Rebranding
The Irish National Lottery
A Digital Transformation
I contributed to the Irish National Lottery’s rebrand, leading digital content strategy and design execution across web and mobile. The goal was to modernize the brand and boost engagement with a younger, digital-first audience. I helped align the refreshed identity with user-centered design, delivering a cohesive and accessible digital experience that strengthened long-term engagement.
Client
IRISH NATIONAL LOTTERY
Year
2016-2017
The Challenge
Overly large heading with poor follow-up structure.
Lacks clear modular sections and scannable layout.
No typographic hierarchy (same size/weight fonts).
Outdated fonts that look untrustworthy.
Modern expectation: professional font pairing and tight spacing.
Boxy and cramped design.
No responsive grid or mobile-first thinking.
Mascot feels childish and clip-art-like.
Modern branding would be polished, minimalistic, and trustworthy.
Original old Irish National Lottery website before 2016
My Role
Senior Content Designer
As The Senior Digital Content Designer, I partnered with brand, product, and development teams to translate the refreshed identity into cohesive, engaging digital experiences. My contributions focused on:
Defining a consistent visual language across digital touchpoints in line with the new brand.
Building scalable content systems for web, app, and social platforms.
Shaping UI components that reflected the updated tone, voice, and accessibility standards.
Leading content prototyping to validate design direction through user engagement and perception testing.
Design Approach
Audit & Insights
Assessed the 2016 Winning Page to identify usability problems, visual inconsistencies, and outdated content structures.
Reviewed performance analytics and accessibility reports to ensure insights were data-driven.
Benchmarked against modern lottery and gaming platforms for best practices.
Content Systemisation
Developed a flexible template system and UI kits for consistent layouts across pages.
Introduced clear typography rules and neutral color systems to reduce clutter and increase accessibility.
Cross-Team Alignment
Partnered closely with marketing, engineering, accessibility teams, and external creative agency to drive a unified vision.
Ensured that visual updates maintained brand equity while modernizing tone, interaction, and emotional feel.
Maintained regular feedback loops across teams to ensure the design stayed aligned with both business goals and user needs.
Winning Page before 2016
Winning Page after 2016
Logo Interactive Transformation
Email Transformation:
From Static Updates to Dynamic
Old Email Example
Heavy text, multiple jackpots stacked in a vertical list.
Static results with little emotional pull.
Minimal visual branding.
Manual updates, slow workflows.
New Email Example
Visual storytelling, jackpot highlights in focused sections.
Personalized greeting, dynamic sections (play now, good cause stories).
Refreshed mascot, brand consistency, professional imagery.
Automated journeys with dynamic content using HubSpot.
Outcome & Achievements
Boosted Engagement:
Social and in-app content interaction rose significantly after launch (e.g., +25% app session time, +75% email engagement). Emailler opening rate increased from 15% to 25%.
Design Adoption:
My digital content system became a reference for future campaigns and seasonal promotions.
Seamless Launch:
The rebrand was rolled out on time across digital channels with no disruption to user experience.
Team Impact:
Recognised internally for bridging creative and technical teams to ensure digital alignment.
Recommendation
Zhuo is one of the most talented multi media designers I’ve worked with. He goes above and beyond any brief to make sure work surpasses expectations. He’s incredibly diligent and passionate about the creative process. He’s interested in results, looking at analytics to make future improvements. To top all this off he’s an absolute pleasure to work with.
— Eric Sexton —
(Head of Digital Products at National Lottery)