Phil Pearson's blog — design, technology, film, and life in Japan.https://3rdcultures.com/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/20231012-things-im-liking-now/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/20231012-things-im-liking-now/It’s Autumn 2023, and here are some things that are floating my boat: property DIY, photography, vinyl, toy cars, games.Fri, 13 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/7-decades-ikea-catalogues/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/7-decades-ikea-catalogues/In which year did the IKEA catalogue become “The IKEA Catalogue”? The answer is 1961.Sat, 10 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/adventures-in-ai-cars-in-midjourney/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/adventures-in-ai-cars-in-midjourney/In which I try my hand at generating some different genres of car image using Midjourney.Thu, 20 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/annual-lookback-2021-year-unevenly-distributed-progress/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/annual-lookback-2021-year-unevenly-distributed-progress/This year has been one of unprecedented professional progress. But at what cost to my personal life?Sun, 19 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/chatgpt-uses/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/chatgpt-uses/How is ChatGPT useful for professionals, a visualisation of what it can and can’t do, and how to stay relevant in the age of automation.Thu, 02 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/has-design-thinking-gone-wrong/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/has-design-thinking-gone-wrong/How should companies avoid the pitfalls of Design Thinking to extract the most sustained value from the endeavour?Fri, 24 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/its-been-a-year-watching-pandemic-japan/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/its-been-a-year-watching-pandemic-japan/On watching a global pandemic from Japan.Wed, 03 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/japans-digital-business-ecosystem-landscape-aug-2022/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/japans-digital-business-ecosystem-landscape-aug-2022/A snapshot of Japan’s digital business ecosystem landscape in summer 2022 and my initial thoughts on the market structure & dynamics with reference to the zaibatsu.Tue, 09 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/just-bought-izu-kiln-cabin/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/just-bought-izu-kiln-cabin/Welp. No backing out now..Sun, 21 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/like-everybody-else-only-more-so/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/like-everybody-else-only-more-so/National character, rock music, and convenience store sweets.Wed, 09 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/my-old-robe/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/my-old-robe/In which I think too deeply about a robe.Sun, 23 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/owning-my-domain-again-3rdculturescom/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/owning-my-domain-again-3rdculturescom/What are '3rd cultures' and why is that the name of my site?Sun, 21 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/queens-gambit-production-design-appreciation/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/queens-gambit-production-design-appreciation/Stills from the almost Mad Men-esquely beautifully-produced Netflix show.Tue, 10 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/structure-of-culture-japan-spectrum-canvas/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/structure-of-culture-japan-spectrum-canvas/Exploring the fascinating ways in which culture in Japan breaks down the “spectrum” between high and low culture into a “canvas” of compartmentalised spheres.Thu, 02 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/thoughts-on-the-apple-vision-pro/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/thoughts-on-the-apple-vision-pro/Weeks-long ruminations on what Apple Vision Pro means for AR/VR, and some potential applications.Mon, 26 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/voice-assistants-bad-for-multilinguals/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/voice-assistants-bad-for-multilinguals/Or: how Google only fulfils half of its mission.Wed, 07 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/ways-thinking-about-careers-after-one-week-mrm/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/ways-thinking-about-careers-after-one-week-mrm/Week one down in my new role as Senior Account Director at MRM Japan. What is job satisfaction? In the first place, it's very difficult to actually know in advance whether a given career move is the right one. Job satisfaction is a mix of so many things, below just off the top of my head (notSat, 15 May 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/what-is-dentsu/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/what-is-dentsu/Or: why is it so easy for Japanese people to pick on them?Wed, 24 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/who-is-their-agency-ikea/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/who-is-their-agency-ikea/A semiotic reading of an image that IKEA thinks is a good way to sell us some towel boxes.Fri, 21 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://3rdcultures.com/posts/why-does-figma-acquisition-actually-matter/https://3rdcultures.com/posts/why-does-figma-acquisition-actually-matter/The real reason why Adobe had to buy Figma.Thu, 13 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT