The "Inner Underground" workshop, spanning Graphic Design, Information Design, and Media Design addresses the critical need for effective communication and analysis in a globally transforming and information-saturated era. It proposes that understanding the world begins with introspective exploration of personal memories, sensations, and imaginations to uncover biases and creative potential. This workshop provides a framework for translating these internal experiences into tangible visual artifacts that inform, engage, and inspire. Participants will unearth personal narratives related to the unCOMMON underGROUND theme through guided exercises and discussions, critically analyze visual communication case studies, and learn to transform their inner experiences into visual forms using storytelling and media production techniques. The goal is to equip students with practical skills in visual storytelling, data visualization, and short-form media creation.

The tangible creative result of the workshop will be a finished visual artifact – such as a graphic artwork, poster, short video – that powerfully communicates the students' personal narrative and unique insights directly related to the unCOMMON underGROUND theme. This final piece will serve as a concrete representation of their internal explorations, newly acquired design skills, and their ability to translate abstract personal experiences into meaningful visual forms.

Sandro Asatiani graduated from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 1995. He has worked as a freelancer for numerous magazines and organizations, where he was in charge of graphic designs, book illustrations, video, web design, etc. Between 2005 and 2008, he lived and worked in Firenze, Italy. The publishing house "LIBRILIBERI" has published several of his books. Now, he is an associate professor at Ilia State University and an invited professor in the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts.

Participants will explore the world of self-published guides, drawing inspiration from publications such as the Whole Earth Catalog (published in the late 60's and the 70's) while adapting it to the contemporary student experience in 2025. They will create practical guidelines and curated lists tailored to students' needs, designing, printing, and assembling their own publications while examining crucial issues such as knowledge privatization, open-source culture, and big tech's influence on daily life. The workshop will alternate between research, writing, and design phases. The topics selected by participants will range from digital tools and artistic techniques to affordable recipes and lifestyle advice. This project, designed to continue beyond its first iteration, will build a collaborative, ever-expanding encyclopedia of knowledge that grows with each new contribution.

Participants will develop skills in print design, composition, writing, drawing or photography and risograph printing. Each student will create one or more zine-like leaflets on personally relevant subjects, following common technical specifications to enable risograph printing and assembly into an evolving encyclopedia. These zines will also be made available online, forming a collective and accessible resource for a broader student community.

Nicolas Belayew, graphic designer, illustrator, and publisher, and Simon Brunfaut, philosopher and researcher, explore the intersections of image, text, and knowledge transmission. Nicolas questions the role of printed matter through visual and pedagogical projects, while Simon examines aesthetics and discourse in contemporary thought. Their combined approach blends practice and theory, bridging graphic design, literary theory, and intellectual engagement.

Film music is not merely an accompaniment to the image; rather it constitutes a pivotal element that has the capacity to influence the narrative, dramaturgy and message of a film, in addition to serving as a conduit for emotion. The process of creating film music can vary significantly depending on the production conditions, with artists employing diverse strategies to shape the musical layer. The proposed workshop will consist of an introductory and a practical part. During the introductory part, including a lecture enriched with film examples, participants will learn about the ways of constructing a musical score for a film, both from a creative and an analytical perspective, and will verify their knowledge during a joint analysis of a selected film. The practical part of the workshop will allow participants to apply the acquired knowledge to the creation of musical arrangements based on simple audiovisual forms (e.g. commercials, film sequences) using pre-existing music.

(1) Knowledge of the structure of the film music layer and the process of music production for audiovisual forms.
(2) Ability to:
- analyze the music in a film,
- search for music in the music libraries and assess its potential in the context of usage for a film,
- select and edit different pieces of music for a film,
- critically analyze one's choice and edit the music in the context of the picture from a technical and functional perspective.
(3) Understanding the role of music in film.

Katarzyna Figat, PhD in music arts (film sound engineering), graduated from the Faculty of Philology at the University of Lodz (MA in Film Studies). Lecturer at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz and National Film School in Łódź. Film sound engineer and passionate film expert. She is engaged in intense academic activity, taking part in conferences and academic projects as well as publishing. She works as a music supervisor and sound editor for feature films, documentaries and TV series.

In this workshop students will collect messages they understand as common. They will transform, compose and design them into subversive narratives and put them back in place using typographic media and risograph reproduction. The participants will walk around the city looking for intriguing messages, signs, letters, symbols and then document their findings. Then, the collected material will be analyzed through the prism of linguistic intelligibility, informational meaning and typographic potential. Students will share their views. The idea is to modify the messages found into new – uncommon/underground – narratives. The group will be organized into small, culturally diverse groups to compose their own stories and develop their own letters, signs and symbols. These are then used to design flyers, posters, pamphlets and to reproduce them using risograph printing. Then the prints will be dropped in the places where sources were found and document the actions.

Students
- find and critically analyze messages in the urban environment,
- compose a short text and develop typographic elements,
- design a visual communication and reproduce low-circulation printed matter,
- document and present their work.

Domen Fras is a graphic designer who has been involved in numerous projects in various media linking architectural, graphic and typographic design. His design approaches were presented in the solo exhibition Looking Back Up Close and published in the book of the same name. He is a professor of Typography at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana. He complements his teaching with organizing summer schools and guiding typo walks in his hometown Ljubljana.

This workshop invites students to explore the hidden life of everyday objects by reinterpreting their function and meaning through the lens of Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy and rhizomatic thinking, hands-on prototyping, and Augmented Reality technology. Students will create hybrid assemblages with AR that uncover uncommon connections between the physical and digital worlds. The aim is to develop technical skills in AR design, deepen design thinking through conceptual object creation, enhance collaboration across disciplines and craft compelling narratives that connect art, technology and philosophy. The workshop combines interaction/intra-action design, art and visual communication to foster creative engagement with material, meaning and media.

- Technical skills – Basic skills in Mattercraft, web-based AR-editor.
- Design thinking – Conceptualizing and creating hybrid objects grounded in philosophical ideas.
- Collaboration
The workshop will result in hands-on prototypes where students combine real objects with AR elements to create interactive installations that highlight hidden stories of everyday materials. Students work in small teams using their own laptops throughout the process.

Antti Heinonen (Master of Culture and Arts) is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Experience Design at LAB University of Applied Sciences (Lahti, Finland). He has experience in teaching in Design, Information Design, and Information Design and Research.
Hanna Heinonen (Doctor of Arts) is a University Lecturer in Art Education at the University of Lapland (Rovaniemi, Finland). She has experience in visual art teaching, posthumanist art pedagogy, art-based research and artistic practice.

The design concept for data visualization has a major influence on the understanding and interpretation of the phenomena described by abstract data. A conceptually coherent, truthful, appropriate and at the same time surprising design implementation can therefore be an effective impact of combating disinformation and manipulation. The aim is always to make the phenomena hidden behind abstract data sets effectively visible and tangible in order to generate understanding, new insights or impressive experiences. Novel and unexpected visualizations or presentations are more memorable than conventional ones. Therefore, the students' task is not only to develop a comprehensible und precise data visualization on a virulent socio-political topic (such as resource scarcity or income distribution or plastic waste in the ocean), but also to experimentally investigate which form of representation can be used to make the abstract data as vivid, impressive and memorable as possible.

The data sets are to be presented in self-developed analogue, digital or hybrid prototypes, e.g. as a three-dimensional sculpture, room installation, data object, animated film, as an analogue hands-on station or interactive media station. Based on their own projects, students learn how design can make a relevant contribution to a deeper understanding of complex and abstract phenomena, which is particularly important in post-factual times of disinformation and deep fakes.

After studying at Berlin Weißensee School of Art Eva-Maria Heinrich worked in Berlin as freelance designer in the cultural fields. At Atelier Brückner she worked as Creative Director on award-winning exhibition projects such as 'Archaeology Switzerland' at the Swiss National Museum. She taught Typography and Visual Representation at the Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Art and Design. Since 2020 she is Professor of Communication Design at the HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences.

In everyday life we are surrounded by countless technological malfunctions, an event that we try to avoid as much as possible. At the same time, we are attracted to malfunctions because we can start a dialogue with technology through its language. Glitch art is an artistic practice that adopts digital or analog malfunctions for aesthetic purposes through digital data modification or physical manipulation of electronic devices. The workshop will deal with Glitch Art as an intellectual and aesthetic practice and will at the same time try to develop a method for work based on errors. It is designed to provide intellectual tools for the designer working in a digital region and creative tools for new, surprising, and unpredictable graphic visual design. The workshop encourages a mental process and challenges the boundaries of graphic design. How can we start a dialog with machines? What can we say about our way of communicating with them?

The workshop aims to expand the students' conceptual abilities in transforming abstract qualities such as: malfunction, error, mistake, failure, accident into visual aesthetics. Students will follow the Glitch manifesto, Glitch theories and use random techniques as a material in their work. The creative result can be a graphic product or series of products using mixed media: analog media (collage, stitching) and digital media (short video or screen-based work).

Adi Karelitz is a lecturer at the Visual Communication Design Department of Holon Institute of Technologie (HIT) since 2008. Leaping between practice as a freelance designer and curator, and theory as a lecturer. Master's degree with honors in the Interdisciplinary Program in the Arts, Tel Aviv University. Her area of research deals with digital and analog malfunctions in the visual field, with an emphasis on Glitch art theories.

This workshop places participants in a fictional scenario set in 2033 after the collapse of the internet due to an AI rebellion. In this context designers become part of the Lost Data Resistance, a group dedicated to rebuilding collective memory through visual strategies and propaganda. Through graphic design, storytelling, and gamification, students will explore themes such as misinformation, digital memory, and data manipulation. Using tools for editorial design, web prototyping, 3D scanning, and guerrilla design strategies, they will create posters, zines, fake websites, and other communication formats. The workshop aims to foster critical thinking, to encourage reflection on design as a tool for resistance, and to enhance storytelling and visual skills in an immersive, participatory environment.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have strengthened their skills in visual communication, editorial and web design, and storytelling. They will create resistance materials, including guerrilla posters, a fanzine, and a website integrating recovered 3D files and scans. These hands-on projects will explore the role of design in preserving digital memory and combating misinformation, emphasizing creativity, clarity, and impactful visual narratives.

Álvaro Sanchis and Melani Lleonart hold PhDs in Fine Arts and Design. They are professors and researchers at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, teaching in the Bachelor's Program in Design and Creative Technologies and the Master's Program in Design and Illustration. Their areas of expertise include graphic design, user experience, digital design, visual identity, editorial design, sustainability, and design theory. They are co-founders of Pedra, a studio specializing in editorial design and cultural communication projects.

The future seems to have lost its imaginative power. The belief that everything has already been discovered has led to a society that looks to tomorrow with resignation and limited expectations. This challenges us to find new ways to innovate and imagine a different world. To do so, we must return to our origins, where founding cities or nations was an act of hope and transformation. The workshop invites participants to rediscover the visionary drive necessary to build new futures. Drawing inspiration from micronations – small independent entities without traditional models of governance and belonging – and relationships between communities and the environment will be explored and reimagined. Students will design their own micronation, explore founding narratives, identity symbols like flags and currencies, innovative communication systems, and sustainable technologies. The goal is to provide practical and conceptual tools to envision new social spaces and unconventional community dynamic.

Students will develop creative problem-solving, storytelling, and critical thinking skills, focusing on designing innovative, eco-centered societal concepts. Through an open-ended task and hands-on prototyping – both digital and physical – with interdisciplinary collaboration, they will craft cohesive design outcomes and compelling micronation narratives. The workshop emphasizes interactive presentations, fostering effective communication and sustainable, impactful design solutions.

Emilio Lonardo is a multifaceted designer and educator, deeply involved in design and innovation. Since 2013 he has been imparting knowledge at Politecnico di Milano and Poli.Design. Emilio holds a PhD in Design and his research explores the intersection between space, humans and other entities. He is the founder of the "Quadentro" and CEO of the startup D.O.S. Design Open Spaces. He has several publications in design and poetry.

This workshop dives into the heart of cultural expressions through design, fostering an environment where participants explore, share, and integrate diverse cultural experiences into audiovisual narratives. Starting with personal experiences of culture, we focus on aspects like clothing, music, and food, enriching our understanding through discussions, online research, and excursions into the city and neighborhoods. Participants will gather audiovisual materials, aiming to collaboratively create a short video that weaves together these cultural threads collected during the workshop days. This experience not only celebrates diversity but also seeks the threads that bind us together in the global tapestry.

Participants will gain insights into various cultural experiences and learn to articulate these perspectives through image and sound, creating a unified yet diverse narrative. They will develop skills in collaborative design processes, enhancing the ability to incorporate diverse cultural elements into cohesive audiovisual projects.

Moses Lugonvu is currently pursuing a PhD from Nkumba University, where his research focuses on "Rethinking the Cultural-Economic functions of Uganda's Indigenous Pottery. A case of Ganda Pottery". He holds a Master's of Commercial, Industrial Art and Design (Nkumba), a Postgraduate Diploma in Education and a Bachelor's of Arts in Fine Art from Makerere University. With a strong background in art, design, and cultural studies, he continues to contribute to research and practice in the field.

In this workshop students will be exploring and designing visuals and sounds for immersive experiences. They will do this by taking still photos and doing sound recordings (with additional sound effects and music) to create a short story reflecting on an aspect of society (such as hidden rules, inclusivity and equal rights, sustainability issues, or biodiversity). The images will be stitched into a 360 scene that will be accompanied by an immersive soundscape. Participants will then reflect upon this story, the experiential qualities of the story and of the society that is portrayed. Based on these reflections they will redesign the experience to challenge or address the aspect that is the focus of the story, working with editing and layering of the visuals and the sounds. The story will be viewed in VR headsets for the best immersive experience.

In the workshop, students will learn immersive storytelling with visuals and sound. This includes taking photos, editing and stitching them, and recording and editing sound and music. Speculative design and redesign of a story, and critical reflections on societal aspects will be important learning outcomes. The result will be a short immersive story, highlighting a norm in society that concerns individuals in society, and the redesign will challenge this aspect.

Mina Mani is pursuing her PhD at Linköping University by exploring the intersection between design, education, and interactive visual media with a background in visual media design. She teaches Immersive information spaces, Augmented Information spaces, and Advanced Visualization design. Niklas Rönnberg, is a senior Associate Professor in Sonification and Sound design at Linköping University, with a background in Media and Communication studies. He teaches Sound Technology and Procedural Sound Design, Music and Film Production and Visual Storytelling.

What if the underground world – both literally and metaphorically – was inhabited by creatures we have never seen or heard before? What if these beings were hybrids of organic and artificial life, responding to hidden signals, environmental changes, or human interaction? UnCOMMON Creatures is a hands-on, cross-disciplinary workshop where students will design and build interactive artifacts that embody the unseen, the unheard, and the misunderstood. Using electronics, physical computing, and craft materials, participants will bring to life weird and unexpected creatures that reflect themes found in uncommon ecosystems. Students will explore how technology can contribute to narratives of the unseen and unheard – turning passive objects into living, responsive entities. By the end of the UnCOMMON Creatures workshop, each team will have created a functional, interactive creature – a hybrid entity that responds to its surroundings using physical computing and crafted materials.

- Encourage interdisciplinarity by working together on storytelling, crafts, and interactive technology.
- Introduction of physical computing and electronics as a tool for designing experimental interactive experiences through prototyping.
- Foster hands-on prototyping skills through rapid experimentation with sensors, motors, and mixed-media development.
- Develop critical perspectives on non-human artificial creatures through the lens of creative technology.

Carla Molins-Pitarch, PhD, MFA, is an experience designer, creative technologist, and researcher working at the intersection of design, technology, and science to bring a tangible instance to complex concepts. Currently, she is a researcher at the Image Processing and Multimedia Technology Center, UPC (DiCode: digital culture and creative technologies research group). Marie Curie fellow, PhD in communication UPF (Spain) 2019-2023; La Caixa Fellow, Design & Technology MFA '19 Parsons, The New School (USA).

This workshop explores food as a medium of communication, revealing its role in media, cultural rituals, and ethics. Through hands-on analysis and creative processes, participants will examine the power of food to shape narratives, influence perception, and communicate values. Participants will:
- Decode food-related media to uncover hidden meanings and biases.
- Analyze the connection between food, design, and ethical discourse.
- Develop their own edible / food related narratives as a means of communication and storytelling.
By merging design thinking with sensory engagement this workshop reframes food as an active, communicative force. In a world of misinformation and shifting food systems it offers tools to critically engage with the role of food in shaping perception, cultural identity, and interaction. Through this process, participants gain a deeper understanding of the communicative power of food and its implications in media, ethics, and design.

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of food as a design medium, exploring its role in communication, storytelling, and cultural exchange. The final mini exhibition will focus on food perception, showcasing prototypes of edible or non-edible reflections of the topic. It will challenge viewers to examine their beliefs and rethink food as the most important material on earth, revealing its deeper cultural, ethical, and sensory dimensions.

Liron Tzanhany, lecturer at Holon Institute of Technologie (HIT), is a food experience designer and founder of FOOD FORMA, a creative studio specializing in tailor-made food experiences. With a Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Liron explores food as a material for storytelling, innovation, and cultural connection. Collaborating with food-tech companies and brands, her work merges design, sustainability, and sensory engagement, shaping the future of healthier and more meaningful food experiences.

How can we visualize the concepts that define modern society but remain invisible? Tolerance, aggression, corruption, resistance, and responsibility – these and other phenomena shape our reality, yet they lack clear visual representations. In this project, students will explore these concepts through graphic experimentation, developing visual metaphors that make complex social and political processes more tangible and comprehensible. The program combines research-driven approaches with hands-on practice. Through reflective exercises, visual experiments, and collaborative teamwork, participants will explore social concepts and develop ways to express them graphically. The learning process includes discussions, rapid prototyping, critical analysis, and engagement with various media. This space fosters designers who not only possess strong technical skills but also have the ability to convey deep social meanings, making complex ideas both visible and accessible for communication.

Students will learn to identify the core meanings of concepts and transform them into compelling visual statements. Through this process, they will develop skills in conceptual thinking, visual analysis, and experimental design. Participants will work with a variety of media, including posters, animation, and video art, to explore and express complex social ideas.

Oleg Veklenko is a graphic designer and professor at Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts (KSADA). In 1986, he participated in the mitigation efforts near the exposed Chernobyl nuclear reactor during the first two critical months after the accident. In 1991, he founded 'The 4th Block International Eco Poster Triennial' (Kharkiv, Ukraine) and served as its president. Nadiia Velychko is a designer and lecturer. She is an expert of the Ukrainian Cultural Fund and has experience with international programs in Poland, Austria, Germany, Israel, France.

In this workshop students will create a series of silkscreen-printed posters reflecting on contemporary socio-political challenges. In an era where analog and digital realms converge this workshop explores the interplay between political narratives, design, and critical discourse. By combining hands-on experiences in screen printing, participants will engage in visual storytelling to foster dialogue around shared experiences, hidden challenges, and diverse perspectives.

Participants will engage in creating impactful silkscreened posters that reflect contemporary socio-political challenges. The workshop culminates in an exhibition and showcase during Design Month Graz, held at the Festival Center Hornig Areal, Waagner-Biro-Straße 39.
On Monday May 12, there will be a Jam Session "Print 'n' Dance", where posters are collaboratively designed and printed live on site at the Festival Center Hornig Areal from 4 pm to 10 pm. Participating students are encouraged to attend.

Prof. Lars Harmsen (www.melvilledesign.de / www.slanted.de) from FH Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts runs Poster Rex with Prof. Markus Lange from TH Nuremberg (Technische Hochschule Georg Simon Ohm Nürnberg) since 2015. They are experts in poster design and silkscreen printing.

In this workshop students will create digital projections addressing the themes of the International Design Week "unCOMMON underGROUND" and the Design Month Graz "The New Real." In an era where analog and digital realms converge this workshop explores the interplay between political narratives, design, and critical discourse. By digital projection, participants will engage in visual storytelling to foster dialogue around shared experiences, hidden challenges, and diverse perspectives.

Participants will engage in creating impactful digital projections that reflect contemporary socio-political challenges. The workshop culminates in an exhibition and showcase during Design Month Graz, held at the Festival Center Hornig Areal in Waagner-Biro-Straße 39.
On Monday May 12, there will be a Jam Session "Print 'n' Dance", where posters are collaboratively designed and printed live on site at the Festival Center Hornig Areal from 4 pm to 10 pm. Participating students are encouraged to attend.

Prof. Roger Walk is a distinguished academic specializing in Interaction and Motion Design. He studied Philosophy, Linguistics, and German Literature at the University of Konstanz (1990–1994) and later pursued Visual Communication and Interaction Design at HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd (1994–1998). Since 2015, he has been a professor at FH Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, leading the Bachelor program in Communication Design.