Wonderfuel Issue Number 17 – The joy of rain
Most people hate the rain right. But why is that?
I think the main reason is the wetness. The unprepared soggyness of being caught in the rain, being cold and wet all day because that’s how we all “catch a cold” right?
But when was the last time you deliberately went out in the rain, prepared to get completely soaked and enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons instead.
Rain is actually pretty remarkable and these words from Kate Wadsworth might make you think again.
...
What is remarkable about rain?
Utterly everyday.
Just weather. Just water falling from the sky.
Let’s look again...
It’s the sky letting go, vapour turned back into liquid, pulled down by gravity in perfect droplets.
Each one forms around a tiny speck of dust or pollen, building weight until it falls.
And the sound? Tiny explosions of air as droplets smack into solid surfaces at speed.
And yet, it doesn’t hurt, because raindrops change shape as they fall, flattening out to slow themselves down. Built-in air brakes.
Nature’s engineering.
It cools the air. Cleans the streets. Wakes up the soil.
It refills lakes. Feeds forests. Brings life back, drop by drop.
So next time you’re watching it trickle down a window or feel it soaking your shoes, pause a minute.
You’re witnessing a world-class recycling system, literally! Gravity, air and water working together in a miraculous loop, billions of years old and beyond brilliant in every way.
More from Kate later...
// Quote of the week //
// The founder diary //
It’s slap bang in the middle of London Fashion Week and, courtesy of a friend, I am front row at the Tinie Tempah fashion brand catwalk feeling more than slightly out of my depth.
I’ve never been an avid follower of fashion, apart from watching the Clothes Show back in the eighties with my parents. But here I am, in a cab heading to the next show. The launch of a new trainer brand, MCCVIII by Will.i.am and his brother Carl Gillam at the ICA on the Mall.
The trainers are centre stage on plinths, surrounded by models. (I found the YouTube link, by the way. You’re welcome.)
I do a quick lap of the shoes, find a glass of something fizzy and take my seat in the darkness waiting for the show to end. I’m sitting on my own, trying to upload to Instagram the one decent photo I managed to take, when I am joined by a smart, well-dressed black man.
He asks what I think of the trainers. Uh oh. Need to be careful here. “Yeah, pretty cool,” I offer. “Not really my thing though.”
To my absolute delight, he replies: “Mine neither.” My heart jumps.
“Never really seen the point of fashion, to be honest,” I follow up and he laughs, heartily.
By now I’ve had a few fizzes over the course of the evening and my new companion seems quite happy to let me and my verbal diarrhoea keep going, chipping in the odd comment here and there.
Then, after what feels like an eternity, like a knight in shining armour, I see my friend, the one who brought me along for this fashion adventure, making his way over. “There you are,” he says. “I see you’ve met Oswald.”
The penny drops.
It takes every ounce of energy I have not to spit champagne over everyone in the vicinity.
“Oswald... as in Boateng?” I ask, as gingerly as I can ask anything.
He smiles. “Yep.”
I gulp. I close my eyes. I pray, briefly, that the ground will swallow me whole.
Quick as a flash, Ozwald says: “Man, I love the fact you didn’t recognise me. That’s the most honest conversation I’ve had with someone in years.”
// The joyful brand – Pip and Nut //
Nobody opens a jar of peanut butter and has just one spoon.
Pip & Nut know this. And rather than pretending otherwise, rather than talking about nutrition or the responsible snacking choice, they just said it out loud.
One. More. Spoon.
That’s it. That’s the whole campaign. Three words that are more honest about the human relationship with peanut butter than anything I’ve ever seen on a label.
Then there’s the squirrel. Using AI production techniques alongside real wildlife photography, they brought their mascot to life on national TV, wide-eyed, fixated, completely devoted to a jar of their peanut butter. It ran on ITV, Channel 4 and Sky and was named one of the most effective FMCG ads of the year.
The logo lives in the squirrel’s eye. The brand is literally how the squirrel sees the world.
The values are there, no palm oil, natural ingredients, but worn quietly, as they should be.
Pip & Nut lead with joy and let the good stuff follow.
One. More. Spoon. Not a tagline. A confession. And the best brands always tell the truth.
// From the archives – Charlie’s Promise //
When 17-year-old Charlie Cosser was stabbed in the heart and killed, his father Martin made a promise. To honour his son’s memory. To fight back. To make sure Charlie’s story changed something.
A few months after Charlie was murdered, Martin came to me. He wanted a logo for the charity he was building – Charlie’s Promise.
I drove home from that meeting knowing this was going to be one of the most important pieces of work I would ever do.
For a few days, I just let that sit with me. The weight of it. And then, as the best ideas so often do, it came, not at my desk, not in front of a screen, but out walking, where I do my best thinking.
A broken heart. Charlie had been stabbed four times in the heart. A knife to the heart, not just Charlie’s, but the hearts of every person he’d left behind. The logo was designing itself. I looked up at the sky, as if Charlie was up there helping me and the colour came next. Sky blue. The colour of Charlie’s favourite hoodie.
One last piece was still missing. The font. And that came from the meaning of the work itself, the missing element needed to be about things that were missing. Missing lives. And so, a stencil font with pieces deliberately removed.
In the two years since, Charlie’s Promise has gone from strength to strength. Martin has been into schools across the country, talking to over 100,000 students about knife crime and telling Charlie’s story.
I’m honoured to continue that journey as one of the charity’s trustees.
// Word of the week – Awedinary //
As you all know, I love making up words. Especially ones that are joy or wonder related.
So imagine my absolute delight when I stumbled upon a word, made by someone else entirely, that had exactly the same kind of impact.
That’s the power of joy. When it’s passed to others, it multiplies in a way that’s pretty remarkable.
Awedinary — the wonder of everyday things, the title of a book by Kate Wadsworth.
Kate is a teacher, author and founder of What If Education?, set up to bring curiosity and creativity back into learning. Her philosophy is simple, learning is far too special a thing to be endured. It should be joyful in the moment and meaningful for life.
The book was written to help teachers and parents bring awe and wonder into the classroom. But it’s designed for everyone, from 2 to 122. Because curiosity and wonder aren’t just for children. They’re the keys to a lifelong love of learning, for all of us.
The words in the Joy of Rain section earlier are taken from Kate’s wonderful book.
Very much looking forward to meeting Kate in the coming weeks to talk about something distinctly edjoycational...
// Who or what is Wonderment? //
Wonderment is the joyful branding agency. We make businesses more effective by making their branding more affective. Wonderment isn’t just a name. It’s something wonderful, done on purpose. Something meant. Got something exciting brewing, drop me and email let’s chat.
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