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Golden tickets

Art&Graft, the motion-led design studio, has created a compassionate new campaign to show The National Lottery and ITV's support for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It includes several animated promos, designed to emphasise the ‘togetherness’ brought to the nation during any Olympic Games and shows support for the athletes, with the idea that the whole nation is behind Team GB. The National Lottery, ITN productions and ITV worked alongside Art&Graft to achieve this.

The first short film ‘The Road to Rio’, launched 21 July on ITV, tells the story of how the Camelot group, a games business most commonly known for The National Lottery, has funded Team GB. It features single lottery tickets which come together from all over the UK to form a large flock of flying tickets, emphasising this national ‘togetherness’. Every National Lottery ticket and Scratchcard sold across the nation contributes to over £80m that goes towards funding Team GB.

Creative director at Art&Graft, Mike Moloney, says the colourful flying tickets to invoke a magical sensation, as they transform amateurs into Olympic athletes. The Team GB athletes stand side-by-side with the UK public, revealing an ‘I am Team GB’ banner, giving a resonant image of solidarity.

The promo celebrates the fact that simply buying a National Lottery ticket can make such a large impact, and gives the nation the feeling that even if they aren’t actually part of the Olympic Team GB, they can make a huge difference to the athlete’s lives, by helping to provide coaches, facilities and equipment.

Differing with the wide open spaces featured in ‘The Road to Rio’, the ‘I Am Team GB’ commercial, launched on 25 July, takes on a more personal approach, taking place at home and a local park. This light-hearted promo brings attention to everyday people to highlight the humanity the Olympic Games. Yet, still, brings a significant celebratory aspect, similar to ‘The Road to Rio’.

Art&Graft uses a warm illustrative style, incorporating “stunning lighting and a warm colour palette,” as mentioned Moloney, and, are devised using a rotating camera in order to enhance the focus on the animated characters and further emphasise this humanity.

Moloney, says, “We wanted to create the epic, cinematic scenes synonymous with an Olympics launch, yet also introduce a warmth and charm that is sometimes missing when representing our heroic athletic superstars.”

Camelot and ITV will co-host a homecoming celebratory sports event, following the Olympic Games in Rio. The ‘I Am Team GB’ promos are targeting the public to get them involved in the festivities on the 27August, to be part of what ITV says to be the ‘biggest ever UK-wide sports day’.