Emily Zugay is more than a TikTok creator who went viral for redesigning iconic brand logos. The 24-year-old Wisconsin native is legit. Before she makes her appearance on Ellen, you might have heard how big brands like TikTok, McDonald's, Tinder, and the NFL all changed their social media profiles to Emily’s new design. But did you know that she is an actual designer?
Entranced by Disney films growing up, Emily knew she always wanted to create. From 2015- 2019 she attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout and graduated with a degree in Animation & Digital Media. Before she began posting videos on TikTok, Emily was busy working on her side business Pet Portrait Outpost. What originally started off as a favor for a friend quickly turned into a small operation where she paints custom portraits of people’s pets.
You might be thinking, “If Emily has a background in design, how did she end up making bad logos on TikTok?” Like all of us, Emily found herself downloading TikTok during quarantine as a joke. When she initially took to the app, she didn’t take the platform (or her content) that seriously. It wasn’t until February 2021 when she decided to give the platform a chance.
Having only posted 20 videos up to this point, Emily was clear to point out to me that her video “tell me you were born before 2000 without telling me” was her first TikTok to really take off.
