Role: Design Director, TBWA\Chiat\Day

Some brands are recognized on a shelf.

Others become part of the culture.

The Gatorade rebrand was a highly collaborative effort involving multiple teams across TBWA\Chiat\Day. The program was led by TBWA's Global Director of Media Arts in partnership with the agency's Chief Creative Officer, with the core creative team consisting of a Creative Director/Writer and a Creative Director/Art Director.

As Design Director, Erik assembled and led a team of designers who played a significant role throughout the program. Working alongside the core creative team, he provided design leadership, helping translate the brand strategy into a unified visual system while guiding the execution across a wide range of consumer touchpoints.

Over the course of more than a year, Erik worked closely with Gatorade and PepsiCo, collaborating with agency leadership, his design team, and the client to help evolve one of the world's most iconic sports brands.

Together, the team helped develop the iconic Gatorade "G" identity, a custom Gatorade typeface created in collaboration with a type foundry, and a comprehensive visual language that extended across nearly every brand experience. The work included packaging, advertising, retail environments, digital experiences, branded merchandise, the now-iconic Gatorade sideline towel, branded coolers, the sideline presence seen across professional and collegiate sports, and Gatorade's NASCAR Winner's Circle, creating broadcast-visible brand assets recognized by millions of fans around the world.

From concept through production, Erik worked directly with the client for more than a year, traveling regularly to PepsiCo headquarters in Chicago and to press checks across the country to ensure every detail of the new brand system was executed with consistency and precision.

The result wasn't simply a new logo.

It was a brand system that unified every major touchpoint, helping transform how athletes and fans experienced Gatorade and establishing a visual language that continues to define the brand today.

Behind the Work

Great brands aren't created overnight, and every project has a story.

In the video below, Erik shares the creative thinking, collaboration, challenges, and key decisions that shaped the Gatorade rebrand, including the story behind the iconic lightning bolt, the evolution of the visual identity, and how one of the world's most recognizable sports brands came together.