I actually like the clarity of that “same old shit” phrase, because, indeed, much of the “new” I noticed on my last TAF walk might be considered “same old shit”.
Not so much things I’ve actively noted on the street before, but more like cookie cutter restaurants, hair salons and whatnot you see everywhere. Very much the “same old stuff” you tend to see nowhere particular.
I was so surprised that were a seemingly endless sea of them on this particular walk, as I truly hadn’t noticed them before in the tens I’d taken on this familar street prior. They’re actually out of context to what I had thought this street primarily consisted of.
It’d actually be a terrible pheromone to use for the initial pen to paper stages aspects of retail product design, because you wouldn’t design it to get the attention of passeryby’s who don’t notice anything. It’s better to get into the mindset that you wouldn’t notice a red & yellow missile heading toward your face for an exercise where you have to design an “attention getting” device.
On the other hand, it’d probably be great for finishing touches, or really early brainstorming sessions.
There does actually seem to be a period in the mating process which may be similar to the TAF effect. There is indeed a period of closeness where we do study each other closely, don’t we? That period where we “can’t seem to get enough of each other”? Good point.