Restroom Iconography XIII: Mountain View, CA

A couple weeks ago, Angie and I had an excellent lunch at Cascal, in Mountain View, California. We'd been there before, but I'd never used their restroom. I know, I know - too much information, but stick with me...

On this occasion, I did use the restroom. On my way in, the tile door icons immediately caught my eye. I reached into my pocket for my camera and found it wasn't there.

Damn... I've been posting interesting restroom icons on this blog for the past year and was bummed to miss these.

I immediately started planning my next visit to Cascal - with a camera. I'm sure this says something about me, but I'm not sure what exactly it says. And I'm not sure I want to know...

Anyway, I made it back to Cascal this past week, with my buddy Ed Muzio. We had an excellent meal - ceviche, queso fundido, paella, and a Cuban wrap.

At the end, I excused myself to 'take photos of the bathroom icons'. I thought I'd mentioned this little hobby of mine to Ed, but his expression indicated that I hadn't.

I explained, and then shot these.

I love gesture drawings. Rodin's sketches of Cambodian dancers are some of my favorite images. So, you can imagine how pleased I was to add these to my icon collection.

I'm not sure which I like more - the toreador or the flamenco dancer. So, I offer both.

slide:ology @ KT

The incomparable Nancy Duarte at KT

Today was a very cool day.

Brent and I delivered the slide:ology workshop to a select audience of executives and influencers at KT. The turnout was great and the buzz was amazing.

Slide:ology author Nancy Duarte was in the house.

Duarte Senior Designer Eric "The MacGuyver of PowerPoint " Albertson was in the house.

A bunch of my favorite colleagues and internal clients were in the house.

Pizza... was in the house. What could be better?

Have you ever seen a lightbulb go off over someone's head?

Well, I saw 40 of them go off today. It was awesome.

We shared the principles of slide design. We looked at the results of an internal team that saw an 1800% improvement in slide design (yes... 1800%!!!).

We practiced a new way to create slides. We saw a change.

So, get off your butt. Buy slide:ology. Take the class.

Change your slides. Change the world.

Now (if not sooner).

How to Make a Stakeholder Map

Last week, I helped a team create a Stakeholder Map.

I've had this idea in my head for awhile, and have done a few on my own - but this was the first time I had a team create one for a presentation.

We presented it today, and it was really effective. The one above is an example:

• Lines indicate relationships (solid = strong, dotted = weak, none = none).
• Size equals relative size of the client.
• Color equals the client feeling about the product or service (green = good, yellow = medium, red = bad, black = no feeling).

The idea is that you can sell a so-so product to a customer with a great relationship, or a great product through a so-so relationship; but anything red puts you at risk... so you need to fix it.

In our meeting today, an executive said, "Why is the customer disconnected?"
Because, this is an internal product, we replied.
The image stuck in his head, because he later said, "No. Internal = External. We need to start thinking about the customer."

A connection that could have easily been buried in a table or text spoke to him through the picture. And gave us an important insight.

This is, I think, a good idea with a mediocre execution. I give it a 8/10 for utility (it communicated its point very well) and a 3/10 for aesthetics.
I'd love to see someone build a stakeholder map template with a strong design sense.
If you do, please send it to me!

VizThink 09 Highlights: XPLANE Discovery Cards

I am always looking for new tools to add to my toolbox, so I got all geeked up when I saw these Discovery Cards at the XPLANE booth at VizThink 09...

This card set is designed to facilitate the discussion of issues. There are four subsets in the deck - 'crisis', 'growth', and 'change' form the issues portion. The participant(s) will recognize their current issues in this set and set this side. They then tell the story of their problem. 

When this step is completed, the fourth subset - 'action' - is used to identify possible actions.

I love using visual and kinesthetic tools to facilitate discussion. I call them 'Externalization Engines'. Photos, Legos, Cards, Physical Modeling, Drawings, Posters: all of these allow people to present thoughts and feelings that are difficult to articulate.

My set of cards arrived today and they look great.

I can't wait to find a opportunity to use them.

Make sure to check out XPLANE's Discovery Cards, and I'll update you as soon as I use them.

VizThink 09 Highlights IV: Visualizing Tomorrow

My infographic of a factory going from 100% waste to 30% waste

At VizThink 09, I attended a 20-minutes session facilitated by Elizabeth Pastor of Humantific and accomplished way more than I though possible in 20 minutes.

We did quick warm-up drawing exercises, and then started making meaning.

By the end of the session, I had created the graphic above. It's a today/tomorrow image of a company going from 100% to a strategy with 33% reuse and 33% recycling.

I'm not bragging about the art or anything, but it's amazing what you can learn in 20-minutes.

VizThink 09 Highlights II - Jessica Hagy

Jessica Hagy debunks 15 Professional 'Rules'

If you haven't seen Jessica Hagy's brilliant Indexed site or book, you should go look at it now. Don't even bother with my site until you've spent an hour in hers... really.. hers is a treasure. I grant you permission to go there (if only Jennifer had just said that.. "Go Brad. Hell, it's Angelina. Clearly, I've been bested").

Jessica gave a very funny, informal presentation where she summarized 15 professional rules, and then debunked all of them. In between, she had us use her favorite tools - Venn diagrams and the X-Y axis - to make some sense of our worlds.

This was my favorite exercise.

1. Draw a 2-circle Venn Diagram.
2. Label the first circle with something you're really good at.
3. Label the second circle "Prostitution"
4. Find the relationship between the two (if you're a lawyer, the overlap will obviously be much greater than the one in my diagram).

Here's mine.

Teaching is what I do, but it was hard to find a common area, at first.

Then I found it - Students named John.

Try the exercise.

And if you get a chance to see Jessica present, I recommend you do it.

Restroom Iconography VII: Hanauma Bay

While in Hawaii in January, Angie and I went snorkeling at Oahu's Hanauma Bay. The snorkeling was mediocre - the seas were rough and visibility suffered.

But - I found another cool restroom icon.

This man icon is roughed up around the edges, giving it a primitive feel, and then a tapa cloth was added around his groin.

I found it particularly interesting that they decided to distress the handicapped icon as well.

It really does look like an abstract petroglyph when that is done to it.

Just another example of how you can take a mundane object that we see every day and add a little character or culture to it.

Restroom Iconography VI: Waikiki Beach Walk

Our recent trip to Honolulu proved to be a treasure trove for Restroom Iconography.

This one, which I found at Waikiki Beach Walk, looks like it could have been inspired by the classic surf film, "Endless Summer" (a film which had a profound effect on me, as a kid).

Anyway, this sign has classic lines, and the wood inlay is - I think - an excellent touch.

Another example of design that is effective and attractive!

Restroom Iconography V: Hawaii

Hawaii must be a mecca of improvisational restroom icon design.

I found a number of interesting variations during this recent trip.
This sign is located at Honolulu International Airport.

Once again, we have a simple update of the traditional international icon.
The addition of an aloha shirt and the Hawaiian word for man tells us where we are, while maintaining the integrity of the original design.

How can you localize a standard offering with a splash of color or a pattern?

Restroom Iconography IV: Hawaii

In our continuing series of restroom iconography, we return to Hawaii.
This week, we find another creative interpretation of the familiar international icon.

Two nice features here:

1. The use of petroglyph symbols for the icons. I'm a big petroglyph fan, so I appreciate the nod to ancient culture - even if they probably just used a bush back then.
2. The use of Hawaiian language. The Hawaiian language is a beautiful one, so I'm pleased whenever I see it.

One minor criticism: The woman looks like an Amazon.
She's quite a bit bigger than the male icon. Too much poi?

Restroom Iconography III: Japan

This is a no-peeing zone...

In a country where a man can heed natures' call just about anywhere - in an alley, in a bush, by the side of the road, off the end of a train platform - it's rare to find a place where you can't relieve yourself (just another reason why I love Japan).

Here, however - in a Tokyo parking lot by a pachinko parlor in a neighborhood close to Asakusa Temple - peeing is prohibited.

There is much to admire about this icon: The realistic pelvic thrust, the dotted stream, and of course the strategic placement of the cross line.

I also will give extra points for going with a square versus the usual circular red 'no' symbol.

It's a sign of my maturity that I didn't steal the darn thing (it would look great in my office).

And a sign of my immaturity that I regret that I didn't steal it...

Restroom Iconography I: Mexico

Maybe it's my fascination with the human figure.
Maybe it's my interest in graphic design.

Maybe I'm just odd...

Whatever the reason, I am unreasonably delighted when I encounter a restroom with an atypical male/female icon on its' signboard.

I found this elegant icon outside the ladies room at the Marquis Resort in Los Cabos. I was waiting there for my wife (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

I'm not sure that Frank Lloyd Wright had restroom signs in mind when he said, "God is in the details". At the same time, I'm pretty sure he'd approve.

Note to Interior Designers

I believe that design communicates.
And that good communication should be designed.
I created the phrase DesignComm to cover both these beliefs.

Here's a lesson in DesignComm.
Design doesn't just communicate by how it looks.
Just like words represent only a fraction of communication, visuals only represent a fraction of design.

Case in point - The Hilton Cabo San Lucas Resort.
Our room is beautiful, it really is.

I love the colors. The room looks Mexican.
A pet peeve of mine is hotel rooms that are of 'International' design. I don't know what that means, except "no place on earth really looks like this".
I should be able to wake up and, without leaving the bed, tell you what country I'm in.
The Hilton succeeds at this.

Now the bad news. Cabo is a hot, humid, seaside environment.
And our room is filled with fabric.
Look at the photo above... 6 pillows and a ton of cushions. There are more pillows on the bed and there are fabric curtains.

What does this mean? Must and mildew.
The room smells like my grandmothers closet. We have to open the patio doors, which freshens the room, but brings in more sea breezes to continue the cycle of humidity.

Now, I'm not an interior designer, but even I wouldn't load a seaside villa with fabric.
Why do they do it? Because they don't have to live in it?

How about some blinds? And taking away 9/10 of the pillows?

If design communicates, then this room communicates, "We weren't thinking when we designed this!".

Visual Communication - Shout it Out

Deviant Art is perhaps the most vibrant art community on the web.
I often spend hours wandering through the site, and it's a rare visit where I won't stumble onto an inspiring image.

One of my favorite themes on DeviantArt is the 'Shout It Out' image.
A challenge started by one contributor - Shout It Out's stand at the crossroads of vision statements, mission statements, value statements, credos, slogans, cliches, art, and a random font generator. Hundreds of artists in the community have created a personal 'Shout Out'.

Even the 'worst' (an absolutely arbitrary word) are compelling, in a 'train-wreck' sort of way (you want to pass by, but you can't turn your head away).

If you're struggling with creating a vision or mission statement, or wonder how to articulate your values - one or more of these 'Shout it Out' images might kick start your brain.

Check some out.. I encourage you... (or dare you, if that helps)
You might even want to do your own...

An Fine Example of Information Graphics

Whether you call it information graphics or visual communication, many stories are better told with pictures.
Some stories are even better if told with Venn Diagrams.

Don't believe me?
Well, check out Jessica Hagy's "Indexed" Website or book.

Some of her stuff is very subtle, but others - like the one above - are flat out brilliant.

Looking for a creativity exercise? Or a new way of communicating an idea?
How about challenging your team to express their problem in a Venn diagram.

It just might work.

Does Your Offering Succeed on Five Levels?

In an earlier post - 'Mindmapping Huesworks' - I outlined the terrain that I plan to cover with this blog.

Following that framework, I've been cycling through the five elements, from Monday to Friday.
Occasionally, however, I run across something I want to post, but am not sure where to put it.

Such is the case with this music video by Japanese singer/songwriter Cocco . Cocco is performing "The Hill of Dugongs" at LiveEarth in Japan. Don't be confused by the newsreel opening, there is a music performance here!



I could file it under:

• 'Leadership' as an example of authenticity, passion, and being a role model. Cocco is from Okinawa, so this isn't just a trendy issue for her.
• 'Learning' as an example of teaching through story.
• 'Creativity' because of her expression through music.
• 'DesignComm' for the way she designs her communication and communicates her design.
• 'Global Culture' for the views Cocco provides of Okinawa, Japan, and even the US.
  

Instead of filing this in any catagory, I'll just offer it, with the observation that the best offerings often succeed or provide on many levels.

I watched a lot of LiveEarth last year and, for me, Cocco's performance - along with Dave Grohl's exhortation that "It's times like these we learn to love again" - was the highlight of the festival.

What can we learn from Cocco?
How about this question - do your offerings succeed on five levels?