POLI.design

Una banca può davvero parlare alla Gen Z?
Si è concluso il terzo e ultimo Project Work del Master in Brand Communication MBC | Master in Brand Communication di POLI.design, realizzato in collaborazione con Emil Banca BCC Emil Banca Credito Cooperativo
Quattro gruppi, stessa sfida: costruire una strategia di comunicazione capace di avvicinare Emil Banca, con oltre 130 anni di storia e un forte radicamento territoriale, alle nuove generazioni. Quattro risposte diverse, ciascuna con una propria chiave di lettura e una propria visione di come valorizzare l’identità del brand. Vedere come prospettive differenti possano mettere in luce aspetti diversi di uno stesso brand è una delle lezioni più preziose che un percorso come questo può offrire. Ringraziamo ancora Gianna Terzani e Gaia Zavoli di Swan&Koi per aver guidato gli studenti e Lorenzo Sartori (Area Innovazione & Sostenibilità), Paola Misiti (Responsabile comunicazione) e Alessandro Ferrari (Ufficio Comunicazione) di Emil Banca per aver portato in aula una sfida reale e stimolante. Si chiude così l’ultimo modulo del master che ha attraversato settori, linguaggi e sfide molto diversi tra loro, e ha formato professionisti pronti ad affrontarli.

Look at that bio-helmet!
A few days ago, students from our Specializing Master in Design for Sustainability & Regeneration presented their final projects for the Biomimicry–Biodesign course.
The course didn’t begin with briefs or materials. It began with observation: slowing down enough to actually look at how living systems work, and letting that change how you think as a designer.
For their final project, the brief was a helmet. Not to redesign it from scratch, but to use it as a vehicle: identifying specific biological strategies that could improve comfort and create better protective structures. Nature as a method, applied to something already familiar.
What came back were concepts grounded in how organisms absorb impact, manage airflow, distribute load; strategies refined over millions of years, translated into design propositions.
The result is a reflection on how protective objects can be reimagined through nature-inspired forms, material choices, and ecological thinking. A meaningful closing moment, highlighting how design can move beyond imitation and engage more deeply with the logic of living systems.

Visit our website to learn more about the next edition starting in November 2026!

This isn’t your typical airport.
The Specializing Master in Strategic Design reshapes the traveler experience through service innovation and AI. Highlights from the workshop with Bain & Company.

Airports are evolving from transport infrastructures into complex service ecosystems where retail, mobility, hospitality, entertainment, and digital services intersect. What might a more valuable, personalized, and business-relevant airport experience look like in the age of AI? This was the core question driving our students.
Acting as Strategic and Service Designers, they conducted research and envisioned new services, touchpoints, and business opportunities for airport operators. They explored the broader airport ecosystem beyond aviation, including pre-departure, landside, arrival, and transfer experiences.
The final outcomes and presentations brought forward ideas with real potential to make a difference.

Congratulations to all our students and thanks to Daniela Maurer (Product e Strategic Designer - Researcher and Adjunct Professor) and Leandro Sgro (Service and Strategic Designer) for their guidance.

Visit our website to learn more about the next edition of the Specializing Master in Strategic Design, starting in October.

Artificial Intelligence is already reshaping how services are designed and experienced.

From Spotify’s personalized playlists to McDonald’s adaptive menus, AI enables services to respond dynamically to contextual variables such as time, location, and user behavior.
As explored in Medium’s article “Service Design in the Age of AI” (by Matteo Mariani), this marks a shift from static journeys to systems that evolve in real time. Personalization is no longer optional—it is becoming the standard.
In this scenario, the Service Designer’s role is evolving. Designers are becoming multidisciplinary facilitators, connecting business, technology, and user needs while ensuring that AI-driven services remain human-centered, meaningful, and accessible. At the same time, they design the systems behind the solutions—defining frameworks, feedback loops, and ethical boundaries.
This transformation calls for new skills, including technical literacy, data sense-making, systems thinking, and ethical reasoning, with a growing focus on trust and adaptability.

Our Executive Course in Service Design for Systemic Change equips you with the tools to leverage AI both in the design process and as a core component of new service experiences—helping you address today’s social, economic, and environmental challenges.
If you’d like to learn more about the next edition starting in September 2026, visit our webpage.

A New Life for Plastic: Visit to SuperForma and Workshop of the Specializing Master in Design for Sustainability & Regeneration
Starting from the case study of MAIRE Group—a company committed to supporting the energy transition through the integration of technological innovation, engineering, and design—students were invited to explore and develop concepts for the reuse of plastic materials. In particular, they focused on a recycled polymer developed by NEXTCHEM, the Group company implementing sustainable technological solutions. The aim was to translate the principles of the circular economy into tangible design practices by engaging directly with real materials, production processes, and industrial partnerships.
As part of the Circular Economy module’s laboratory activities, students were guided by Mattia Ciurnelli, founder of SuperForma, a design studio specializing in digital fabrication, 3D printing, and the development of sustainable technologies. During the visit, participants worked on a real design brief and engaged hands-on in a professional context.
This experience offered a concrete demonstration of circular economy workflows—from waste repurposing to functional prototyping—highlighting how designers can embed closed-loop resource strategies into digital manufacturing processes to reduce environmental impact.
Workshops are a key milestone of the Specializing Master in Design for Sustainability & Regeneration. These practical experiences foster experimentation and the development of new ideas, bridging theory and real-world application.
If you would like to learn more about the program, visit our website.

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Postcards from – our students welcomed Italian and international buyers, guiding them through the Italian Specialty Selection.

TUTTOFOOD is an international trade fair for the food and beverage sector, bringing together producers, buyers, distributors, and hospitality professionals from around the world in Milan. As part of our collaboration, students from the Specializing Master in Design for Food led a series of thematic tours during this edition, accompanying visitors through the Italian Specialty Selection—an exclusive showcase of authentic, high-quality Italian products.
This experience offered a valuable opportunity to explore production processes and the food supply chain—two key areas of focus within the Master. The program trains highly skilled professionals capable of developing innovative and sustainable solutions for the food sector, with a strong emphasis on enhancing territorial, economic, and environmental value.
Learn more about the next edition of the Master, starting in October. Visit our webpage!

Sparks of light at POLI.design! Grazie a e a tutti coloro che hanno partecipato alla lecture “Un’ora di luce”. Durante il talk abbiamo esplorato la pratica progettuale di uno dei maestri contemporanei del light design e abbiamo conosciuto da vicino alcuni dei suoi progetti più iconici: opere che hanno lasciato un’impronta, contribuendo a ridefinire il concetto stesso di luce e ottenendo per questo importanti riconoscimenti.
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Thanks to Davide Groppi and everyone who joined his lecture “Un’ora di luce.” During the talk, we explored the design approach of one of the leading figures in contemporary lighting design and got a closer look at some of his most iconic projects—works that have left a mark, helping redefine the very idea of light and earning major recognition along the way.

Un’ora di luce | Open Lecture by Davide Groppi | May 15 – Campus Bovisa Durando

La serie “Design Sparks” ospita un progettista che ha fatto della luce il suo elemento d’elezione. Dal 1988 Davide Groppi ha sviluppato progetti originali presenti in tutto il mondo. La lecture sarà un’occasione per scoprire il suo immaginario fatto di semplicità, leggerezza, emozione, invenzione e stupore.

The “Design Sparks” series welcomes a designer who has made light the core element of his practice. Since 1988, Davide Groppi has developed original projects showcased worldwide. The lecture will offer an opportunity to explore an imaginative vision in which simplicity, lightness, emotion, invention and amazement seamlessly converge.

Friday, May 15 | 5:00–7:00 PM
Sala Conferenze B201, Bovisa Durando Campus

Register via the link in BIO.