JKR rebrands The National Lottery to restore its “sense of joyful purpose”

Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) has redesigned the brand identity, website and mobile app for The National Lottery, to celebrate the organisation's 25th birthday and "restore its sense of joyful purpose," says JKR creative director Ivan Mato. The rebrand maintains the current logo, an iteration created by Wolff Olins in 2015, which shows a hand with crossed fingers with a hidden smiling face. JKR's refresh ditches the blue starred backdrop, however, and animates the logo for the first time in its history.

The original National Lottery logo was designed by Saatchi & Saatchi in 1994, and updated by Landor in 2002, then again by Wolff Olins in 2015.

In JKR's rebrand, the logo sits on a flat blue background, encircled by the strapline "Win Millions, Millions Win". This is part of the wider concept behind the rebrand that aims to "better connect the act of buying a ticket with the life-changing good that The National Lottery makes possible" says JKR. To date, the National Lottery has raised over £40 billion for good causes.

When it first launched, the National Lottery draw on TV attracted 22 million weekly viewers, but its popularity has waned while other lotteries entered the public sphere. This rebrand, initiated by Camelot, aims to reinvigorate the brand to make its purpose "more relevant and visible," the design agency explains, and "puts players firmly at the heart of the brand".

As such, the new identity strips away unnecessary visual noise and puts the logo front and centre. It also injects the vibrancy of the "iconic" draw balls – the multi-coloured, numbered balls that tumble around the lottery draw machine – in animated form for digital displays, and in other still graphics.

The rebrand is digital-first and comprises an overhaul of the app "to energise a new generation of players," says JKR. New colour-coding has been introduced to improve navigation and UX. Elsewhere in the identity, colourful photography focuses on "depictions of joyful celebration".

"The creative idea was fueled by the insight that playing leads to life-changing positive outcomes," says Mato, "even if you lose, someone else wins, keeping the engagement going. It’s a virtuous circle."

JKR is known for its work with household name mega-brands from Budweiser to Heinz and Burger King. It recently worked with Rick Banks' F37 foundry to make Quid Pro Sans, a free type tool that lets you type in Donald Trump’s giant felt tip handwriting.

Last year, we wrote about adam&eveDDB's campaign for The National Lottery, Amazing Starts Here.