The Roll of Product Design

This is one of those seemingly 'daft' blogs that may unravel.

Certainly , the idea of printing on it is not new . Boss , mother-in-law , the list (and roll ) goes on.

It is within my memory that people in the UK would have neatly torn pieces of newspaper on a hook in an outside lavatory .

I recall a British reporter quoting an American observer during the '80's saying "my god , these people don't even have toilet roll " whilst observing starvation in Africa. Perhaps just a smug Brit reporter who felt as useless as everybody else.

I've seen special service troops being instructed how to use just one piece of toilet paper .

Ask a Brit about bidets and watch them squirm.

Lavatorial humour has a long tradition in the UK.

The multitude of phrases used for a toilet perhaps reflect a universal discomfort with discussing such a subject . Sanitation Engineers come forth !

If you've got a septic tank , minimizing solid waste is an important issue . The flushing of sewage drains is (if you can stifle laughter ) a **** of a job.

On a tangent , water usage is a major factor (to use Brit-speak "spending a penny " does literally cost you about 1p , although that is an economic coincidence).

A more important direction to look at may be that a significant proportion of the worlds population do not have sanitation as we see it in the 'civilised' world. We use up resources whilst they are prone to disease.

Many years ago, I read a patent on the idea of placing advertising on toilet paper that was hilarious. It began with something like this: One hundred percent of the population is available for a few minutes every day.. I had a job as a quality control engineer in a toilet paper factory for about six months and it was fun.

But who wants a product where the aim and object is to fush it away and hopefuly never see it again?

Well, substitute the word 'flush' for 'throw' and one has the vector for a wide range of short-life publications, like newspapers, magazines, advertsing, handbills, etc.

Gordon_Ramsay, the (in)famous celebrity TV chef, has his toilet rolls printed with the faces of other celebrity chefs, like Jamie_Oliver and Ainsley_Harriott. Then, he would.