We all use them. We all comment on the state of them. Public toilets are a part of life we can’t avoid.

If you’ve ever been out and about with me and have gone to the toilet in a pub or restaurant first, you’ll be used to me asking whether I should take my phone with me when I go. Not because I’m weird and like taking photos in toilets, but I’m a little obsessed with toilet signs. You know the ones that indicate who they are for use by.

The majority of toilets may have very generic, mass produced signs, but a lot of people have realised that these signs are another way of displaying creativity. Sometimes it’s to the detriment of the user when it’s difficult to work out which one you should be using, but I’ve discovered some very interesting ways of distinguishing between ladies and gents toilets, or ones that are unisex (which personally is how I think toilets generally should be, why is it only ladies that should have queue for something that is something we can’t avoid?!)

I don’t remember exactly why I started photographing toilet signs, but over the years I’ve built up quite a collection. Some people have even started sharing their own photos of signs they’ve come across on their adventures. Feel free to do so if you come across any ingenious ones.

You can see the ones I’ve photographed here – I just need to update them to show where I spotted them (some are a number of years old so it’ll be a test of my memory to do so). There’s also an Instagram hashtag you can follow along as people share their toilet sign discoveries from around the world #toiletsignsoftheworld