Play.
The Virginia Lottery had a logo, a budget, and a strategy. What it didn't have was a brand.
That's what I built.
I led the creative across every phase. I concepted the TV spot, pitched it to the client, and art directed it from idea to screen with directors and producers. I built the brand playbook that made it scalable across every channel. I designed key OOH executions myself. And I'm still the one applying and overseeing the brand across everything the Lottery puts out today.
Client: The Viginia Lottery
Year: 2025 – Present
Agency: Fable
Role: Creative lead, end-to-end. Shaped the brand playbook, art directed the campaign, and concepted the TV spot. Currently oversee all Lottery creative.
The strategy had a single word at the center: PLAY. The work was figuring out what that actually meant. A brand system had to carry the strategy, the voice, the visual identity, the motion, the messaging, and four million dollars of media behind it. All of it built to feel like an open invitation, the kind of warmth that does the persuading for you.
When the Lottery saw the work, their first response was "this is exactly what I've been hoping for." That moment is when a brand stops being something you sell and starts being something the client wants to defend.
The Playbook
I didn’t just build the brand. I rewired its DNA from the inside out.
The strategy came down to one word: Play. The Lottery already had a logo and a rough idea of where it wanted to go, but it didn’t have a real brand yet. My job was to create the guidelines that would bring it to life.
I worked with my Creative Director to finalize the color system, then took on the rest of the brand’s look, including visual identity, typography, motion, and the overall design. For the words, I partnered with the copywriter to define the voice, tone, and messaging. After that, I put together the Playbook step by step and pitched it.
After the meeting, the client’s brand overseer skipped the polite email and went straight to texting our President. It was the kind of genuine, unprompted praise that made it clear nothing more needed to be said. The work was approved with enthusiasm and soon became the standard for all future projects.
A few months later, the Lottery asked for an appendix. Their creative team was having trouble keeping everything consistent with the new brand and needed more guidance. Requests like this only happen when the original work truly sets the standard.
TV
I concepted the TV spot, pitched it, and the Virginia Lottery bought it. I then stayed on as the art director throughout, working closely with directors, producers, and animators to bring it to life.
Animation was the call I pushed for and made everything else possible. It gave the Lottery humor and energy live-action couldn't, and opened the door for the brand to appear consistently in future work. Bookends, transitions, motion logic—all became scalable because I made that decision early.
The Playful Professor was the second key move. The Lottery funds Virginia schools, but that story had quietly fallen out of the brand's voice. A subject-matter expert character brought it back and gave the brand a tone that delivered simple information people wanted to listen to. Engaging, easy to digest, and dynamic without trying too hard.
The brief asked for color-forward, vibrant, and human. We checked every box. I still lead the creative direction for everything that rolls out under PLAY.
Out of Home
I concepted the OOH strategy, art directed the executions, and personally designed the core pieces I wanted to get my hands on. The rollout covered billboards, bus wraps, metro takeovers across three DC stations, airport placements in Richmond and Norfolk, and mall activations throughout the state. To meet the brief’s demand for omnipresence across Virginia, I built a flexible visual system that maintained high impact without feeling repetitive. I paired lowercase, quiet copy with bold negative space, and integrated human hands and gestures so people could easily see themselves in the brand.
Every placement was tailored to its environment. Metro ads focused on playing on the go, while mall layouts intentionally pointed to actual exits and entry points to make the brand interact with the space. I applied this same color logic to the product line itself. The Lottery’s massive catalog was originally overwhelming for customers, so I gave each category a distinct color identity. Giving people a clear place to look instantly simplified what to play, and that systemic change is now a permanent part of their brand.
The OOH delivered 91M+ impressions, 9% over plan.
Digital, Print, & More
The brand had to work everywhere, from phone screens and store windows to internal corporate decks. The rollout included social lenses, rich media, animated digital assets, and retail print. When extending a platform into many formats, the real challenge is protecting its personality. Brands handle scaling well but often get lost in translation because each channel has its own dimensions and constraints. The risk is that the identity feels authentic in one place and like a stranger everywhere else.
I built the system to hold its voice no matter where it landed, bringing the same warmth to a Snapchat lens as to a printed sign above the register, and the same energy to a billboard as to a banner ad. I also designed internal tools such as presentation decks and web headers so the Lottery's team could present consistently on their own.
The Results
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We delivered over 226 million impressions, exceeding the plan by 19%.
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40% of 18-34 year olds recalled the PLAY ad. The exact demo the campaign was built to reach.
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65% of Virginians said the ad would make them more likely to play the lottery.
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129,000+ store visits driven by interactive ad units.
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Display ads hit 2-3x the industry benchmark for click-through.
People who saw the TV spot were significantly more likely to associate the Virginia Lottery with "the best way to play." That was the strategic goal of the entire brand refresh. The work delivered it.
