GU Energy Labs

Designing for the Brand Behind 30 Years of Sports Nutrition

Role

Digital Designer

Industry

Sports Nutrition

Duration

Feb 2025 - Sep 2026

GU Energy Labs has been fueling professional and amateur athletes for over 30 years with products like energy gels, chews, hydration drink tabs, and waffles. As part of the marketing team, I worked across a wide range of projects - from building out brand infrastructure to creating content seen across Instagram, email, ecommerce platforms, sponsored events, and GU's very own performance lab.

Organic and Paid Media

Three of the 40+ motion assets I produced at GU across organic social, email, and sales channels. Shown here: a flavor quiz animation for Instagram, plus launch animations for the Sour Peach and Plain & Simple releases.

Two examples of organic social posts: a teaser of the Sour Peach Energy Gel launch date and an April Fools post of a Hot Honey flavored Energy Gel.

Performance Lab Design

Working closely with and under direction from the R&D team, I designed a large-scale wall graphic for GU's gym and performance lab space - a 40x20-foot feature wall that brings the brand into the physical environment where athletes train and do performance testing. I also designed door signage and a side wall graphic. Each element was built to spec for vinyl application and painting, coordinating with the installation team to ensure the design translated correctly at that scale.

Digital Retail Design

Designed the digital assets powering GU's Walmart branded storefront, covering everything from the hero banner and product tiles to promotional cards and individual product assets. Each asset was built to Walmart's technical specifications while staying on brand, requiring a balance between retail conversion goals and GU's visual identity. The storefront is live and in market at walmart.com/brand/guenergylabs

Creative Direction

Created the photography brief for a shoot at Roam Fest, a mountain bike festival for women, genderqueer femme folks, and non-traditional riders. The brief covered shot direction, shot list, styling, and overall visual tone. Coordinated with the photographer on-site to ensure the brief was executed as intended, resulting in 20 images secured for GU under a 3-year digital usage rights contract. The images are now part of GU's asset library and used across digital channels.