If you’ve seen a music video recently, there is a good chance Gallatin alum Wesley Goodrich helped build the world you were watching. Over the past year, the Los Angeles-based production designer has quietly become a creative force behind some of the most widely viewed music videos and commercials.
Shortly after graduating NYU in 2019 and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Goodrich reached out to friends working on music projects and asked if she could help out on their art teams. While she only expected to be an art production assistant, her collaborators credited her as a production designer — a title that grew to define her career.
Goodrich spoke with WSN about her shift from public art to production design, and how her Gallatin education continues to shape the creative decisions she makes every day.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: What does your day-to-day look like as a production designer?
Goodrich: I get to be very involved in the art and architecture and looks of the products. At the moment, I do a lot of commercials, music videos, album artwork and editorials. I really like to take existing creativity that’s developed by directors, photographers, clients and interpret those worlds through my own lens, and try to create something that I think they’ll love, but that also excites me. It is a new challenge every single time. It’s always very collaborative, and the look of the projects becomes a mix of our interests — but we’re ultimately servicing a client, so it’s really important to be hyperfocused on what their look and feel and tone and messaging is, to ultimately service that.
In 2023, Goodrich founded Paper Box, a full-service design and fabrication studio that she described as a “natural extension” of her freelance production design work. While at Paper Box — where she worked with artists including Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, Doja Cat and Eminem — Goodrich was recognized on Forbes’ 2026 “30 under 30” list in the Hollywood & Entertainment category.
One of Goodrich’s favorite projects was Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” music video, which won her an MTV Music Video Award in 2025 for Best Art Direction. She also fondly recalls her involvement in GAP’s “Better in Denim.” campaign, where she worked on creating what the crew called “the breathing room.” The commercial, featuring the girl group KATSEYE, has amassed over 400 million views across platforms.
WSN: As someone who was interested in arts and crafts since childhood, what made you want to attend NYU and the Gallatin School of Individualized Study instead of a traditional art school?
Goodrich: I ended up at NYU after a 10th grade college tour. Once we went to NYU and I learned about Gallatin, there was no doubt in my mind that that’s where I wanted to go — I didn’t even apply anywhere else. I applied early to NYU, and was lucky enough to get in. It was kind of a one-and-done, and it was the only place I wanted to be. In Gallatin, I made my own major studying public art, which for me meant art history, architecture, urban planning, sociology and even studio art classes. While at NYU, I actually took a lot of courses that resulted in a cultural criticism focus. I think that played a huge part in the cultural literacy of the work that I do.
Goodrich took on internships during every semester at NYU. She first interned at an organization called Creative Time, which is known for contributing hundreds of public artworks across New York City. Similarly, her other internships at the Public Art Fund and the parks department for Freshkills Park also commissioned free exhibitions for the public.
Her last internship before graduating was with the Percent for Art Program, which uses 1% of its budget within the Department of Cultural Affairs for city-funded construction projects on public artwork. Goodrich had come across the internship after taking a graduate-level Steinhardt course with the director of the program — a professor she had hoped to work with. During her year with the organization, Goodrich was involved in recontextualizing existing public art, whether that was monuments of Christopher Columbus or a lack of statues of women throughout the city.
WSN: How did your career goals change throughout your time at NYU?
Goodrich: I went into NYU with a very specific goal of working in fashion. After the first year of being there, I realized that fashion wasn’t actually an industry I was interested in participating in. It made me uncomfortable because we were thinking a lot about how to psychologically influence people to buy products that they didn’t need, rather than really focusing on the love of design. I just wanted to focus on something that didn’t need to be bought into and was readily available for the public — something that could bring people together, rather than pulling them apart. So I shifted into thinking about public art in a space that could speak to a lot more people and be a lot more democratic and communal.
Aside from music videos and commercials, Goodrich has also worked as a production designer for multiple magazine covers including Rolling Stone and WIRED. Her most recognizable work in the field is her Time Magazine cover featuring actor Cate Blanchett who was chosen as one of the “Women of the Year” in 2023.
WSN: How would you compare your current work with your experience in public art?
Goodrich: A lot of the projects I do come to me very, very quickly. You wake up one day and all of a sudden you’re working on Lady Gaga’s next music video. You’re constantly juggling between your resources, time and money, and a lot of the time, you’d be lucky to have either one of them. But it is almost like I’m still involved in public art practices, but the space is different. Now, the public space isn’t physical, like a park — it’s the internet. We’re creating fantastical things out of thin air.