Pre-measured toilet tissue

I found this toilet tissue dispenser in the Conwy Castle's visitor center. Despite the round shape, the tissue is not on a roll, but dispensed through the opening in the center in pre-measured strips - much like a box of facial tissues.

A brilliant idea- though your toddler and cat might find it a bit frustrating

Goodbye!

As a graphic designer, I appreciate the design and communication qualities of icons. Non verbal symbols have been particularly important in Europe for decades. This one in the train station of Llandudno, Wales, confused me at first. 

Spraying water? A reminder to wash your hands? Finally it dawned on me. The metal disc housed a light sensor. Wave Goodbye! (Wave your hand in front of it to activate the flush.)

Appropriate for a train station, right? 

Focusing on the details

While I intend for this blog to be entertaining , I also have an underlying theme of awareness and celebration. Celebration and appreciation of the everyday details of our lives.

As an artist and graphic designer, I train my eye to appreciate design elements. This image from the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, inside the women's restroom. I keep an eye out for quirky, unusual fixtures but none were to be found, Instead I captured this inside one of the stalls. The angle was the results of trying to get all what intrigued me within a confined space.

You can see an interesting combination of textures: polished stone floors, industrial-type textures on the stall walls, and the cushy texture of a floor mat, much like ones used to ease the back and feet of workers. Interesting in themselves but all the more so, because they are unusual elements for a public restroom.

Custom Hand Towels

On our last adventure we revisited Chicago, one of my favorite cities ever. We were near the end when I realized that I had not spotted anything unusual or interesting in the restrooms, or bathrooms.
That is, until we had checked out and I went to use the public restroom on the main floor of our hotel.

The Silversmith is a beautiful hotel, renovated in the past two years, just a block of Michigan Avenue. The restrooms reflect this upscale vibe with polished stone counters, and classy soap dispensers. What caught my attention was the paper hand towels. None of this coarse brown paper from a wall dispenser. There on the counter next to the sink was a tray of neatly folded, smooth white paper towels printed with the hotel's name. Not exactly an attendant handing you a fine warmed cloth towel, but an unusual touch nonetheless.