In a recent workshop within the Master in Product Design at SPD Scuola Politecnica di Design, students explored the intersection between design and visual storytelling through a dynamic collaboration with communication professionals Maia Sambonet, Elisa Testori, Claude Marzotto, and Alfredo Taroni. The workshop was rooted in a previous hands-on project Small Series, developed with designer Francesco Faccin and invited students to reinterpret and translate those design explorations into compelling visual narratives.
From Object to Booklet: Crafting Design Narratives
In the first phase of the module, led by Maia Sambonet (Obelo) and Elisa Testori, students created a booklet that combined graphic design and written content to communicate the essence of their Small Series projects. Through a careful balance of layout, typography, and storytelling, each booklet served as a curated extension of the physical object—revealing the design process, inspirations, and material journey behind it. Students engaged in writing and editing texts, experimenting with form, sequence, and tone, while also designing graphic frameworks that enhanced their narrative intent. This phase challenged them to think like editors and communicators, sharpening their ability to distill complex projects into accessible, evocative formats. The booklet became a medium not just for presentation, but for reflection a space where making met meaning.
From Booklet to Poster: Amplifying the Message
The second part of the project, led by Claude Marzotto and Alfredo Taroni, extended this visual narrative into the realm of poster design. Students were asked to extract the visual and conceptual DNA of their booklet and translate it into a large-scale, impactful communication artifact. The poster became a distillation—a single frame to capture the spirit of an entire project. Students explored scale, composition, visual rhythm, and typographic tension. The goal: to communicate their project in a bold, graphic language that could stand alone while remaining coherent with the booklet it was inspired by.
Design, Communicated
This workshop emphasized how crucial communication is within the design process—how storytelling, layout, and editorial thinking can add layers of meaning to physical work. By engaging in both micro (booklet) and macro (poster) forms of visual narrative, students experienced how content, form, and context shape the perception of design.
A Collaborative Continuum
By building on the Small Series experience and layering new disciplines onto it, this workshop created a rich, interdisciplinary dialogue. From product development to storytelling, from editorial design to visual synthesis, students embraced communication not as an afterthought, but as a vital part of the design journey demonstrating how narrative and object can evolve in tandem, amplifying each other’s impact.