welcome
welcome
Ann Thor Studio
Danish design studio with international experience
Concept development, wayfinding, graphic design, co-design and system design
work
about
What
Concept development, wayfinding, graphic design, co-design and system design
Concept
Concepts are developed as new frameworks that bring idea, form and function together in a clear and coherent whole. The work spans a wide range and can unfold in many different contexts. Experience includes developing concepts that can grow over time and create value, including within tourism, destination development and larger public and private settings.
Graphic design
Graphic design is carried out across multiple scales and formats – from pictograms and icons to wayfinding, architectural graphics and visual concepts. The work ranges from the intimate to the spatial and contextual and is adapted to place, purpose and target groups. Colour is used with precision and an understanding of its meaning, contributing to function, atmosphere and a clear visual coherence.
Wayfinding
Wayfinding is approached both in its classic sense – through pictograms, signage and visual guides – and in more strategic contexts. This can include managing visitor flows within tourism, culture and public spaces, or visual nudging that supports orientation and decision-making. The focus is on clarity, flow and human behaviour.
System design
Visual graphic systems are developed with attention to overall structure, detail and use – and with the ability to accommodate both complexity and simplicity within the same framework. The work is grounded in many years of experience with large-scale, complex solutions, including the development of The Nordic Pictogram System for Waste Sorting, which is now used internationally across 8 countries.
Co-design
Co-design is applied as an active development approach, where knowledge, perspectives, experience and ideas are gathered and processed collectively. The processes are visually driven and structured through workshops, specially developed tools and games that engage participants and make complex challenges tangible and manageable.
Advisory
Advisory work and design support includes planning and facilitating co-design processes and workshops, as well as the design of tools and games. The work supports knowledge gathering, development and decision-making in complex contexts and provides strategic sparring, direction and concrete methods that enable independent continuation of the work.
How
Playful & creative
Experimentation and curiosity drive the process
Challenges are seen as a driving force.
Craftsmanship is solid, with a creative and playful approach.
Empathy & understanding
The work takes its starting point in your challenges and ambitions.
Development is grounded in empathy and insight.
Complex challenges are transformed into beautiful and intuitive solutions.
Experience & insight
Many years of experience and deep insight into audiences and communication.
A design-driven approach ensures precise and durable results.
Prototyping and testing support fast and accurate implementation.
Solid & reliable
Thoroughness and reliability.
Deadlines, budgets and quality are respected.
But far from boring!
Who
Ann Thor
Ann Thor is a designer, architect and artist, born in 1972 in Silkeborg, Denmark, and based at her studio on Frederiksberg in Copenhagen. She has run her own studio since 2011, where she has developed concepts and design solutions for a wide range of major companies, organisations, municipalities and ministries. Her work focuses on creating strategic and visual solutions that bring together aesthetics, functionality and societal relevance.
She is the designer behind The Nordic Pictogram System for Waste Sorting, initiated in 2016 and originally developed for Denmark, which has since grown to include more than 100 pictograms. The system is now used in 8 countries and has become a central design reference within the EU. In recent years, she has been involved in a major international development project at EU level as an expert for the European Commission / Joint Research Centre, contributing to the development of a forthcoming common European pictogram system for waste sorting.
With a humble and attentive approach, she works strategically to understand the people a design or concept is intended for – their needs and behaviours. Each project is considered within its societal or contextual framework and translated into concrete ideas, refined design solutions or innovative concepts.
Over the past 15 years, she has planned, designed tools for and facilitated a large number of workshops related to co-design and user involvement – an approach that can be particularly valuable in projects with conflicting interests and perspectives. Her work ranges from short sprints to long-term processes over several years, involving anything from ten to several thousand participants. Today, she also advises on the planning and facilitation of co-design processes and workshops and develops specialised tools and games that collect knowledge or motivate participants during the workshop itself, when needed.
She is deeply engaged with systems and structures as visual and functional frameworks – both in society and in nature. With a curious and investigative approach, she seeks to create new work that balances the practical, the conceptual and the artistic – whether a concept, a design or a product. Wayfinding, both in a concrete and metaphorical sense, has been central to many projects. From visitor flows between destinations to visual wayfinding through pictograms, her work explores how we navigate – both physically and mentally.
Ann Thor aims to contribute to a Danish and international dialogue on how visual, systemic thinking can be used as an active tool and formative approach to addressing complex societal challenges in ways that are both functional, sustainable and aesthetically strong.
She has been a finalist at the Danish Design Award, has received grants from the Danish Arts Foundation on several occasions and has published articles.
In addition, she is open to participating in advisory boards and strategic forums focused on innovation, development and new thinking. She contributes a strategic and analytical perspective that translates complex challenges into clear directions and actionable solutions within interdisciplinary contexts.
playful design
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contact
Interested in collaborating?
info@annthor.com
+45 40851866
Ann Thor Studio
Schlegels Allé 1 st. tv. – 1807 Frederiksberg C. – Denmark
+45 40851866
info@annthor.com