How&How rebranded image generator Ideogram, Lazarev built video app Elva’s identity, Together designed AI audit firm Clusia’s, and letterer Jessica Hische drew the logo for Meta’s Muse. It’s catching on because branding is about credibility, and AI firms are short of it with designers and the public. The commissions also show people still value a human hand. If your product uses AI, a crafted, human-made identity can earn trust the tech can’t.

Together Design London took the Pod, one of the brand’s heritage shapes, and made it the centre of every pack. It sits against heritage green, with ingredient illustrations by Sally Caulwell inside. It works because one familiar shape travels across a whole range and still looks like you. Look back through your old packs and ads. If one shape keeps turning up, try giving it the lead role.

Former ad creative Chacho Puebla has launched an anti-greenwashing course with Do Epic Good, aimed at designers and agencies. He argues most greenwashing is accidental, with leaf imagery, muted palettes and circular icons hinting at virtues a product can’t back up. A “100% recyclable” pizza box isn’t, once it’s greasy. Check every claim and symbol on your packs, and swap blanket promises for specific, honest figures.

It layers crisp outlines over blurry shapes, so a message humans read as “sleep early” came out as “binge shows” to two big AI models. Founder Eric Lu sees it as a way to protect text from scraping and to start a conversation about trust. It’s catching on as designers push back on AI. It’s a reminder that type can do more than look good - it can protect what you say.

Thirst gave Cornish brewery Harbour Brewing Co. a sunny yellow and sky-blue look, and Harbour reports sales up 45% year on year. Derek&Eric launched olive oil brand DRZZL in neon type on squeeze bottles instead of muted greens and golds. Pet business identi swapped natural greens for indigo and ‘paw pad pink’. It works because a crowded shelf all looks the same. List the colours your competitors use, then try the ones nobody’s claimed.

Korean brand Wonder Bath had used a similar format months earlier. Huda Kattan said the brands were let down by a shared supplier that had promised exclusivity, so this is more a supply-chain slip than copying. Still, chasing the same novelty led to the same shelf. Own your format. Get exclusivity in writing, and make the pack distinctive in how it works, not just how it looks.