Giorgia Lupi tells stories through patterns and garments

Giorgia Lupi (38) is an information designer based in Brooklyn, NY, US. In Issue 36 she tells us what she’s been up to. 

What are you up to these days?

I’m a partner at the international design firm Pentagram, and my focus is on information design. Recently, we released a data-driven fashion collection for the brand, & Other Stories. The fabric is based on information about the achievements of three women who were pioneers in a previously male-dominated field.

We are telling stories through the patterns and garments that people are wearing. In addition to that, we designed the interaction exhibition ‘Who we are: Visualizing NYC by the numbers’, for the Museum of the City of New York in the US. I work on a broad range of projects, but the idea is always to collect information and present it visually.

How did visualizing data became your specialty?

I have a master’s degree in architecture, and I was always interested in the practice of urban mapping. If you think about it, mapping a city is already an information design process. I got progressively fascinated by how we can use information design for abstracting and representing visible aspects of our lives. I have a creative and expressive side in me, but I really thrive when my design is based on rules, numbers and structure.

What do you love about information design?

By creating patterns and visualizations, people can understand and read the data through the language or key we design. I like the variety in that and the fact that I get to design something totally original. I tend to get bored really easily, so creating something new is really important for me. In my work, it is all about questioning what’s in the data. And how will people be able to access the information?

What do you like to do in your free time?

I am a yoga practitioner, so I do that almost every morning before I go to the office. On the weekend, I like to take yoga classes. New York is always full of art shows, gallery exhibits and other interesting activities. I like to visit an exhibition when I have a day off. And I also like to meet up with my friends.

  • Read more about what Giorgia and others are up to in Issue 36.

Text Jeanette Jonker  Photography Vito Maria Grattacaso/GiorgaLupi.com