Discover 5% Brand System
Date
2022-2025
Role
Art Direction · Brand System · Motion · Product Lifecycle
Team
Mark Myers, William Carter, Olga Kutnyakova, Will Finnegan 15 Second Animation: Polymyth. ECD: Jorge Orozco-Cordero
Overview
Discover’s 5% Cashback categories change every quarter, from gas stations and restaurants to grocery stores and online shopping. The challenge was keeping a familiar program fresh for longtime cardmembers while making each new category clear and recognizable at a glance.
I led the visual evolution of 5% Cashback across ten quarters, giving each cycle its own energy while keeping the work unmistakably Discover.
Approach
I expanded Discover’s existing circular visual language into a more flexible system using concentric shapes, a broader color palette, category-specific iconography, and product imagery.
I set the visual direction each quarter and translated it across web, app, email, paid media, print, social, out-of-home, and 15-second motion spots. For motion, I developed storyboards and styleframes and art directed the external animation studio through production.
Results
Across ten quarters, the system gave 5% Cashback a fresh look without losing recognition. It scaled from phone screens to gas pumps and gave the team a repeatable framework for quarterly launches.
The 5% email program also received a GDUSA award.
A brand system built to be intentionally modular
Color, imagery, icons, and motion changed each quarter with the categories, while typography, composition, and the circular language kept everything connected.
Built to be noticed
Every quarter the category changes, so the look changes with it. Gas stations get chrome, travel, and road trip snacks. Restaurants get warmth and texture. Grocery gets abundance.
