Airbnb co-founder taps Peter Arnell as first US chief brand architect

Airbnb billionaire co-founder Joe Gebbia is growing his team at the U.S. National Design Studio , the Trump initiative focused on improving the government’s online presence. On Monday, Gebbia announced that American designer Peter Arnell joined the team to become the first U.S. chief brand architect. Gebbia shared the news of Arnell’s hire, during the The Wall Street Journal’s “Future of Everything” conference on Monday. Arnell will be joining a group of people that includes Silicon Valley design and software engineering talent, who are singularly focused on reshaping the usability of the U.S. government’s online platforms. In his four-decade career as a brander and marketer, Arnell has worked with major brands like Donna Karan New York, Samsung, Unilever, Pepsi, Reebok, Chrysler, The Home Depot, and others. Now, his focus will be to rebrand this digital slice of the United States of America, which he calls “the greatest brand in the world.” “This is a very special and different perspective on the word ‘brand’ in the sense that we’re not rebranding this country, of course,” Arnell explained at the WSJ event. “What we’re trying to do is, very specifically, have a consistency, [a] unified look-and-feel and experience, so that we start to build trust in the way that the American citizen daily interacts with the government.” He said the move presents an “interesting challenge” ahead, as the team is tasked with redesigning 27,000 government websites. …