Warner Bros. Discovery

The Rundown:

My first role at Warner Bros. Discovery as a Brand and Design Intern was a deep dive into the intersections between marketing and design in entertainment and tech. I'm continuing my #WBDLife as a Global Visual Design Intern.

My main project for this internship involves creating Animated GIFs, social posts, custom signatures and more for internal committees, events teams, employees and interns to use. Over the summer, I focused on the Animated GIFs.

The Research:

For these "visual kits", I was directed to use as much intellectual property that Warner Bros. Discovery owns (which is A LOT). To determine which IP I would use for each GIF, I ran through a list of the most recognizable IP and chose four to begin with:

• Intern GIF #1 - Barbie (insanely popular, instantly recognizable, high-impact with personalization

• Intern GIF #2 - Batman (widely known and recognizable, opportunity to work with "superhero answering a call" themes)

• Intern to Full-Time Employee - Looney Tunes ("That's All Folks" can be reworked, recognizable and loved worldwide)

• Apprentice (UK/France/LATAM Centric) - Cartoon Network (higher popularity outside of U.S., easily recognizable brand, can keep it simple)

The Response:

One pro/con of working with IP was the built-in brand guidelines - while I could follow the existing styles of the IP I selected, it was difficult at first to make it clear that these weren't just promotional GIFs.

I worked through this by prioritizing the copy of each GIF.

Barbie:

Batman:

Looney Tunes:

Cartoon Network:

The Results:

At the end of my internship, I presented these GIFs to my supervisor and senior leadership at WBD. While these GIFs were originally my only assignment, I also presented a proposal to expand them into the full visual kits that I'm creating now. Both the GIFs and my visual kit proposal were accepted, and they will be rolling out through the company starting in 2025.