Discover (NHL Card Partnership)
NHL x Discover Credit Card Designs
Year
2015
Discipline
Visual Design, Art Direction, Brand Design
Industry
Financial Services, Sports & Entertainment
Overview
During my time at MCD, a few of us on the design team put together concepts for a credit card program pairing Discover with the NHL, giving fans a card designed around their own team. We pitched several directions, including hockey-themed ice textures, and the client picked a concept built on Discover's existing metallic card background, recolored to match each team's palette, with a ghosted team logo behind a full color logo up top and a Discover x NHL lockup tying it back to the Discover it card family. It's a small, fun project next to the bank and student loan redesigns, but it's one of the few times I've had a credit card in my own wallet that I actually designed.
My Role
I was one of several designers who developed concept directions for the card program and helped refine the final design once the client chose a direction.
Problem
Not really a traditional UX problem: Discover wanted a way to partner with the NHL that would resonate with fans, and needed a design system that could scale across all 30 teams while still feeling unmistakably Discover.
Solution
We started from Discover's existing metallic card background and applied color treatments to match each team's palette, with a ghosted team logo behind a full color logo up top and a Discover x NHL lockup. The landing page needed to let someone find their team among all 30 logos. We pitched a visual picker with card imagery for each team, but it ended up shipping as a simple dropdown, a call made by developers and the client rather than a design decision.
Outcome
The cards launched, showed up in commercials during NHL games, and are still available today, with Discover continuing to add new teams to the lineup years later.
What I'm Proud Of
I have my own designed credit card in my wallet from this project. It's a small thing, but it makes the work feel personal in a way most projects don't.
