04 : 03 : 22 : Weekly Debrief

Barcelona – The plant-based kebab shop is taking inspiration from the art of protests in its branding, in a bid to reframe associations with veganism. Using ‘expressive and spontaneous protest graphics’ to inform its black and white typography, the branding shuns the conventional planet-positive design cues commonly found in plant-based communications.

Created with local advertising agency Usted and design studio Pràctica, Good Shit integrates important messaging around nutrition, environmental concerns and animal welfare, while avoiding a ‘lecturing’ approach. Its name, Good Shit, balances the idea that the kebabs are consciously made, while not shying away from being a fast-food brand. ‘Good Shit needed to express much more than just the idea of selling kebabs – the issue behind it is very serious: the survival of the entire planet,’ explains Anna Berbiela, co-founder of Pràctica. ‘So, the activism is there, but the idea was to present it in a light-hearted way.’

Such branding demonstrates how the notion of Vibrant Veganism is evolving to align with the youth-led, future-positive design language of Graphic Activism.

Toronto – Going against widespread shifts in clean beauty, The Ordinary is opting to champion a controversial ingredient in its new haircare line: sulphates.

Banned by retailers such as Sephora and Credo, sulphates have fallen out of favour with consumers seeking non-chemical beauty alternatives. Used for decades as a cleansing and foaming agent in personal care products, sulphates have acquired a negative reputation as the clean beauty movement grew.

Now, chemists, product formulators and doctors are now debating whether the reputation is justified. Sulphates, they claim, are one of the most effective and cheap substances for washing hair and generating an ideal lather when used in the right concentration. They are not an allergy, a hormone disruptor, or a cancer-causing substance.

In keeping with The Ordinary’s Skintellectual approach, the new haircare products are named after the key ingredient in each formula. The shampoo, for example, is called the Sulphate 4% Cleanser, which has led to polarising debate online. The Ordinary’s decision to resurrect shunned sulphates has generated a lot of publicity. Perhaps missing from the brand’s communication, however, is the fact that sulphates typically cater to Western, white hair.