MYTH, Encoded Identity, Tik Tok’s Mythological Storytelling
06.23 Data Design with Adidas Maker LabMYTH is a Data Design Thesis Project in collaboration with Adidas Maker Lab. It includes the collaboration with Footwearology Lab, who helped the project to develop the Parametric Design on Grasshopper, Rhinoceros and the realisation of the 3D knitted design pieces.
This project is based on the temporal nature of diverse storytelling modes, adapting to different roles based on the characters individuals portray in the grand theater of life. The objective is to comprehend the features of personal identities shaped by performative acts, accentuated and constructed through contemporary narratives intertwined with a subtle mythological essence. Thus, we developed a coding system that encapsulates our daily performances and the mythological undertones within them, generating parameterized patterns. This code manifests as textile pieces -3D Knitting- serving as costumes for the various domains of our existence. They translate our storytelling using binary systems and automated graphics.
Long Island Rail Road +Services
11.24 UX DesignLong Island Rail Road +Services reimagines the commuting experience on the LIRR, the busiest railroad in America. With typical trips lasting an hour or more, the journey often feels like a quick subway ride due to limited amenities. This project aims to make commuting time feel more valuable, turning “wasted time” into “your time” by offering conveniences like onboard food and beverages, WiFi, portable tables, and designated seating areas.
These enhancements promote comfort, productivity, and mental well-being, supporting commuters who use this time to work, relax, or engage in other activities. By addressing common issues like poor posture and lost productivity, LIRR +Services offers a better, more resourceful commuting experience that can transform the way people view public transit.
A key feature of the project is a “carbon credits” rewards system, which incentivizes riders with points based on miles traveled, redeemable for free services or future trips. The project’s vision is to increase LIRR ridership, reduce car congestion, and promote cleaner cities—all integrated through a user-friendly app that brings these new experiences together.
COVER. Redefining Sound
3.23 Start-up Design, Business orientedThis project is a combination of design practice with a business approach, thus developing from scratch the main idea, a physical product, the graphic identity and its communication. This design initiative benefitted from the collaboration of a diverse team including Xosé Lois, Carlos Álvarez, Laura Llimona, Lola Lemke, and Clara Salmerón.
The project is a response to two prevailing contemporary paradigms. The first being the fact that we live in a visual world. The second being the unilateral relationship between producers and the consumers of sound. Through an ecosystem that is both physical and digital, the proposed paradigm shift moves from a passive producer-consumer interaction to an active, nonlinear relation between the producer and the consumer of sound. COVER sets out a whole new sound ecosystem by offering a device that allows to record and tweak sound; and a digital platform for the community to share freely their designs. COVER is about cocreation, sharing, participation and engagement. Listening, as an experience and not a product, is at the core.
Digital Baptism
06.21 Performance Design with Vibe ExperienceThis project is based on how contemporary society build individually their identity in a digital level through social media. The way our persona is percieved has now two variants, the physical and the virtual one.
Digital Baptism explores through a performatic social experience, the way our identity fluctuates through Instagram to eventually represents us. The exercise consists in groups of two people examining each other only through their online content, after that they choose three adjectives to baptise the person. Finally they see each other in person. This performance was exhibited in IDEAL Barcelona Museum, by our collaborator Vibe Experience. Digital Baptism design iniciative was created by a cross-disciplinary team formed by Alba Wera, Paula Ferrés and Joan Claret.
ARGOT, House of Wines
12.24 Data Visualization through Packaging DesignARGOT, House of Wines, is a Long Island-based winery that has redefined traditional wine packaging by integrating a unique system that connects the wine—the content—to its container, the bottle. The innovation lies in the stopper, transforming it from a functional necessity into a memorable centerpiece.
Both packaging designs emphasize the act of opening, drawing attention to the often-overlooked cap. The stopper serves not only as a souvenir of the experience but also as a representation of the wine's character. Each stopper embodies four key wine attributes: bold or light, smooth or tannic, sweet or dry, and acidic or soft. These characteristics are symbolized through individual shapes that, when combined, form a unified structure—a literal and figurative "body" of the wine. Each body talks about the wine, speaks the argot.
Bloc a Bloc
06.22 Exhibition Design with Elisava UniversityBloc A Bloc 2022 took part as a Degree Show of Elisava’s University with the purpose of exhibit the fourth-grade student’s final thesis projects of the Degree in Design and Degree in Industrial Design Engineering.
It ended up providing a whole experience by creating a clear narrative materialized from the way the space was built to the dynamic of the events. The “under construction” was the main topic of the exhibition therefore all the single parts converged and added up an enrichment to the storytelling. Two hundred and a half projects with their respective students built their displays based on a single unit: a brick, by stacking a certain amount of them in the best way to communicate the project. Bloc A Bloc was designed thanks to a group of 25 students, 5 teachers and a partnership with Sociedad 0. In addition, Fraser Muggeridge, a skilled collaborator, joined us as we incorporated the TIMES MEGAFONT for visual design and wayfinding. Should you wish to explore further, the brand guidelines are available for download here.
The Storyteller
12.22 Activism Design with Open Arms NGOThis project represents a collaboration between Elisava School of Design and Engineering and Open Arms NGO with the aim of designing an oversea school utilising one of the NGO’s ships.
The design team formed by Alba Wera, Lola Lemke, Paula Ferrés and Eliot DeTienda, turned the ship into a Newspaper Printing House: The Storyteller. The produced journal gathers up new mechanisms, exercises and first-hand stories in order to reach a wide spectrum of real information which helps reflect not only the migratory emergency, but all the corruptions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Aside from the main narrative, austerity, self- sufficiency, transience (fragility, vulnerability), subsistence, survival and urgency are the six pivotal concepts leading all the workshops that will be carried out inside and outside the boat. By collaborating with different aligned designers and educators, the school would be stopping at Mediterranean Ports to to catalyze existing voices, thus empowering and promoting self- determination.
Equatorial Living Lab, Schools of Thought
03.24 Social Housing with Fourah Bay College and Pratt InstituteThis project comes from the unique collaboration between Fourah Bay College School of Architecture in Freetown, Sierra Leon and Pratt Institute, School of Design in Brooklyn, New York. The project borns from the objective of creating low-cost social housing for Equatorial Territories, securing optimal standards of safety, affordability, and durability. My contribution has been focused on the project graphic identity, communication channels and visual design.
Thus, situated in the vibrant communities of Freetown, Sierra Leone, the project leverages local traditions and craftsmanship, incorporating passive cooling, electricity generation, and flexible living spaces. Divided into research, design, prototyping, and construction phases, the journey from idea to implementation is fully documented and shared. The open dialogue with experts and mentors, Zoom workshops, and the open-source sharing of findings on www.equatoriallivinglab.com democratise the design process, inviting global use and adaptation.