Per Mollerup (20 February 1942) is a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
designer, academic, and author. He is known for his emphasis on simplicity in design and for his wayshowing design at airports in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Oslo, and
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, as well as the
Copenhagen Metro
The Copenhagen Metro ( da, Københavns Metro, ) is a 24/7 rapid transit system in Copenhagen, Denmark, serving the municipalities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby.
The original system opened in October 2002, serving nine stations on t ...
. He is currently a Professor of Communication Design at
Swinburne University of Technology
Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1908 as the Eastern Suburbs Technical College by George Swinburne to serve those without access ...
's School of Design.
Mollerup is the author of ''Simplicity: A Matter of Design'' (2015), ''Wayshowing>Wayfinding'' (2013) and ''Wayshowing, A Guide to Environmental Signage'' (2005). He coined the term "wayshowing".
Early life and education
Mollerup was born in
Nakskov
Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is situated in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 12,495 (1 January 2022). To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the La ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
on 20 February 1942. He completed his MBA from Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences,
Aarhus University
Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
in 1968 and a Doctorate in Architecture from
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion [Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup ( da, Københavns Lufthavn, Kastrup, ; ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark, Zealand, the Øresund Region, and southern Sweden including Scania. It is the second largest airport in the Nordic coun ...]
in 1989 followed by design for
Oslo Airport
Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Flyr, Norse Atl ...
in 1996,
Stockholm Arlanda Airport
Stockholm Arlanda Airport is an international airport located in the Sigtuna Municipality of Sweden, near the town of Märsta, north of Stockholm and nearly south-east of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County and the prov ...
in 1998, and
Arlanda Express
Arlanda Express is an airport rail link connecting Stockholm Central Station with the Stockholm Arlanda Airport outside Stockholm, Sweden. Operated by A-Train AB, the trip takes 18 minutes and runs four to six times per hour using seven X3 ele ...
, airport train service in 1998. In 2002 Mollerup and Designlab designed the visual profile and wayshowing for Metro Copenhagen. Other design in the public sphere included hospitals and museums in Denmark and abroad. Designlab was awarded the
Danish Design Award
The Danish Design Award is an annual international design prize awarded by the member organization Design denmark and Danish Design Center in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In 1965, the first Danish design award, the ID Prize, was launched. This was follo ...
nine times.
From 2003 Mollerup led changing groups of international experts preparing proposals for national design policies for
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
(2003),
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
(2004), and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
(2008).
In 2005, he joined
Oslo National Academy of the Arts
The Oslo National Academy of the Arts ( no, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, ''KHiO'') is a university college in Oslo, Norway, that provides education in visual arts, design and performing arts. It is one of two public institutes of higher learning in ...
as professor of Design. In 2009, he joined the Swinburne University of Technology, where he currently serves as professor of communication.
He published a revised and expanded version of his 1997 book ''Marks of Excellence: The Development and Taxonomy of Trademarks'' in 2013. The book offers an exploration of the trademark: its history, development, style, classification and relevance in today's world. The book includes discussion of its origins in heraldry, monograms, owner's marks and certificates of origins, and also contains a taxonomy of trademarks and an alphabetical index of trademark themes. In 2013, Mollerup published ''Wayshowing>Wayfinding'', in which he described the difference between wayshowing and
wayfinding
Wayfinding (or way-finding) encompasses all of the ways in which people (and animals) orient themselves in physical space and navigate from place to place.
Wayfinding software is a self-service computer program that helps users to find a location, ...
, and codified the nine wayfinding strategies people use when navigating in unknown territories. In 2015 Mollerup published ''Simplicity: A Matter of Design'', that introduces several concepts which allow designers to analyse, understand, and think about the most sought after design quality. In 2019 Mollerup published ''Pretense Design: Surface over Substance'', in which he named and described design that appears to be something which it not is. Also in 2019, in ''Dansk Design: Ganske enkelt'' (Danish Design: Simply) Mollerup described how simplicity (and functionalism) have marked modern Danish design.
Honours
*Prize of Honour of The Danish Society of Book Crafts – 1997
Selected bibliography
* ''The Corporate Design Programme'' (1980, 1987, Norwegian translation, 1988)
* ''Design for Life'' (1986, translations and later editions in Danish, 1998, Norwegian, 1998, Swedish, 1997, 2007, and Lithuanian, 2010)
* Henry Anton Knudsen (1989)
* ''Good Enough is not Enough: Observations on Public Design'' (1992)
* JørgenGammelgaard (1995)
* ''Marks of Excellence: The History and Taxonomy of Trademarks'' (1997, revised and expanded edition 2013, French translation 1997)
* ''Collapsibles: A Design Album of Space-Saving Objects'' (2002), French and German translations 2002, US edition: Collapsible: The Genius of Space-Saving Design (2002)
* ''Wayshowing: A Guide to Environmental Signage'' (2005)
* ''Brandbook: Branding, Feelings, Reason'' (in Danish) (2008)
* ''PowerNotes: Slide presentations reconsidered'' (2011)
* ''Wayshowing>Wayfinding: Basic & Interactive'' (2013)
* ''Data Design: Visualising quantities, locations, connections'' (2015)
* ''Simplicity: A Matter of Design'' (2015)
*''Pretense Design: Surface over Substance'' (2019)
*Dansk design: ''Ganske enkelt'' (2019)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mollerup, Per
1942 births
Living people
Danish designers
Danish academics
20th-century Danish non-fiction writers
21st-century Danish non-fiction writers
Aarhus University alumni
Lund University alumni
Swinburne University of Technology faculty
People from Nakskov