Anthropogenic Narratives. Communicating and Experiencing Non-Human Perspectives

The paper explores the implementation of an anti-disciplinary approach within a Communication Design Studio at Politecnico di Milano, focusing on teaching visual identity and experience design through a speculative design framework. Students are encouraged to engage in problem-seeking and problem-finding practices, fostering the development of concepts and scenarios without predetermined functions. The studio’s main outputs are communication design ecosystems manifested through visual identities, experiences, and Communicative Machines prototypes. These artefacts were showcased in an open event/exhibition, inviting external feedback. Anthropogenic Narratives, starting from the assumption of proposing non-human perspectives (e.g., the ones of rocks, sun, moon, or ice), aim to provoke and activate reflections on the relationship between humans and nature. Each subject is treated as a fictional organisation, which communicates through all the necessary elements of a fictional brand and related touchpoints, unfolding futuristic scenarios while involving the human/user in interactive experiences essential to understanding the narratives. The results come from an experimental educational path based on the risk of trying new solutions and techniques and verifying them on a real scale. Design speculations that are not meant to give answers and certainties aim to imagine new questions and reflect on contemporary and future times. A learning path that intends to go beyond the centrality of téchne to encourage the wielding of knowledge.