Hot & Humid. Yum.

+ Animals on the underground is a neat site by Paul Middlewick showing the animals hidden in the tube lines of London's Underground system. It started off with an elephant 15 years ago and now there's a menagerie. Found at Creative Generalist.

+ Visual Thesaurus is a funky tool to visually show the connections in related words. Found at texturl.net.

+ The organisers of Penrith’s Saturday and Sunday open market have used "banners welcoming lap dancers, nudists and customers with smelly armpits to the Penrith market in the UK. The 13 banners, which were introduced after customers asked whether smokers and dogs were allowed, have been in use on market days and face the A66 next to junction 40 of the M6. Other members of society who are “welcome” at the market include asylum seekers, cross dressers, royalty, twitchers, Carlisle shopkeepers and Appleby residents." Sadly these banners "will have to come down from tomorrow after the local council decided they posed a risk to motorists".

+ Advertising critics from Canada.

+ Clampdown on A-board advertising on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. So much of the business in that area is reliant on tourists and it's true that few would venture into a close without knowing what shop or shops are there.

+ If you're in London (or going to be there between now and October 10th), head to the Design Museum and check out the Saul Bass exhibit. "Often called the master of the film title sequence, American designer Saul Bass created an incredible array of titles over a career that spanned 50 years. Bass's best-known work was with directors such as Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese, but he created instantly recognisable images for many others."

+ The BBC reports that Marks & Spencer has been voted top retail brand in research carried out by the Superbrands Council. The nation's other favourite brands were Gillette, British Telecom, Duracell, Heinz and Jaguar cars. From the Superbrands site: "The definition of Superbrands that the judges bear in mind when scoring is as follows: “A Superbrand has established the finest reputation in its field. It offers customers significant emotional and/or tangible advantages over its competitors, which (consciously or sub-consciously) customers want and recognise."