Creative round-up April 2024
We all got a drenching in April but it also brought plenty of bright and breezy design and branding news for our creative round-up! Here is a selection of items from the last month that caught the eyes of the Ingenious team - with a particular focus on new looks for some major brands…
Brand redesign for Lucozade
The first major rebrand in Lucozade’s 97-year history includes a new visual identity and package design together with a TV ad, all intended to make it stand out in a competitive landscape. Lucozade Energy and Lucozade Sport have been consolidated in a new unified masterbrand called ‘Bring the Energy’.
Branding design agency Pearlfisher looked back in the Lucozade archives and revitalized the iconic Lucozade arc and wordmark with updated graphics and use of vibrant yellow to create a modern, bright and bold new look. Within this confident masterbrand there is scope and flexibility to communicate the distinct drink ranges.
The uplifting TV ad by Adam&EveDBB shows how Lucozade helps people rise to challenges and move with energy when a basketball team and Northern Soul dance group arrive at a sports hall to find it has been double-booked. Adam&EveDDB’s chief creative officer Rick Brim commented: “‘Bring the Energy’ is a brilliant brand platform that ignites real passion and positivity…”
LEGO’s vibrant rebrand
Founded in 1932, LEGO is one of the world’s most loved brands. Its iconic red brick logo has always been consistent and recognisable but the company is evolving its brand identity to build a more cohesive look across all physical products and digital platforms.
In-house creative and strategic agency, Our LEGO Agency (OLA) partnered with brand consultancy, Interbrand to establish a set of design elements and visual tools. With an emphasis on visual storytelling inspired by comic books, the brand seeks to connect with its youngest fans and bring connectivity across the entire LEGO ecosystem.
At the heart of the new identity is the iconic LEGO System-in-Play. Elements such as the "clutch system", which enabled LEGO elements to be replicated digitally in the form of a font, were built around it, as was the new typeface, which was based on lettering discovered in the LEGO Company archive.
Oliver Maltby, executive creative director and portfolio lead at Interbrand says “The playfulness of the new identity reinforces the vision of the LEGO brand as a global force for learning through play."
A new look for the RSPCA
The RSPCA has just rebranded for the first time in 50 years! The 200-year-old organisation is the world’s largest animal welfare charity and with animals facing greater challenges than ever before due to climate change, increasing urbanisation and industrial farming methods, it urgently needed an updated brand to broaden its appeal.
Created by Jones Knowles and Ritchie (JKR), the new identity has a bold, positive tone with new custom brand mark and updated octagon shape, together with a suite of illustrations showing the wide variety of animals the RSPCA protects. The identity is flexible so branches across the country can customise it by picking animals that best reflect them. The vibrant colour palette includes RSPCA blue, a brighter hue than previously and more suited to digital use. A bespoke font was inspired by protest placards found in the charity’s archive and film and animation is also used portraying happy, healthy animals.
Ad agency AMV BBDO produced an upbeat campaign to run alongside the new branding, featuring a 2-minute film, For Every Kind, with animals singing along to Aretha Franklin’s iconic song Respect, together with OOH displays around the country showcasing the new identity and tone of voice.
JKR conducted extensive research, visiting animal centres, branches, hospitals and the national call centre, meeting volunteers, vets, inspectors, managers and wildlife experts to ensure the new brand would support the entire network effectively.
Headspace overhauls its visual identity
Wellness brand Headspace has expanded from a meditation-based company after its merger with mental health service, Ginger in 2021 to include a wider range of services including 1:1 coaching. This has necessitated the creation of a more professional persona while retaining the playfulness of its original identity. It’s trademark orange smiley face inspired by the orange robes worn by Buddhist monks has been retained. And the illustration and animation it has always employed has evolved and been further developed to express a wider range of human emotions, with greater use of photography to showcase new services.
The rebrand was developed in-house with support from Italic Studio. A custom typeface has been created by Colophon Foundry, a version of their Aperçu typeface adapted for Headspace with the ability to ‘flex from playful to clinical’. The colour palette has also been expanded. Their signature orange now has a supporting palette to ‘better represent the range of human emotions’
The bright, uplifting and bold new look certainly elevates the company in the mental health space,and is intended to represent ‘a hug for the mind’.
April fools
Finally, a quick look at the tradition of corporate-approved comedy for April Fool’s Day which included hoax name changes, a range of rather unappealing delicacies and invisible furniture!
Curly Wurly seemingly changed its name to Straighty Waighty and the iconic wavy chocolate bar became sleek and streamlined! ‘Scotch by Scotch Brand,’ a tartan-packaged supposed Scotch whiskey appeared from the makers of Scotch tape and in an Olipop and Pringles combo, sour cream and onion flavoured soda was announced in an April Fools social media post.
Our favourite is from Ikea Singapore, who introduced a line of hoax products: the INVSBÅL collection of ‘invisible’ items including shoe racks and laundry baskets. The company posted photos to social media showing household clutter supposedly contained by a piece from the INVSBÅL collection, with a price tag of $1.04 -- a play on the April 1 date!