Professions that produce products where fragrance plays a significant role in experiencing them have created visual charts to help us better understand our sense of smell. Perfume, coffee, wine and spices come to mind. Of the five senses, smell may be the most nuanced. Diagrams like the one shown here use colour to help organize and categorize a range of aromas. These charts differ from product to product. However, some similarities are surfacing across the different examples.
The development of these guides has enabled the relatively new phenomenon of sensory mapping to emerge. The Sensory Trust at the U.K.’s Carluddon Technology Park defines sensory mapping as “a simple, flexible technique that identifies sensory highlights – with a view to creating inclusive and engaging visitor experiences.” Individuals can use different stimuli, such as sights, sounds, smells, textures and tastes, to guide them through a particular exploration.
In 2017, a group of artists and tea sommeliers created the following sensory map of their visit to a light manufacturing district in Toronto, Canada. This area is home to a mixture of businesses and industries – a commissary kitchen, a brewery, a chocolate factory and numerous offices and manufacturing sites. This “Olfactory Map” used a “scent profile” (see inset on map) to plot the aromas they encountered while walking through the Sterling Road neighbourhood. The gathering of this type of data helps improve visitor experience in the area and informs future developments.
Design: JP King