From the Field - Locations

Walk This Way

Behind this door — surrounded by colorful posters — is a Portland club, accessible through a garage.
A Natural Swim

This outdoor swimming pool is naturally sustainable and filled with spring water sans chlorine. Currently a work in progress, the pool is expected to open in May 2009. By then, the water should flow from natural, nearby springs into the pool and then, after filtering, into a river.
The Tower of Marketing

Whether showing off cell phones, fruit, or lotion, the same rule applies in Tamale, Ghana: Show everything, use all space, and go vertical.
Open Sourced Legos

A crowd gathers for a community Lego project with rarely seen, all-white building blocks.
Airport Art

There are no semaphore flags, but this oversized rock sculpture stands outside the Toronto Airport.
MoonSand Castle

Far from the beach, at the Dallas Toy Fair fall preview, a MoonSand sculpture sits on display. The sand can be molded and shaped like Play-Doh, and it’s great between the toes.
A cornea in Hyderabad

A donated cornea is held up for all to see.
Dust baths of India

At an elephant sanctuary in the southern state of Kerala, the animals are trained for temple ceremonies. This was the oldest elephant at the sanctuary, and the trainer was shoveling dirt onto his back to help the creature give himself a dust bath to repel insects and protect his hide from the sun.
Oktoberfest in Munich

Every year, Munich celebrates the Oktoberfest. Breweries set up tents to cater to more than 10,000 people. Residents and tourists alike can be seen wearing traditional Bavarian outfits, called ”Tracht.” Wearing the Tracht is part of the full Oktoberfest experience, even for modern-day locals.
Dublin’s Temple Bar

A cosmopolitan crowd listens to a street musician in Dublin’s famous temple bar district. Travelers are taking advantage of discount airlines, which allow visits to cities throughout Europe for the price of a bus ticket. The musician played a collection of Irish rock songs, particularly U2.
Twins of Tokyo

One of the most popular fashion styles in Tokyo is Lolita, sweet and sexy, Victorian-inspired clothing that originated with anime and manga heroines. These women in the Shibuya district – friends probably on their way to work – are dressed in a toned-down version of the Lolita. Still, you can see a charming childlike style – Barbie meets Little Bo Peep.
Fun in Fake France

A youngster visiting Florida’s Walt Disney World at Epcot rests on a bench in pseudo France, where all the workers are either from France or children of French immigrants.
Pick a door in Dubai

Inside the Burj al Arab ("Tower of Arabs"), a 1,053-foot luxury hotel in Dubai, there are 202 suites. Austere albeit colorful doors belie roomfuls of gold, ornaments, and mirrors (including above the beds).
Street festival

Cultures collide at a street festival in Notting Hill.
Wall of speakers

The Notting Hill Carnival also means extremely loud walls of speakers playing Caribbean flavored music.
Notting Hill Carnival

Initiated by London’s immigration population from the Caribbean, the August bank holiday means it’s time for the Notting Hill Carnival.
Roof boating

From an installation on the roof of the Hayward Gallery for the Psycho Buildings: Artists Take On Architecture exhibit. Every building should have a boating pond on top.
Do you see what I see?

This bathroom stall in Boston had a one-way mirrored door that acted as a reflective surface on the outside, and as a window from the inside. The play of public and private makes for a self-conscious bathroom experience—especially when there’s a line—despite knowing your activities are concealed.
A toast to life

Water is good business in Ghana funeral homes, which offer the option of customized water bottle labels showing pictures of the deceased. What can be learned from and for businesses who operate in inherently sensitive areas of life? How does local culture play a role?
Demo to sell

A rat trap seller by the side of the road in Accra shows off the efficacy of his product, reminding us of our client’s comment about his own products: “Any product you can demo is a product you can sell.”
Too much plastic

Ireland has a progressive law on the use of plastic bags (and it’s worked, instead of being taxed everyone carries reusable bags), but product packaging is completely old school - all plastic!
Another Pyramid Scheme?

Fruit sellers make beautiful pyramids to display their wares. It costs nothing, but adds bushels of appeal.
A Request

“Dear Graffiti Artist, could you create a graffiti of Clint Eastwood? Thanks!”

“Thanks for taking an interest. Here’s your Clint Eastwood. – Ted x”
Colourful Brazil

Brazilians are fearless in their use of color to brighten streetscapes, and sensitively avoid repeating their neighbors’ color choices. As a result, no two adjacent buildings are painted the same hue.
Matchmaker, Matchmaker

In Shanghai, parents gather in Ren Min Park on weekends to play matchmaker for their adult children. Parents start by casually chatting with one another, and in the case of shared interests, will exchange contact information and schedule meeting times for their kids.
Urban Gardener

Beware! The gnomes have escaped the garden and landed in the Lower East Side!
Walk- or Bike-Ways

In summer, Helsinki is a city for walkers and bikers. The special road signs on the pedestrian ways help people judge small local distances and find their way.
Pixação

Pixação is a type of graffiti that exists only in Sao Paulo and can be seen all over the city. Its distinct, angular look stems from its method of application: When hanging out of a window to paint letters, it’s easier to paint straight lines than curved. Buildings also create a natural typographic grid to work on.
Fish and Chips

Our London and Munich offices send “culture snapshots” to each other every week to share recent experiences and observations. Here, a swapped image shows a Londoner waiting for her fish and chips to be fried.
Creative Entrepreneurs

Portland, OR has the reputation for being a creative and entrepreneurial city. In the Mississippi District, this was best exemplified by a small camper-turned-cafe, set on an empty lot between older housing, bars, cafes, and restaurants.
Motorcycles Everywhere

The rush of motorbikes is a common street scene in this notably entrepreneurial country. There are more than 20,000 additional motorcycles hitting the road every day in Vietnam.
One Precious Child

In China, an only child is the center of the family and is a key factor in purchasing decisions. Parents and grandparents usually live prudently, spending most of their money on members of the youngest generation.
Entrepreneurial Graffiti

We saw these stenciled, painted signs everywhere on walls of buildings and alleys and wondered what kinds of services they might be promoting. This is the only type of graffiti you see—and all in the same font. The guide revealed they are just advertising for odd jobs.
Everything Happens in the Street

Streets in Vietnam are vibrant and full of life: cooking, sleeping, cleaning…. This woman is doing the dishes for her street restaurant right there on the sidewalk.
Follow the Party!

Californians wear their attitudes on their bumpers. This Obama sticker only partially covers the Hillary sticker. Perhaps they’re hoping for a joint ticket?
HOV Lane Exclusivity

The freeways and car culture of LA are legendary, but have resulted in some neat local solutions as well: The high occupancy priority lane is largely protected by a double yellow line, keeping it clog free for long stretches.
Baby on Back

Many marketers regard China as a single big market. But in fact, with 1.3 billion people, China comprises multiple segments, each with significant meaning for new product development. In this scene, we see a grandmother carrying her grandson through a modern car park, indicating generational behaviors, among others.
How Do You Say “Cheese” in Chinese?

Our Western colleagues in the Shanghai office are often asked to take pictures on the street with Chinese tourists, revealing a curiosity about Western culture.
Another Coffee?

The only public seating at the Frankfurt airport is in restaurants and cafés. This view from the second floor shows people reading magazines, playing on their phones, and, naturally, eating and drinking.
Naughty Parent

There are few places to sit and relax in the Frankfurt airport. To pass time, a father played with his son in a staff cart while taking pictures using his mobile phone.
Tech for Two

Streetcar riders in San Francisco share a moment together. Electronic devices are often designed for solitary use, but people find their own workarounds.
A Community Meeting

To facilitate conversation and bridge the language barrier, the IDEO team used photo cards, which helped engage participants in articulating their hopes, fears, and desires.
Fetching Water

Every morning in this Ethiopian village, we noticed a parade of people going to a nearby polluted river and bringing back water. On the second day, we were told by the daughter of our host, “There is a spring that comes out near the river. People are carrying water from the spring, not from that polluted river! No one would ever drink that!”
Wall Decals are Deep

No fancy back projection or lighting effects required, these wall decals have built-in backgrounds that lend depth and texture.
Mall of America

Minnesota’s long, cold winters make it almost a reasonable idea to combine a shopping mall and an amusement park under the same roof. It certainly may help when trying to convince kids to go shopping.
Traditional and Modern

Members of the Masai tribe who live in the Tanzanian countryside sometimes come into the urban centers for supplies. They maintain a strong hold on their tribal identity, medicine, and roles, while also being part of the larger social fabric.
Free Bus

Austin is one of Texas’s more environmentally conscious cities. These free “Dillo” buses were a fun and attractive celebration of public transportation.
Tea Pentagon

At a little tea shop in Aoyama, each tea we tasted had a small pentagon on its packaging that graphically showed the tea’s different elements—taste, fragrance, rarity of ingredients, etc. Visitors could visually understand what kind of tea they were going to partake of without knowing Japanese.
What’s Your Number?

In India, people have a different sense of privacy, from personal space to the boundaries between personal and professional lives. Here, a cell phone number is displayed on a billboard.
Profane Plastic

Cows are sacred animals for Hindus, and have always been an important part of life in India. Traditionally, people placed their garbage in the streets, where the cows ate it. With the invention of the plastic bag, this system has broken down—it’s reported that 20,000 cows die each month in India from ingesting plastic bags.
Thoughtful Details

In purchasing a gift from the Shiseido Parlor in Ginza, the shopkeeper put a little “raincoat” on our shopping bag in order to protect it from the wet weather. This wasn’t an afterthought. This was intentional and such a delight.
Batch Healthcare

Our team witnessed unique processes that have been adopted in resource-limited Tanzania. The busiest section of this open-air clinic is the waiting patio for immunizations, where mothers and their infants, in batches of six, enter a room with a single nurse.
Beautiful Display, Beautiful Process.

In Japan in March, men give gifts to women for “White Day.” This display in a Shibuya department store is set up for women to place a plastic heart on the product they find most appealing—leading men to the most popular items.
Green Fields, Ugly Lot

Houston offers a sea of strip malls and small residential blocks, not to mention too many cars. This lot under construction paints a dreamy image of green fields and blue skies, completely contrary to the surroundings, and, presumably, what would eventually be built there.
Design in Mumbai

It was inspiring to see culturally relevant technology being prototyped and designed by students at some of India’s top design schools. Shown here is a prototype of a bicycle adapted for carrying water.
Ready for Takeoff

Wintertime snowstorms in Alaska can shut down air traffic for days. We were lucky to get on this flight—saving us from a long and uneventful six-hour drive.
Layers of History

Tokyo is an interesting city to get to know because of its many layers. The traditional and contemporary sit side by side on both a literal and figurative level.
Messy Recycling

Challenges around recycling and the work environment provide an opportunity for design to make a difference.
Camouflaged Signs

This speed limit would help if you could actually see it. Perhaps this relates to the general attitudes towards rule-following in traffic.
Summer Kilts

Even the most stalwart of traditions evolve. Who would have guessed that something as sacred as the kilt would have a summer version, and that it would be a young man’s outfit of choice for a long train ride, presumably to Edinburgh?
BBQ

Famous for its barbecue, and right in the center of a historic African-American neighborhood in Kansas City, Arthur Bryant’s now has a line out the door and a multi-ethnic clientèle.
How Many Cops Does it Take to…

This is near a main intersection in Kathmandu that had recently introduced street lights. Since many Nepalese citizens refused to adhere to the rules of the street light, this intersection was manned by three or four policemen at all times! Sadly, the lights actually elevated the danger of this intersection…
Urban Hiking

On pleasant Saturdays in Seoul, locals get their mountaineering gear, take the subway to the outskirts of the city and hike up the hills. It’s very interesting how people in big cities adapt, modify, and reuse public spaces for recreation.
Public and Private

Past and present, public and private co-exist in Shanghai. Retired locals hit the streets early in the morning to keep fit by playing badminton, doing tai chi, or just stretching. It’s amazing how people use public spaces in very different ways.
Road Surprise

A navigational surprise was encountered when following a simple map: there was no bridge! Instead, a ferry would take cars across the river. Locals knew
this, but not us!
Helpful Orientation Underground

This sign was a refreshingly helpful orientation device, imparting confidence to travelers once they’ve come through the airport and down to the railway connection underground.
Cliff Apartments

“Mexicans laugh in the face of death,” our client contact in Mexico told me. Mexico City is built in the center of an old volcano, the land is sinking, earthquakes are frequent, and air pollution is a serious problem. Shown here are new high-rises on the cliff of an old lake bed.
Prada is Too Valuable to Wear

During a rainstorm, a young woman protects her shoes from puddles and walks down the dirty street in bare feet. When I ask to take her picture she replies, “Wait wait, let me hold them so you can see they’re Prada.”
Mobile charger

This caught my eye in a bus terminal—the new look of the phone booth and its ability to charge most mobile phones for mere coins. The playful form (including the now extinct antenna) is communicative of its purpose in a public space.
Your Friendly Policeman

In Seoul, some police officers wear casual clothing (polo shirts and baseball caps) and do not carry weapons. The goal of public safety can be approached in many ways.
Meet Your Designer

Making connections with brands. These name tags make the product personal, putting a real person behind the design.
A Massage with your Dessert?

A new way of thinking about the dining experience. This restaurant featured lounge/bed seating and a massage with dinner.
Use What You Have

Thoughtless act: a potato as paperweight. Putting common objects to an unexpected use always catches our eye. One question though: What is a potato doing at a newsstand anyway?
Gateway of India

India is a country of contrasts: lush rural landscapes and urban squalor, high tech business and governmental bureaucracy, high-rise apartments and the tent cities at their bases. This picture—taken early in the morning at the Gateway of India in Mumbai—captures some of that contrast.