Turning organizational complexity into human stories that connect with the leadership audience.
Client
McDonald's Corporation
Year
2025
Scope
Character Design
Illustration
Motion Design
2D - 3D In After Effects
Education
The Ask
How do you take something as abstract as succession planning and make it feel human? McDonald's needed an animated piece that could break down their leadership development process for internal audiences in a way that was clear, engaging, and actually resonated with people, all while staying true to their global brand standards. The solution had to blend storytelling, character-driven design, and motion to make a corporate topic feel approachable without losing credibility.
Brand guidelines exploration
Challenge
McDonald's Corporation needed to communicate succession planning and leadership development to internal audiences. The challenge was to translate a complex organizational topic into a clear, engaging, and human-centered visual story, one that resonated with leadership while remaining firmly aligned with McDonald's global brand standards.
Role & Leadership: Shaping the creative approach from concept to delivery
I was responsible for the full creative arc: from concept development and narrative framing through character design, visual direction, and motion execution. Led ideation and storytelling strategy, guiding designers, illustrators, and motion partners while collaborating closely with client stakeholders to ensure clarity, relevance, and strict adherence to brand guidelines.
Character Design
Meet Jane, the protagonist who carries the story! The foundation of this project is a character-driven approach. Instead of abstract diagrams or corporate charts, we created Jane, a Managing Director who guides the audience through the succession planning process as a relatable, human narrator. Her design needed to feel warm and approachable while staying unmistakably on brand.
Concept & Strategy
Defined the narrative structure, visual direction, and creative strategy. Led research, mood boarding, and early exploration to establish the project's creative foundation.
Design Direction
Directed character design, illustration systems, and visual language. Guided the team from sketches through final assets, ensuring every element served the story.
Information Hierarchy
The infographic elements use McDonald's gold as the primary color for all text overlays, arrows, and connectors. This creates a consistent visual language where information graphics feel like a natural extension of the character world rather than a separate data layer. Directional arrows and flow connectors guide the eye through concepts like "Who → My Role" and "Opportunities → Candidates."
Composition Anatomy
Each frame balances multiple information layers: the character anchors the right side, the speech bubble carries the explanatory scene on the left, and floating text/icons provide conceptual labels. This three-layer system allows complex ideas — like evaluating candidates beyond typical criteria — to land clearly without overwhelming the viewer.
Brand Governance
Navigated McDonald's comprehensive global brand guidelines. Adapted visual elements, color, typography, and motion to maintain consistency and credibility.
Expression System
Warm, expressive eyes and natural gestures give Jane emotional range. She can question, explain, encourage, and resolve across the narrative arc..
Approachable Proportions
Slightly stylized proportions and smooth rendering keep the tone friendly and accessible for internal leadership audiences, avoiding both cartoon and uncanny valley.
Gesture Language
Purposeful hand gestures: pointing, presenting, and counting serve as visual cues that reinforce spoken narrative beats and guide the viewer's attention.
Ensemble Design
The supporting characters aren't decorative; they represent the talent pipeline that succession planning addresses. Each was designed with distinct features, skin tones, and hairstyles to reflect the diversity of McDonald's global workforce. They appear in thought-bubble frames, visually representing the people Jane is considering for future roles.
Storytelling Frames
Speech bubbles as narrative windows: A key compositional device is the use of gold-framed speech bubbles as narrative windows. These create a visual layer system. Jane occupies the present moment while the bubble reveals what she's thinking about, planning, or explaining. It's a technique borrowed from editorial illustration, adapted for motion
The result
The final piece turns a complex organizational topic into a clear, engaging story that actually connects with leadership audiences. Character-driven storytelling makes succession planning feel personal and actionable, while staying true to McDonald's global brand standards across every frame. The project shows that warmth, personality, and creative ambition can live inside corporate governance. Working within a global brand framework doesn't limit the storytelling, it focuses it.
Contributors & Credits
Creative Director:
Dane Warren Reid
Design:
Dane Warren Reid, Luis Jesus Duarte
Illustrator:
Dane Warren Reid
Animator:
Dane Warren Reid, Luis Jesus Duarte
Producer:
Dane Warren Reid