Hillary Cianciosi
Disney
Creating pet-first experiences
for a globally recognized brand.
Working with beloved entertainment brands presents
a unique creative challenge.
Customers arrive with deep emotional connections
to these worlds, characters, and stories.
The opportunity was not simply to place pets into existing franchises, but to thoughtfully reinterpret those experiences in a way that felt authentic to both the licensed property and the Chewy customer.
Every creative decision needed to balance brand standards, storytelling, customer expectations, and pet-centric design.
My role
Art Direction
Creative Development
Illustration Direction
Cross-functional Collaboration
Led the visual development of licensed
product experiences in partnership with
internal stakeholders, external licensors,
and multidisciplinary creative teams.
Responsible for ensuring each execution felt authentic to the source material while remaining approachable, functional, and distinctly Chewy.
Pets belong in the story.
The creative approach positioned our furry family members as active participants within each world.
Whether inspired by Disney classics, Marvel superheroes or the Star Wars universe, the goal was to create experiences that felt playful, recognizable, and emotionally engaging while celebrating the unique relationship between pets and their people.
Creative Partnership
Licensed creative requires more than strong visuals.
Every concept, illustration, product detail, and narrative decision must align with established standards for both brands while still creating space for original thinking.
Success depended on finding opportunities for creativity within clearly defined frameworks.
Bringing these experiences to life required collaboration across licensing teams, product development, merchandising, marketing,
and creative stakeholders.
My role was to help align those perspectives while maintaining a cohesive creative vision from concept through execution, from Q1 to Q4.
“All you need is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust.”
The collections successfully translated beloved entertainment properties into pet-focused experiences that felt authentic, recognizable, and emotionally resonant for fans.
By balancing storytelling, brand stewardship, and customer experience, the work created meaningful moments of connection between pets, people, and the worlds they love.