Mette Harrestrup is a Ph.D. scholar at the Institute for Communication Design at Designskolen Kolding.

In her Ph.D. project Fra piktogram til sensogram (From pictogram to sensogram) Mette Harrestrup explores sign design. As a graphic designer she wondered why the expression in the widely used pictograms has changed so little since the 1930s. Based on this observation she began to take a closer look at pictogram design. In her project she experiments with additional sensory modalities, new theory and new sign design technology, specifically in innovative types of toilet pictograms. Comprehensible signage is essential for anyone visiting an unfamiliar environment. In Poland, for example, it may be difficult to figure out that a circle indicates the ladies’ room, while a triangle indicates the men’s room.

Globalisation and increased travel activity increases the need for universally comprehensible signage. These factors not only increase the need for legibility, designers also need to be aware that certain signals may be offensive to people from particular cultural or religious backgrounds. In many places in the Middle East, for example, it would be inconceivable to depict a man and a woman on the same toilet sign.

Mette Harrestrup’s introduction of the term sensogram springs from her inclusion of other senses than sight. For example, the discreet sound of running water may indicate the way to the nearest toilet. This sound may also trigger a latent urge to urinate in someone passing by the toilet, a mechanism that is independent of culture and language. Here, Mette Harrestrup supplements the design methods with theoretical substance from the body phenomenology, which was developed by Maurice Merleau-Ponty in the middle of the twentieth century. Merleau-Ponty’s work on the interrelatedness of environment, body, sensations and perception form part of the basis for our current use of the term “the body’s intelligence”.

Mette Harrestrup also uses new technology in pictogram design. For example, pictograms may be equipped with sensors and become interactive. The sound of running water should only be activated when someone nearby is moving, because someone looking for a toilet is typically moving. In the future, pictograms may be able to pick up information about passersby and communicate directly to them through mobile phones, boarding passes etc. Thus, all the travellers in an airport would be able to receive relevant and personalised information in their own language.

With updated theory, the use of multiple sensory modalities and the introduction of new technology Mette Harrestrup is seeking to add new tools to the designers’ toolkit thus contributing to the development of Danish sign design.

Mette Harrestrup graduated as a graphic designer and illustrator from Designskolen Kolding in 1997. Her studies also included studies at Hogeschool Voor De Kunsten in Utrecht, The Netherlands in 1996.