Interview with Sofia Porto Iannuzzi
Sofia Porto Iannuzzi
Interview about Regen Biodesign Communication Design Interview
Designer Interview
27 June 2026
My background is in graphic design, visual communication, and experimental design research. I studied Graphic Design at Universidad de Monterrey, where I became especially interested in projects that connect visual systems with social, environmental, and material questions. I have always been drawn to the way design can translate complex ideas into tangible experiences. Over time, I began to understand design not only as a way to create visual artifacts, but as a way to question how things are produced, used, and returned to the world.
I am an emerging designer whose practice was formed within the Graphic Design program at Universidad de Monterrey. My work is currently focused on experimental graphic design, biodesign, sustainable communication, and material research. Regen Biodesign Communication was developed as an academic research and design project in Monterrey, Mexico, and reflects my interest in creating visual systems that work with nature rather than against it.
For me, design is a way of giving form to relationships. It connects ideas, materials, people, systems, and contexts. Design is not only about making something look better; it is about understanding how something behaves, what it communicates, what impact it creates, and how it participates in a larger environment. In the case of Regen, design became a method for collaborating with a living material.
I am most interested in projects that combine visual communication, sustainability, material experimentation, and conceptual thinking. I enjoy designing systems that communicate through more than image or text: systems where the material itself carries meaning. I am especially drawn to projects that challenge the limits of graphic design and expand it toward research, biology, circularity, and regenerative practices.
My favorite design so far is Regen Biodesign Communication because it changed the way I understand the role of the designer. Regen is a regenerative graphic system that uses cultivated root structures as living components of visual communication. Instead of printing on a conventional surface, the project explores how organic growth can become part of the message. It is meaningful to me because it proposes a shift from extraction to regeneration, and from control to collaboration.
My early professional and academic design experiences were connected to visual communication, identity, and applied graphic systems. However, Regen was not created as a commercial commission; it was developed as an academic and experimental project at Universidad de Monterrey. This allowed me to explore a more research-driven process, with the freedom to test materials, cultivate roots, document growth, and evaluate circularity.
At this stage, my favorite material is living organic matter, especially root structures. Roots are not predictable in the same way as industrial materials, but that is precisely what makes them powerful. They reveal time, growth, humidity, resistance, and environmental conditions. I am also interested in biodegradable substrates, compostable supports, analog prototyping, and digital tools that help document and communicate material processes.
I feel most creative when I am observing how a system behaves and trying to understand its logic. In Regen, creativity appeared during the testing process: seeing how roots reacted to humidity, light, containment, substrate density, and mold-guided pathways. I also feel creative when a project has constraints, because constraints force the designer to make more precise decisions.
I focus on concept, material behavior, visual clarity, and environmental impact. For me, a design should communicate clearly, but it should also make sense in terms of process, production, use, and afterlife. In Regen, I focused on the balance between graphic intention and biological autonomy. The project had to communicate visually while respecting the natural behavior of the living material.
Designing often makes me feel curious, uncertain, focused, and responsible. In projects that involve living systems, uncertainty becomes part of the process. There is also a sense of respect, because the material is not passive. It changes, grows, reacts, and sometimes resists. That emotional complexity makes the design process more honest and more connected to the real world.
When a design is realized, I feel satisfaction, but also reflection. Seeing Regen materialize through root growth made me understand that the final artifact is not just an object, but a record of a process. It carries the conditions that shaped it. I also feel gratitude when a project communicates its intention clearly and opens a conversation about new ways of designing.
A successful design creates meaning, solves or reframes a problem, and produces a responsible impact. It should be coherent from concept to execution. In my view, success is not only measured by aesthetics; it is also measured by relevance, material intelligence, usability, context, and consequence. For Regen, success means showing that graphic communication can participate in regenerative cycles.
I first consider whether the design has a clear purpose and whether its formal decisions support that purpose. Then I consider material choices, process, context, sustainability, and how the audience experiences it. A good design should not depend only on appearance. It should have coherence between what it says, how it is made, and what it leaves behind.
Designers are responsible for the messages they create, the materials they use, and the systems they reinforce. We cannot separate communication from production or impact. Designers should question waste, extraction, disposability, and the invisible consequences of design decisions. For society, design should create clarity, access, and meaning. For the environment, design should reduce harm and, when possible, support regenerative alternatives.
The design field is moving beyond objects and images toward systems, behaviors, experiences, and ecological relationships. The future of design will require more interdisciplinary work between design, science, technology, education, and environmental research. I believe designers will need to become facilitators of processes, not only creators of finished artifacts. Biodesign and regenerative design are part of that future.
Regen Biodesign Communication has been recognized by A' Design Award and is scheduled to be exhibited in Como, Italy, at Sala Bianco del Teatro from July 16 to July 19, 2026. This exhibition is especially meaningful because it places an academic biodesign project within an international design context. In the future, I would like to present Regen in spaces related to design, sustainability, education, and material innovation.
My inspiration comes from natural systems, material behavior, circular economy, visual communication, and the relationship between humans and the environment. I feed my creativity through observation, research, prototyping, documentation, and experimentation. For Regen, I was inspired by roots, growth patterns, biodegradable materials, living systems, and the possibility of transforming graphic design into a regenerative process.
I would describe my style as research-based, organic, experimental, and conceptually driven. I am interested in visual systems that emerge from process rather than decoration. Regen led me to explore a style where the material is not just a surface, but an active participant. My approach combines observation, testing, visual synthesis, and environmental awareness. I try to create work that feels precise in its intention but open to natural variation.
I am based in Mexico, and my formative design work was developed in Monterrey. Living and studying in Mexico has influenced the way I understand material culture, craft, resourcefulness, and the relationship between tradition and innovation. One advantage is the richness of cultural and material references. A challenge is that sustainable and experimental design often requires more advocacy, research, and education to be fully understood or supported.
I approach collaboration through research, listening, and strategic understanding. Before designing, I try to understand the purpose of the project, the audience, the context, and the constraints. In experimental projects like Regen, the process also includes material testing, documentation, and evaluation. I believe companies and designers should work as partners, with shared responsibility for the cultural and environmental impact of what they produce.
Companies should involve designers early in the process, not only at the final stage of visual execution. A good designer should be selected not only for style, but for thinking, methodology, ethics, and the ability to understand complex problems. Companies should look for designers who ask relevant questions, understand context, communicate clearly, and can translate strategy into meaningful form.
My process begins with research and observation. I define the problem, study references, and identify the system around the design. Then I move into experimentation, prototyping, testing, and documentation. For Regen, this meant working with root domestication, biodegradable substrates, humidity, light, molds, and growth conditions. The process required patience because the material had its own rhythm. After testing, I evaluated the results visually, materially, and environmentally.
Five design items I value are a sketchbook, a camera, printed books, carefully designed packaging, and objects made with natural or honest materials. I like objects that reveal how they were made and that have a clear relationship between function, material, and form.
A typical day combines research, visual exploration, documentation, and production. I usually spend time reviewing references, sketching ideas, organizing visual material, testing compositions, and documenting process. When I work on material-based projects, part of the day is dedicated to observing changes, adjusting conditions, and recording results. I also value quiet time for reflection, because many design decisions become clearer after stepping back from the work.
My advice is to stay curious and not limit design to what you already know how to make. Learn to research, observe, prototype, and question your own decisions. Do not treat sustainability as an aesthetic; treat it as a responsibility. Also, understand that design is not always about controlling every outcome. Sometimes the strongest work appears when you learn how to collaborate with uncertainty.
One positive aspect of being a designer is the ability to transform ideas into experiences, systems, and objects that people can understand. Design allows you to connect disciplines and create visible change. A difficult aspect is that design can be time-consuming, uncertain, and sometimes misunderstood as only decoration. Designers often need to defend the value of research, process, and strategic thinking.
My golden rule is to design with awareness of the full cycle. A design does not begin when it is printed or launched, and it does not end when it is used. It has origins, materials, processes, audiences, consequences, and an afterlife. Responsible design must consider all of them.
The most important skills are critical thinking, observation, visual communication, research, prototyping, collaboration, and adaptability. Designers also need technical skills, but technique should serve intention. Today, designers must also understand sustainability, systems thinking, and the ethical consequences of design decisions.
My toolbox includes sketching, photography, visual research, analog prototyping, material testing, documentation, and digital design software. For Regen, the toolbox also included physical molds, biodegradable substrates, plant roots, humidity and light control, organic materials, and circularity evaluation through the Material Circularity Indicator. My sources of inspiration include design books, nature, material research, sustainable design, biodesign, and experimental visual communication.
I manage time by dividing the project into research, experimentation, production, documentation, and refinement. In a project like Regen, time management was especially important because living materials do not respond instantly. I had to plan around growth cycles, observation periods, and repeated tests. I learned to work with time as part of the design process rather than treating it as an obstacle.
It depends on the complexity of the project. A conventional graphic piece can take days or weeks, while a research-based project can take months. Regen was developed over an extended academic period, from research and testing to final prototypes and documentation. Because it involved living materials, the process required time for growth, failure, adjustment, and evaluation.
The question I am often asked is how a graphic design project can be made with living materials. People usually expect graphic design to involve paper, screens, ink, or digital tools. Regen opens a different conversation because the communication system grows. That question is valuable because it allows me to explain the relationship between biodesign, visual communication, and regeneration.
One of my most important design experiences has been the development of Regen Biodesign Communication. Although it began as an academic project, it demanded the level of research, discipline, and execution of a professional design investigation. It allowed me to connect graphic design with biology, sustainability, material testing, and international design recognition.
As an emerging designer, my most relevant work has been developed through academic, research, and institutional contexts rather than through a traditional client portfolio. Regen was developed at Universidad de Monterrey as an independent design project by Sofia Porto Iannuzzi. Its recognition by A' Design Award has allowed the project to reach a broader international audience.
I enjoy experimental and sustainable design work because it creates space to question existing methods. I am especially interested in projects where material, message, and environmental responsibility are connected. This type of work allows design to become more than visual output; it becomes research, process, and cultural reflection.
My future plans are to continue developing projects that connect graphic design, sustainability, biodesign, and material innovation. I would like to expand Regen into new applications, educational contexts, and exhibition formats. I am also interested in collaborating with people from design, science, environmental studies, and creative industries to explore regenerative communication systems.
Regen was developed as an individual project by Sofia Porto Iannuzzi, within the academic context of Universidad de Monterrey. Even when I develop a project individually, I value feedback, critique, and dialogue with mentors, peers, and specialists. Design grows through conversation, but the authorship and design development of Regen were individual.
At the moment, I am interested in continuing the research behind Regen and exploring how living materials can be applied to broader communication systems. I would like to test new substrates, formats, and contexts where regenerative graphic design could be used for education, exhibitions, packaging, and environmental awareness.
People can contact me through my professional and academic networks. The Regen project can also be followed through its digital presence, including the project profile and related social media channels such as @hi.regen.
I would like to emphasize that Regen is not only a project about sustainability; it is a project about changing the relationship between design and nature. It asks what happens when graphic communication stops using nature only as an image or resource, and begins to collaborate with it as a living system. Regen proposes a future where design can communicate, grow, transform, and return to the environment with greater responsibility.
Interview about Regen Biodesign Communication Grand Interview