BTS: Design Twists

From the visual identity of the art walk Balade to Mining Photography, glitches, edited magazine covers, and typographic climate crises, we navigate Studio Pandan’s project map. We look beyond final outcomes to the many paths that lead there. Design, for us, is a collaborative practice—within the studio and in close exchange with clients from art, literature, and architecture. Sometimes the first idea holds, but more often the work unfolds through a winding, transformative journey. Together, we’ll follow the twists and turns of this process.

Ann Richter studied visual communication at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig. Before co-founding Studio Pandan, she worked at international design agencies including Graphic Thought Facility in London and Project Projects in New York City. As a co-founder of the collective A.R. practice, she develops projects at the intersection of design and curatorial work. Alongside running the studio, she regularly lectures and leads workshops at art and design institutions.

Studio Pandan, founded by Pia Christmann and Ann Richter, is a Berlin-based design studio with a strong eye for detail and an imaginative outlook. We create visual identities across print and digital media, as well as publications and websites, shaped by careful research, playful sensitivity, and conceptual clarity. Since our beginnings in 2015, typography has been our core tool. Actively engaged in contemporary culture, we are especially interested in socially relevant and sustainable projects, seeing design as both a responsibility and a catalyst for change.

Ryan will also show and talk about some of the photographs from her Office Romance series that she made during the last decade she worked at The NYTMAG. They are a love poem to her colleagues and a celebration of the radiant light in the Renzo Piano-designed New York Times building.

The longtime director of photography at The New York Times Magazine, Kathy Ryan has been a pioneer of combining fine art photography with photojournalism. She has worked with the world’s best photographers across all genres of photography. She regularly brought new talent into The Magazine’s pages. She left The Times after 39 years to focus on her own artwork, curating exhibitions, teaching a course at Yale, and speaking engagements.

In 2011, Ryan edited The New York Times Magazine Photographs, a landmark book published by Aperture. An accompanying exhibition, curated by Ryan and Lesley Martin opened at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2012, traveled to FOAM Museum in Amsterdam, Palau Robert in Barcelona, Universidad Católica in Santiago and ended its run at the Aperture Gallery in New York City.

Ryan has contributed essays and Q&A’s to books by photographers Lee Friedlander, Christopher Payne, Seydou Keïta, Paolo Pellegrin, Lynsey Addario, Jack Davison and Brian Finke. She was the picture editor of Feeling the Spirit by Chester Higgins.

The Magazine‘s photography and videos have been recognized with numerous awards. Ryan was awarded the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize from the German Photographic Society in September 2025. Ryan was a recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Griffin Museum of Photography in 2007; the Royal Photographic Society’s annual award for Outstanding Service to Photography in 2012; the Vision Award at the Center for Photography at Woodstock in 2014; and the Outstanding Contribution to Photography recognition from Creative Review in 2016. Ryan has been recognized as Photo Editor of the Year by the Lucie Awards and Visa Pour l’Image. Ryan won two Emmy’s for videos she produced for The New York Times Magazine’s Great Performers series. Kathy was the International Center of Photography’s Spotlight honoree in 2024.

Office Romance, a book of Ryan’s photographs featuring her colleagues and the beauty and poetry to be found in the radiant light in the New York Times building was published by Aperture in 2014. This work has been exhibited in Europe and the U.S. All of Ryan’s photography is done with the iPhone.

From the perspective of contemporary editorial design, MacGuffin, Science of the Secondary, and Apartamento propose three ways of understanding the magazine as a narrative device and cultural artifact. MacGuffin constructs each issue around an everyday object, developing a constantly evolving visual identity. Similarly, Science of the Secondary explores the material universe of the things that surround us and often go unnoticed. For its part, Apartamento opts for a deliberately informal, approachable, and seemingly spontaneous aesthetic, breaking with the traditional neatness of interior design magazines. These three publications demonstrate how editorial design is capable of articulating an aesthetic and conceptual discourse around material culture.

In the Bookworm sessions we will explore iconic magazines and books that capture the spirit of the era in which they were created. The material comes from Elisava’s library collections, especially from its Reserve Fund, which contains publications that, due to their design, constitute a journey through the best of the past and present of modern graphics applied to the field of editorial design.

The Bookworm sessions are guided by Andreu Jansà, librarian and curator of the Enric Bricall Reserve Fund.

We will place the publications in their context and try to define what makes them relevant in the history of editorial design in the 20th and 21st centuries. The direct contact with the books and magazines that we will see in each session will allow us to experience the printed document from a material point of view: binding, paper, lay out, illustrations, typography. We will also be able to assess the adequacy between form and content.

Beyond walls: The renaissance of exhibition environments

What do a Balenciaga runway show, an MWC stand, and the latest Miró exhibition have in common? More than it might seem. Each of them tells a story through the design of an experience. Through historical and contemporary case studies and references, we will explore exhibition design as an expanding field that moves beyond the museum space. Through scenography, lighting, sound, and technology, stories are transformed into immersive experiences that are navigated, shared, and felt.

At Gracias Grecia, we understand the exhibition environment as a space for encounter: emotional — through art, design, scenography, lighting, and participation — and intellectual, connected to content, knowledge, and debate. We are interested in that intersection between experience and thought, between collective expression and critical positioning. This is where our skills and our way of working converge.

Throughout our trajectory, we have developed projects in diverse formats: from the design of a 2,500 m² museum in Barcelona’s Port Vell to exhibitions at institutions such as CaixaForum and the Triennale di Milano, as well as experimental installations and hybrid formats that combine digital arts, theatre, and exhibition experience.
In a context of information overload, polarization, and constant technological transformation, we need environments where knowledge is not only transmitted, but collectively experienced and questioned. Exhibition design responds to this need by bringing together thought, form, critique, and emotion.

In the current landscape of editorial design, Emergence, Bill, and Inque represent three unique approaches to the magazine as a cultural object. Emergence Magazine, created by Studio Airport, combines narrative and photography in a slow, sensory experience. Bill, edited and designed by Julia Peeters, is a distinctive photography yearbook that proposes a “visual reading” of the articles without the distraction of text. Meanwhile, Inque, spearheaded by Matt Willey, is a literary magazine with impeccable design that invites leisurely reading. Together, these publications demonstrate how contemporary editorial design transcends its informative function to become a physical experience, an ideological stance, and a formal exploration.

In the Bookworm sessions we will explore iconic magazines and books that capture the spirit of the era in which they were created. The material comes from Elisava’s library collections, especially from its Reserve Fund, which contains publications that, due to their design, constitute a journey through the best of the past and present of modern graphics applied to the field of editorial design.
The Bookworm sessions are guided by Andreu Jansà, librarian and curator of the Enric Bricall Reserve Fund.

We will place the publications in their context and try to define what makes them relevant in the history of editorial design in the 20th and 21st centuries. The direct contact with the books and magazines that we will see in each session will allow us to experience the printed document from a material point of view: binding, paper, lay out, illustrations, typography. We will also be able to assess the adequacy between form and content.

We will explore three magazines that pioneered a new way of understanding editorial design: Colors (1991-1995), Nest (1997-2004), and Dot, dot, dot (2000-2010). These publications represented an innovative approach in both concept and style. Colors, designed by Tibor Kalman, challenged the conventions of corporate strategy with a provocative mix of images and text. Nest, edited and designed by Joseph Holtzman, offered an ironic and sophisticated vision that questioned the notion of good taste prevalent in mainstream interior design magazines. Dot, dot, dot was a unique magazine on graphic design and visual culture founded by Peter Bilak that contributed to enriching the discourse around graphic design, demonstrating that it was deeply connected to other disciplines and aspects of the cultural sphere.

In the Bookworm sessions we will explore iconic magazines and books that capture the spirit of the era in which they were created. The material comes from Elisava’s library collections, especially from its Reserve Fund, which contains publications that, due to their design, constitute a journey through the best of the past and present of modern graphics applied to the field of editorial design.

The Bookworm sessions are guided by Andreu Jansà, librarian and curator of the Enric Bricall Reserve Fund.

We will place the publications in their context and try to define what makes them relevant in the history of editorial design in the 20th and 21st centuries. The direct contact with the books and magazines that we will see in each session will allow us to experience the printed document from a material point of view: binding, paper, lay out, illustrations, typography. We will also be able to assess the adequacy between form and content.

Proof of concept
From detail to the general, or from the general to the detail; from concept to form, or from aesthetics to the idea; from the material to the graphic, or vice versa.

There are various ways to design: all of them valid, but each with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this showcase, we will discuss different ways of working, supported visually by some of the studio’s editorial and physical projects.

Pol Pérez is a graphic designer living and working in Barcelona. He graduated from Elisava in 2010 and, after working at several studios and agencies in the city – such as Bendita Gloria, Avanti Avanti and Folch Studio – he co-founded Affaire together with Josep Román. After spending a year working at the agency …,staat in Amsterdam, he resumed his independent practice in 2020 through Studiopol.
He combines his professional practice with teaching at Elisava, where he has taught editorial design and visual identity projects in the Master’s programmes in Editorial Design, Photography and Visual Identity.

Studiopol (Claudia Agusto, Daniel de Fortuny and Pol Pérez) develops projects in editorial, web and exhibition design, as well as visual identity and communication. The studio is characterized by a restrained approach and by a practice that prioritizes narrative and meaning over stylistic trends. From this standpoint, each commission is approached through a solid conceptual framework and a high level of technical rigor.

Irma Boom is one of the most influential contemporary book designers, known for her innovative and experimental approach to editorial design. Boom challenges conventions and forces the reader to interact with the book in a different way, reconsidering its function and structure. She works closely with the authors and publishers of the books she designs, influencing not only the aesthetics but also the visual narrative and content. Her work has led to a revaluation of the book as a physical object, an unbeatable experience compared to e-books. We will see some of her most important books, such as the one dedicated to the textile artist Sheila Hicks, the invisible book about Chanel or the tiny catalogues devoted to her own work.

In the Bookworm sessions we will explore iconic magazines and books that capture the spirit of the era in which they were created. The material comes from Elisava’s library collections, especially from its Reserve Fund, which contains publications that, due to their design, constitute a journey through the best of the past and present of modern graphics applied to the field of editorial design.

The Bookworm sessions are guided by Andreu Jansà, librarian and curator of the Enric Bricall Reserve Fund.

We will place the publications in their context and try to define what makes them relevant in the history of editorial design in the 20th and 21st centuries. The direct contact with the books and magazines that we will see in each session will allow us to experience the printed document from a material point of view: binding, paper, lay out, illustrations, typography. We will also be able to assess the adequacy between form and content.

Expert beginners

In some fields, coding for instance, an “expert beginner” is often seen negatively: as someone who has no real skills but behaves like a professional. To me, however, the term “expert beginner” sounds like a playful oxymoron. I see an expert beginner as someone who has gained enough experience to handle everyday tasks confidently, while still exploring the deeper aspects of their field. This is exactly how I feel about my journey into type design: confident in handling what I know, yet aware that there is always more to learn every day.

Piero Di Biase is a graphic and type designer. He trained in the graphic arts sector and then became a graphic designer. After collaborating with various design agencies, in 2011 he co–founded Think Work Observe, where he worked for national and international clients until 2022, when he launched Formula Type, an independent digital foundry that produces and distributes retail and custom fonts. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI).

Formula Type is a digital type foundry started in the wettest region in Italy. Formula is a potion blended especially for those who will drink it; Formula is a chemical equation that leads to a result. This playful yet precise idea captures the dual soul of Formula Type. Its past was graphic design, and its present is type design, but there’s no real separation between the past and the present. Our fonts are crafted with a flexible designer eye and in the fifteen years since our first releases they have evolved freely through experimentation. Our approach is that of expert beginners, always welcoming new partnerships and projects.

Crafting Personal Narratives through AI and Sound

Inspired by Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto, this workshop explores the intersection of human creativity and artificial intelligence through inclusive music-making. Participants use generative music AI to transform personal text prompts and lyrics into complete songs, without needing musical experience. The process emphasizes self-expression, identity, and storytelling. The experience extends into visual creation, as participants design simple animated posters or videos that reflect the themes, emotions, and keywords of their AI-generated songs.

Tereza Ruller (she/her) identifies as a mother, a communication designer, and an educator. Her studio, The Rodina, explores the spatial and interactive possibilities of virtual and hybrid environments as spaces for new thoughts and aesthetics that emerge from the intersection of culture and technology.

Through her independent practice and PhDArts research at Leiden University, she examines performative and critical approaches to communication design, emphasizing playfulness, participation, and relationality. By addressing ecological and social crises—she seeks to develop collective shifts in perspective.

Ruller teaches as Professor of Digital Communication Design at HfG Karlsruhe and as a Critical Narratives tutor at Design Academy Eindhoven, nurturing contemporary design practices that encourage thinking-through-making and explore ways to engage with technology, society, and the environment.

An exploration of creative processes & custom workflows using visual algorithms

The workshop presents Hamill Industries’ experimental approach to visual creation, moving beyond purely digital tools toward self-built devices, practical effects, and hands-on experimentation. Drawing from everyday materials, natural observation, and the dialogue between analogue and digital technologies, their practice spans diverse tools such as 1980s consoles, oscilloscopes, pigments, light, and artificial intelligence. Through case studies and behind-the-scenes documentation, the seminar reveals an open, trial-and-error methodology rooted in an artisanal mindset and focused on building custom tools and processes.

With a strong emphasis on recent AI-based work, the seminar invites participants to treat generative AI as a flexible creative engine rather than a black box. Using open-source platforms like ComfyUI and self-constructed datasets, participants explore the creation of a “visual atlas of impossible bodies,” seeking beauty in error and deviation from standard aesthetics. The goal is to foster creative agency, DIY learning, and personal aesthetic exploration at the intersection of the real and the algorithmic.

Hamill Industries (the artistic duo of Pablo Barquin and Anna Diaz) craft films, installations, and stage productions. With the physical world as inspiration, not only the virtual sphere is re-imagined, but so is reality. Straddling the line between inventors and illusionists, their projects are always highly sensory pieces, regardless of the final medium. Their work explores the expanded visual, committed to questioning and blurring boundaries between digital and tangible realms. Transmedia flexibility is facilitated by extensive workshop research, developing state-of-the-art tools. Their pioneering vision around the use of technology earned the trust of collaborators and institutions, including the San Francisco Ballet (with Tamara Rojo) Floating Points, CCCB or Caixaforum among many others.

How to Build Small-scale Autonomous Power Systems

This workshop introduces students to designing and building small-scale, autonomous renewable energy systems and devices that run on them. It focuses on hands-on skills such as constructing solar power installations, creating solar-powered heating appliances, and modifying commercial products to operate on low-voltage solar electricity. A key principle is avoiding batteries, which are often the least sustainable part of energy systems, by designing appliances and power setups that can function directly with variable solar input.

Beyond technical skills, the workshop promotes a bottom-up approach to renewable energy design. Instead of scaling renewable systems to support energy-intensive, fossil-fuel-based lifestyles, students learn to align energy demand with locally available and intermittent power sources. This mindset emphasizes designing within limits and engages with broader issues such as climate change, energy resilience and security, consumerism, e-waste, the right to repair, and circular, sustainable design practices.

Kris De Decker is the author of Low-tech Magazine, which challenges the idea that every problem requires a high-tech solution. Since 2018, the magazine runs on a solar-powered server and has been in print since 2019. He has published research on energy demand at Lancaster University and co-founded Human Power Plant, exploring human energy use. Since 2016, he has collaborated on designing objects inspired by the past to guide technology toward more sustainable directions.