When your brand is so strong you can mess with it

My fave ad this week comes from another British icon playing with the strength of its brand recognition. It takes a well-known logo to be able to remove the words, and I had fun naming the items in each iteration, like a toddler naming the things they recognise. I promise I don’t go ‘horsie’ every time I pass the field at the end of our road. Promise.

More on the campaign from the Drum.

A Tesco billboard at Hackney Downs station. The letters in the logo have been replaced by images of tuna, edamame, salmon, chilli and onion.

Book Club – Team Habits

I recommend Charlie Gilkey‘s work so often I’m starting to think I should be on commission.

This week, I’m thinking about his work on Team Habits.I more or less ignored the book when it launched a few years ago, despite loving Charlie’s work in general, as I haven’t formally managed a team since 2022.

You don’t need expensive consultants, an executive champion, or a budget to improve your team habits. Since you’re already going to be doing the work, why not make the work better?

But then, it was pointed out on a podcast that we’re part of teams all the time—as parents, partners, volunteers, and collaborators—and there was probably still a lot I could get from this one.

So, I’ve been back over the post archive and I’m working my way through the audio book.

Icons, icons and more icons…

I was asked by a client last week if I knew of anywhere to find decent free or low cost icons they wanted for a web project, so I’m sharing those resources here too…

Canva– if you already have Canva Pro, there are a ton of icons in the ‘Elements’ tag. Use the three dots menu on one you like to access everything by that designer or use the See More Like This option.

Fontawesome– use it like a font in web design projects, or get their huge library of minimalist icons as SVGs or PNGs. There are 2,000 or so in the free collection, and a ridiculous 33,000 on their paid plans, which start at just $49/year (and don’t miss their Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-inspired explainer video. Bonkers but effective.)

Flaticon– if the 33k in Fontawesome didn’t offer you enough flexibility, try the 17 million icons and stickers from Flaticon. PNGs are free, but you need a subscription for other formats. They start at £6.50 per month.