GKIDS FILMS

- ROLE: As a graphic design intern, I design a wide range of digital and print assets, including social media posts, promotional banners, newsletters, and awards materials.
- DATES: June 2025 - Present
- TOOLS: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Figma
GKIDS is the producer and distributor of award-winning animated films for both adult and family audiences. The company is recognized for bringing acclaimed titles such as The Boy and the Heron, Mirai, Wolfwalkers, and My Life as a Zucchini to North American audiences, as well as for its stewardship of the Studio Ghibli library and Neon Genesis Evangelion, and hosting the annual ANIMATION IS FILM festival in Los Angeles. (from: https://gkids.com/about/)
At GKIDS, I design advertising and promotional materials both digitally and in print. I collaborate closely with the Art Director on high-visibility projects and work with the marketing, PR, and distribution teams to produce creative assets across the company. Highlights include designing a new title treatment for The Boy and the Beast, leading a comprehensive GKIDS newsletter design, and contributing to the upcoming 2026 Oscar® campaign by designing screening invitations for Kokuho and Little Amélie or The Character of Rain.

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THE BOY AND THE BEAST

Working closely with the Art Director and Design Manager, I designed a new title treatment for The Boy and the Beast, an adventure-fantasy film directed by Mamoru Hosoda and animated by Studio Chizu. I studied key scenes and character moments, explored typography and layout variations, and refined the design through multiple rounds of team feedback. A core concept of the treatment is the character motifs integrated into the letterforms: the tuft on the “B” in Boy reflects Ren’s hair, while its counterpart in Beast references Kumatetsu’s signature fur swirl, visually expressing their connection and found-family relationship. The final treatment was approved by the licensor in Japan on its first submission and appears on the film’s upcoming home-video release.

concept development

Though this initial typeface leaned too far into high-fantasy for the more action-driven film, the layout used here would inform the final title treatment. Its structure placed the right emphases for readabilty, and the staggered lines created a more dynamic flow than a straightforward layout.

In earlier drafts, I experimented with incorporating scratches made by the beast, but the marks looked unintentional and became visually noisy at smaller sizes. I also tested letterforms with varied heights to capture a more playful energy, but the result skewed too juvenile for the tone of the story.

After deciding to add tufts on some letterforms, many experiments were done to illicit both characters as best as possible. Some challenges included varying each tuft in an obvious but non-distracting way, and to avoid drifting into shapes that suggested something unrelated, such as birds or flames.

GKIDS
NEWSLETTER

I led a comprehensive redesign of GKIDS’ e-blast newsletter, taking the project from design research to final execution starting in January 2026. Through multiple rounds of feedback with the design and marketing managers, I developed a flexible layout capable of accommodating home video releases, theatrical releases, events, awards, and other announcements.

First official e-blast with my new design, January 16, 2026

concept development

Another early concept became the basis for the final direction. Each film section was assigned its own color, improving clarity, and the rounded-corner widget design was well-received by marketing, especially for mobile. The next challenge was how to display date labels: sometimes, a film could have multiple dates. Date labels also needed to stand out without obscuring the title treatment for legal reasons and still fit harmoniously within the design.

I then focused on refining home video release widgets. Product shots came in all different render styles, and titles could have multiple release dates across different SKUs. I carefully considered how to display multiple home video SKUs, date labels, and call to action buttons in a way that was flexible, clear, and consistent with the overall layout.

The final template was designed to accommodate multiple dates while keeping the date labels visually distinct from the CTA buttons. Each film section is clearly defined with its own larger colored box, and smaller white-outlined boxes within each section allow for additional flexibility. This creates an adaptable template ready for the official newsletter launch.

ANIMATION IS FILM

I made key creative contributions to marketing and festival materials for Animation Is Film, an annual festival in LA hosted by GKIDS, Annecy, and Variety Magazine which celebrates the best animation from around the world. I supported the festival with a range of graphics, including on-screen slides and print signage.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

I used elements from the official poster artwork for Animation Is Film 2025 to brainstorm concepts for the social media posts.

SOCIAL MEDIA FINAL POSTS

I helped the marketing team expand my concepts into the final social campaign.

AIF NEWSLETTER

Using my social media posts as a style reference, I designed the template for the AIF newsletter. The marketing team then filled out each issue with the appropriate content using this framework.

SHIN GODZILLA PRESS KIT

Using provided movie stills, copy, and an established style guide, I used Adobe InDesign to create a mini press kit for GKIDS’ release of Shin Godzilla remastered in 4k. This project pushed me to execute precise typesetting and layout design while maintaining strict brand consistency.

GKIDS EDIT TEST

When I was applying to GKIDS, I was given an edit test where I was tasked to create a promotional graphic in three different aspect ratios. I was provided copy, official stills, the film’s title treatment, and a mini style guide with approved typography and colors. To make sure my concepts matched the spirit of Lonely Castle in the Mirror, I watched the film and took notes on its emotional arc, color palette, and visual motifs, eventually developing a pastel design with broken mirror shards.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

As part of my core responsibilities at GKIDS, I create promotional assets such as banners, slides, social media graphics, and print ads for theatrical and home video announcements. I typically receive copy, product images, and specs from the marketing, home video, or social teams. I am also given a layered .psd of the official key art/poster for each film, from which I can pull individual elements such as background textures or characters as needed.