At Recipe, we always look outside first.

Got my magnesium subscription delivery today and noticed that the refill pouch came in its own little box. Unlike my collagen, from the same company and in the same delivery, which came in a refill pouch only.

But I'm wondering why it needs the box as well? It offers exactly the same messaging as the pouch, with the addition of just one extra icon and short list of claims. It's certainly a very premium looking and feeling box, but seems very unnecessary as it's gone straight into the recycling. Unless capsules need more protection than powder? 🤷🏻‍♀️

A Gen Z take on toothpaste.

For decades, toothpaste was a pure utility: minty, clinical, forgettable.
But Gen Z doesn’t separate function from feeling, and now even oral care is being pulled into the world of identity, ritual and content.

Whipped Toothpaste from Hello (Colgate-Palmolive) is a category reframing:
Texture-first, designed for the 'everything shower' mindset, launched via TikTok shop, built to be seen, shared and styled, borrowing from beauty’s playbook.

A nice lunchtime read more than anything: I've recently been looking at Richard Guyatt commemorative mugs on eBay (as you do) and though I love his designs I never knew much about him. I found his obituary from 2007 in the Guardian last night, and thought I would share with you all as it tells a lovely tale of graphic design, design research, the RCA, the WHSmith logo, graphic designers being used in WW2 for various creative tasks, travel posters, and more!

One of my lovely colleagues Susie Cornelius showed us their tub of Marmite Caramel sauce from Marks & Spencer that they were planning to use for Pancake Day.

This really divided the room (virtual rooms, but okay).

Marks & Spencer has built a reputation on leaning into those unexpected combinations (a lot of us at Recipe are big fans of M&S products, it's quite often a topic of conversation in our daily stand ups!). Not everything is for everyone, but the things that stand out usually are a bit daring and a little weird at first.

I’d like to see brands rethink these gadgets so they blend easy UX/usability with a more imaginative design sensibility.

This is interesting - rejection of conventional moral dimension of wellness

Two interesting examples seen this weekend: new proportions and structures for premium soup in M&S and low alcohol + magnesium in relaxing beer alternatives from BrewDog

For no particular reason, I find this very annoying!

I'm enjoying the new Only...Ingredients range at M&S. Looks like it's their response to UPF (ultra-processed food) concerns that were a big topic in public health and wellness last year - each product states how many ingredients it contains, and exactly what those ingredients are.

I think M&S seem on the front foot with these ranges, it normally takes supermarkets ages to respond to cultural trends / conversations.

This is an interesting piece by a cultural researcher - it seems like an ad for Sublime but he also covers some interesting topics like how to gather evidence, the role of curiosity in research, why AI can help or hinder the researcher...he even mentions our favourite tool Miro!

Saw this from CES from a French startup called Allergen Alert - it's a mini device for testing foods for allergies in minutes. The design is a bit bulky and also looks slightly 3D printed, but its a promising start.

Interesting on so many levels 🪴

It's just the beginning for Lego, but already it's a fresh take on Smart itself; fully embedded digital-physical.

Parents are going to love it aren't they... No screens!

Favourite image out of CES so far...this is the only way I'll be vacuuming from now on