When I was in the navy, traveling to countries bordering the Baltic or the Mediterranean, I began to make observations of the culture. You could try to classify outgoing cultures, family-oriented, etc, etc. Lots of ways to slice the pie. I stumbled on a different, and more objective means of discerning cultural attributes. As crass it may first seem, I looked at bathroom design, and specifically, toilets.

First, my sample is, of course, limited to men’s bathrooms. However, even in that limited sample, you can start to look at some common variables. Are there privacy shields between urinals? Do the urinals extend to the floor? Do they have deodorizers in them? How clean are they? How tight are the toilet stalls? How low are they? Do they include sanitary guards for the seats? Auto flush? Bidets or no?

You’re rolling your eyes right now. You are asking yourself–”what does this say about the cultures?” I think you can break down the elements, and if you have a large enough sample, make inferences about what the culture values. How designed are the bathrooms? Or are they utilitarian, or at worst, forgotten necessities?

I used to sketch the layout, shapes, and design elements where I traveled. I’ve lost those records to many moves and many boxes that accumulate. But rather than focusing on the insights I could generate from those drawings, I’d like to push myself to find common cultural items — the more mundane the better — and break them apart, and compare and contrast them. As I get deeper into some global client work, the more interested I become, again, in understanding cultures — what unites us and what defines us.

A must watch.

His book (Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative) is in my Amazon cart.

New year, lost your way, need inspiration? Troll the web.

Mike Rhode, who I became aware of via his sketches of SEED, is so inspiring — from thoughts on journals and pens at Journalisimo, to his blog (Rohdesign), to his logo work, to his sketchtoons…

Another similar inspiration: Butter Label.

The more interesting things I read, the more interesting thing I want to write.

“They depend on upon material culture to make their culture material.” from Grant McCracken in Culture and Consumption II.

I wish he posted more. Much as I wish I posted more.

Obligatory post to explain absence. However, it’s not why I wasn’t posting that’s worth talking about — it’s actually why I’m starting to post again (or at least have the desire to). The Black Swan, and Taleb’s love of thinking and writing, has sparked that (recently) latent desire. I want to write… but what about? I no longer spend my days in the world of innovation and web 2.0…. at least not so directly. I have, however, been reading quite a bit more and the blog could give me the discipline to work through analyzing and synthesizing it.