Humanizing Data Through Design with Giorgia Lupi

In this episode of the AIGA Design Podcast, hosts Lee-Sean Huang and Giulia Donatello sit down with Giorgia Lupi to explore her journey from an architecture student and musician in Italy to a pioneer of data humanism and partner at Pentagram in New York City. Giorgia discusses her latest books, her Love Letter to the New York City subway, and why she recently broke up with ChatGPT. Whether you're a seasoned designer or a curious learner, Giorgia’s insights invite us to see data as a profoundly human, creative, and essential storytelling tool.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Introduction to Giorgia Lupi and her focus on data humanism

02:00 - Giorgia’s early influences: architecture, music, and data collection at her grandmother’s tailor shop

05:00 - Spark moments: designing band album artwork and transitioning into data visualization

06:40 - Discussing her book Speak Data and the process behind it

09:00 - The human stories within data: interviews with leading thinkers on data’s meaning

13:15 - The Dear Data project: weekly postcards and framing personal data conversations

16:00 - Inspired by data visualizations and how personal relationships shape data storytelling

18:00 - Data as a love letter to the NYC subway system: poetic visualization of transit data

25:00 - Designing data for children: This Is Me and Only Me and engaging young audiences

27:30 - The challenge of complex data: finding human stories in big or aggregated datasets

30:20 - Designing the data set: choosing what to include and how to add context

32:00 - Combining qualitative and quantitative data: mentoring teams and storytelling strategies

34:30 - The evolving role of data in design and how to navigate cross-disciplinary data practices

38:00 - Perspectives on AI: cautious optimism, data as a resource, and preserving human creativity

43:00 - Inspirations and making for the sake of making: art exhibitions, painting, and experimentation

45:30 - Final thoughts: cultivating critical thinking and curiosity in a data-driven world

REFERENCES

• Our previous episode of the AIGA Design Podcast with Giorgia Lupi from 2020: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/aigadesign/episodes/Giorgia-Lupi-on-Data-Humanism-ecs2f7

• Giorgia Lupi’s personal website: https://giorgialupi.com/

• Pentagram – The World’s Largest Independent Design Consultancy: https://www.pentagram.com/ 

• Speak Data: Artists, Scientists, Thinkers, and Dreamers on How We Live Our Lives in Numbers: https://amzn.to/4qXAQl4 

• Dear Data: https://amzn.to/3Msgrqj 

• This is Me and Only Me: https://amzn.to/46pMrlH

• A Data Love Letter to the Subway: https://www.mta.info/agency/arts-design/digital-art/data-love-letter 

• Two Craigs Take on a 1-Year Performance Challenge (2025 AIGA Design Conference): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdjkZu_qvDM 

• 2Craigs: https://www.2craigs.com/ 

• Ruth Asawa, A Retrospective: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5768

• Wifredo Lam, When I Don’t Sleep I Dream at MoMA: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5788

• Alfred Jensen at the Pace Gallery: https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/alfred-jensen/