Scale: green #8EDD65 · blue #1D4289 · orange #F58220 · red #76232F
Deliverables
Layered source file — .ai or .svg, layers named exactly as listed above
Flat, optimised SVG per character per pose (no embedded rasters)
PNG, 2000px tall, transparent background, per character per pose
Print-ready vector CMYK version of each hero pose
Acceptance criteria
No auto-traced paths — shapes are clean, with minimal anchor points
Gauge's needle rotates about the dial centre with no visible drift
Every listed part is independently selectable and editable
Limbs are complete shapes, not clipped where they met the body in the reference
Colours match the values above exactly
At 40px tall, both characters are still recognisable and distinct from each other (the "sticker test" — a silhouette that fails this gets redrawn; everything else can be corrected later)
How to quote

Please price in three parts:

Both neutral poses, rigged and layered as specified — this is the priority and what I need first
Both hero poses, layered but not rig-critical
An hourly rate for future poses/expressions — this is an ongoing series, more poses will follow
Skills required

Vector illustration, Adobe Illustrator (or equivalent), character/mascot art, animation rig prep, SVG optimisation, print-ready CMYK output.

Four reference images are attached to this project.