Wonderfuel Issue Number 5 – The joy of a smile

A smile might be tiny jesture but it comes with big magic.

A smile is an instant invitation to connect.

No fuss. No filters. No onboarding process.

Wherever we come from, whatever language we speak, a smile slices straight through the noise, the bias, the boundaries, all the invisible stuff we pretend isn’t there.

Apart from a kiss, it’s the shortest distance between two humans.

(And far more socially acceptable on the morning commute.)

A smile is a magic key.

Tiny, effortless and universal
It quietly unlocks connection.

It’s how we wordlessly say, “I see you.”

And the beautiful thing?

Anyone can do it. Anywhere. At any time.

It’s the simplest, most powerful human technology ever invented:

A universal language instantly understood in every country, culture, and queue at Pret.

A smile costs nothing.

But it can spark everything.

// Quote of the week //

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// The founder diary //

Why did I always know I was going to become a designer?

Because my Uncle Bill was a designer and he was my hero.

I basically wanted to be him.

He and my aunt met while working at an ad agency called Yellowhammer, and as I grew up, I became obsessed with drawing, sketching my name in different type styles, and (of course) colouring-in books like they were sacred scrolls.

My first “career break” came at age 11, when I was crowned Haslemere Heights Calligraphy Champion, narrowly defeating my arch-nemesis, Anthony Genge. Genge thought he had it in the bag, but I clinched it thanks to a rather deliciously intricate illuminated first letter and, frankly, superior consistency. A small victory… but a defining one.

Through secondary school my creative obsession never wavered despite Uncle Bill insisting I’d make more money playing golf.

(He wasn’t wrong. But still.)

And as he went on to set up his own agency, working with the likes of FIAT, Canon and the V&A Museum, I never lost sight of my mission: be Bill.

Fast forward to 2018, when I moved on from Atticus, the agency I co-owned. I came dangerously close to naming my new venture Uncle Bill.

But here’s the thing: this was never really about Bill.

It was always about me, who I am, the path I’d walked, and what had shaped me.

And so Wonderment was born.

Something joyful. Something wonderful.

Something meant. Something deliberate.

Something with on purpose, with purpose.

A purpose to spread as much joy and wonder as humanly possible through the work I create and the people I create it with.

// The joyful brand – Coca Cola //

Every year, right on cue, a big red truck rumbles into our collective consciousness and whispers, “Holidays are coming… holidays are coming…” And just like that, we’re six years old again, wide-eyed and fizzing with anticipation.

Coca-Cola doesn’t just market Christmas, it summons it.

They’ve bottled joy for over a century. This is the brand that turned a soft drink into a global festive trigger. That painted Santa Claus in the red suit we now take as gospel. That taught the world to Open Happiness long before “good vibes only” became a thing.

It’s playful. It’s purposeful. And it’s beautifully, unapologetically iconic.

Coke understands the Wondermental truth: joyful brands aren’t built through product, but through ritual. Through those tiny emotional sparkles you can’t fake, the jingle you hum without meaning to, the glass clink that takes you back to childhood, the feeling that something magical is just around the corner.

In a world full of forgettable brands, Coca-Cola remains a masterclass in meaning.

A red beacon of cheer.

A fizzy reminder that joy, when done on purpose, lasts generations.

So yes, holidays are coming.

Because Coca-Cola says so.

And honestly?

That’s enough for me.

// From the archives – D.I.R.T //

At first glance, the image above looks like a playful mash-up of shapes, colours and textures. But look closer, this is Dirt, a brand built on the deliciously honest truth of how humans actually feel.

D.I.R.T (Discover and illuminate real truth) is an emotion-analytics platform that measures real physiological responses, temperature, pulse, micro-reactions , all through tiny sensors that plug into your phone as you’re fed stimulus.

Yes, it’s basically a lie detector test… but for creativity, content and connection.

And that’s where the magic happens.

Their identity system breaks the logo into modular pieces that can reshape endlessly, a visual echo of how Dirt deconstructs emotional data and rebuilds it into surprising insight. It’s playful, alive and constantly shifting, just like human feeling.

Dirt dives into that messy, colourful space where biology meets emotion and where every response tells a deeper story. No guessing. No post-rationalising. Just truth, raw, measurable and wonderfully human.

In a world stuffed with empty metrics, Dirt brings back the one thing that matters most:

How something makes you feel.

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