KFC rebuilds its whole identity around the bucket

KFC’s new look revolves around the bucket.

Not as packaging, but as the organising idea for the whole thing. JKR, the global branding agency behind the work, treated the bucket as the creative unlock and built the entire system around it, a framing device and a storytelling device rather than just the thing your chicken arrives in.

That decision sets the tone for what is a full 360 evolution rather than a logo tweak. JKR and KFC’s in-house teams have reworked the design system, brand assets, restaurant environments, packaging, digital platforms and tone of voice, with the stated aim of building a unified world rather than refreshing a mark.

The detail is where it gets interesting. The logo shifts from a flat mark to a three-dimensional one, with the Colonel given a clearer role inside it, a more welcoming expression and a little more grounding while keeping his character intact.

The stripes, long just a background texture, become an expressive, type-led asset doing.

And Finger Lickin’ Good is recast from tagline to what JKR calls a “standard of behaviour,” a global asset meant to signal quality rather than simply sign off an ad.

Typography is custom built.

Two bespoke typefaces, Kentucky Fried Serif and Kentucky Fried Sans, were drawn with StudioDRAMA and take their cues from the lettermark.

Colour keeps the familiar red, white and black for instant recognition, then adds a secondary palette named Herbs and Spices, a nod to the original recipe that brings vibrancy without unseating the core.

There is more underneath: a stamp system for heritage and craft, photography shot “through a bucket lens,” motion treated as a core part of the system, and an illustration approach built to flex.

That illustration work pulled in artists from Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Xiamen, Lima and Mumbai, with food photography by Frankie Turner, lifestyle imagery by Reece James Morrison, the Finger Lickin’ Good mark crafted by Tobias Hall and music from Antfood.

JKR has doubled down on the most recognisable thing KFC owns and made it carry the entire brand.