Who is Peter Arnell, America’s new chief brand architect?
The Trump administration just elected designer Peter Arnell “chief brand architect” of the National Design Studio. It’s a role that could have massive ripple effects for how the American government presents itself.
Arnell has worked with a multitude of well-known companies, including PepsiCo, McDonald’s, Apple, Reebok, and Disney. His work spans disciplines from photography to digital interfaces and physical products, often embracing a creative direction that is simultaneously simple, clean, and bold.
In his new position with the U.S. government, Arnell will serve under Joe Gebbia, cofounder of Airbnb and President Trump’s pick for chief design officer of the National Design Studio, which was created in January 2025 with the mission of improving the “usability and aesthetics” of federal digital services. So far, that’s included creating new websites like TrumpRx, a federal pharmaceutical provider; redesigning the food pyramid to prioritize protein; and turning the official White House website into a fan reel for the president.
Arnell’s role will entail leading “strategic and creative development of a unified design and brand system for the U.S.” and ensuring “every interaction that people have with the government is clear and consistent,” starting with rethinking the Social Security system and the passport acquisition process, Gebbia explained in an interview with Dezeen.
An overhaul of the federal government’s digital presence has actually been in the works for years: The Biden administration began working on it in 2024, after data collected in 2023 showed that of more than 10,000 federal websites, 45% weren’t mobile- friendly and 60% had possible accessibility issues.
At the time, experts estimated that the redesign effort would take around 10 years. (It’s unclear exactly how many federal websites are operational today, though Arnell has put the figure closer to a whopping 27,000.)
What is clear is that Arnell’s new role has a huge scope that’s likely to touch thousands of digital experiences. He’ll bring 30-plus years of design experience to the job, including dozens of projects for iconic American brands, one epically bad rebrand, and a penchant for ruffling feathers. (Arnell did not respond to a request for comment by the time of this writing.)
Three decades of brand work
In 1993, Arnell founded his own design firm, Arnell Studio, where he worked as chief creative officer until 2011. In 2012, he founded a multidisciplinary firm called Intellectual Capital Investments, where he currently serves as a designer and CEO.
Over the course of his career, Arnell has worked with a vast portfolio, developing dozens of products for Home Depot, putting the dog on the Mug root beer can, creating exhibitions for Jeep, designing glasses for Disney, and making ads for Apple, among many other projects.
One line from a 2009 i-D magazine profile that’s now posted on Arnell’s website still holds true almost 20 years later: “He’s known for working across multiple disciplines (design, branding, marketing, architecture, and photography are among the skills in what he calls his “large, powerful toolbox”); for probing how these disciplines can entwine to create new forms, strategies, and products; and for occasionally rubbing people the wrong way.”
A rebrand fail for the marketing textbooks
Given Arnell’s portfolio of products and marketing campaigns, it’s likely that almost every American has come across his work at one point or another. For better or worse, though, arguably his most iconic project is also his biggest misstep.
Arnell famously led a 2009 rebrand of Tropicana orange juice, taking away the distinctive image of an orange pierced by a straw, then simplifying the logo and flipping it vertically. Customers hated the effort so much that Tropicana pulled the new packaging from shelves altogether.
In the wake of the backlash, Arnell attempted to defend his choices at a PepsiCo conference: “We thought it would be very, very important to take this brand and evolve it into a more modern state,” he said at the time. “Emotionally, it was very, very difficult—and it remains difficult—for people to grasp the importance of that change, because it’s so dramatic.”
Unfortunately, that commentary didn’t stop the Tropicana rebrand from being widely panned and becoming so notorious for missing the mark with consumers that it’s now a cautionary tale in marketing textbooks.
Arnell ultimately acknowledged the rebrand was a miss. “Regarding what would I have done different, I probably would’ve just said, ‘This thing isn’t for me,’” he said on the Design Matters podcast in 2023. “Because at the end, if you really look at what we did with Tropicana, it wasn’t a great design. There was nothing magical or innovative about any of it.”
Yes, that Mike Tyson ad
Prior to his appointment as chief brand architect, Arnell had already worked with the National Design Studio on one of its most high-profile campaigns.
As part of the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, Arnell partnered with the NDS on a 2026 Super Bowl ad featuring heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. In the ad, Tyson is shown in an extreme close-up black-and-white shot, recounting his own experience with obesity and encouraging viewers to “Eat real food” (a MAHA slogan).
The ad immediately stoked controversy among viewers and commenters, some of whom found its language caustic and fatphobic.
“I was so fat and nasty, I would eat anything,” Tyson says in the ad over a dark piano track. “I was like 345 pounds. I ate a quart of ice cream every hour. I had so much self-hate when I was like that, I just wanted to kill myself.” Immediately after that statement, the ad cuts to two quick shots of Tyson biting into a carrot and an apple.
In a LinkedIn post, Arnell described the ad as “just Mike, raw and real, sharing what he’s been through and what’s at stake,” adding, “This isn’t advertising. It’s truth-telling.”
Based on Arnell’s roller coaster of a career, in his new role as America’s chief brand architect he won’t be afraid to make big decisions and take a risk or two—whether the public likes it or not.