SEMIOGRAPHICA
DESIGN / SEMIOTICS & CULTURE / FUTURES
Futureña, is Malex Salamanques's personal – and ongoing– observatory exploring the intersection of semiotics, cultural analysis, and speculative and critical design in Latin America.
https://malexsalamanquesamiel.substack.com
Transforming Our stories
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In this episode she discusses the transformative power of reframing identity through design and semiotics. She highlights the importance of worlds within worlds, embracing chaos, and crafting new narratives. The themes of pluriversality, decolonizing meaning, and designing for a dynamic future are central to our
Transforming Our stories
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In this episode she discusses the transformative power of reframing identity through design and semiotics. She highlights the importance of worlds within worlds, embracing chaos, and crafting new narratives. The themes of pluriversality, decolonizing meaning, and designing for a dynamic future are central to our conversation.
Endogenous Futures
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"For me, Endogenous Futures, as the name suggests, are imagined and shaped from the inside out. These are futures that resist relying solely on narratives from other regions or being overly influenced by external perspectives. This concept is particularly significant for Latin America, and it came from my reflections o
Endogenous Futures
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"For me, Endogenous Futures, as the name suggests, are imagined and shaped from the inside out. These are futures that resist relying solely on narratives from other regions or being overly influenced by external perspectives. This concept is particularly significant for Latin America, and it came from my reflections on how the region has historically envisioned its own future.
I don't want to generalize because I know there are people doing incredible work, especially in social innovation and forward-thinking practices. However, the core of this idea is that we must imagine our futures from within, resisting the easier path of defaulting to the 'ontology of annihilation'—where everything seems doomed, and the only solution is to abandon this planet. These narratives of collapse often overshadow others focused on rescue, regeneration, connection, or reconnection with indigenous practices.
In my view, Endogenous Futures are not isolated. Quite the opposite: they are deeply connected to external realities. Being endogenous doesn’t mean they ignore what's happening outside the region, but rather they prioritize internal well-being and practices, emerging from within. It's about giving precedence to the region’s own systems, values, and ways of understanding time, growth, and value, while still being aware and open to global influences.
In essence, Endogenous Futures are about creating a space where Latin America can own its futures narrative, rooted in its unique context, and shaped by its strengths."
Malex Salamanques
Parte 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eaetGrAvks
Parte 2
Rituals Design For Transition
w/Julius Colwyn @ Semiofest
Malex and Julius spoke about the role of rituals as catalysts for personal, social, and institutional change, highlighting the liminal, semiotic, and experiential nature combined. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, their presentation integrated semiotics, cognitive neuroscience, e
Rituals Design For Transition
w/Julius Colwyn @ Semiofest
Malex and Julius spoke about the role of rituals as catalysts for personal, social, and institutional change, highlighting the liminal, semiotic, and experiential nature combined. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, their presentation integrated semiotics, cognitive neuroscience, economic models, cross-cultural studies, and validated insights through speculative design. Rituals can reframe crises as opportunities for change, moving from despair to hope and from paralysis to action, especially in addressing vacuums of meaning and unmet needs in contemporary culture.
https://www.semiofest.com/2024/speakers-talks/malex-salamanques-julius-colwyn/
Critical and Speculative Design Practice and Semiotics: Meaning-Crafting for Futures Ready Brands
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This article concerns the use of critical design practices within the context of commercial semiotics, arguing that incorporating practices from a critical design approach is valuable for client brands, but also an important means with which
Critical and Speculative Design Practice and Semiotics: Meaning-Crafting for Futures Ready Brands
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This article concerns the use of critical design practices within the context of commercial semiotics, arguing that incorporating practices from a critical design approach is valuable for client brands, but also an important means with which to incite brands to consider more deeply their role in shaping the future. As an alternative to the oppositional approach frequently taken by critical design practitioners, working through design practices collaboratively alongside client brands creates potential for the radical changes sought by many of the movement’s vanguard. A case study of recent work with a corporate client demonstrates the practical effects of using critical design practice within a commercial setting, proving the complementarity between critical design practice and commercial semiotics – where the confluence of the thinking brought new value to improve product design for example – and points to the value of using current leading edge thinking within the design community.
Visions from Latin America: Critically navigating uncertain futures
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A cross-cultural dialogue with practitioners and thinkers working in Latin America and the Latin American Diaspora. They shared insights about design methods and applications, systems and cultural patterns that could help all of us think differently about how we navigate
Visions from Latin America: Critically navigating uncertain futures
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A cross-cultural dialogue with practitioners and thinkers working in Latin America and the Latin American Diaspora. They shared insights about design methods and applications, systems and cultural patterns that could help all of us think differently about how we navigate complexity and uncertainty.
This huge region of great bio and cultural diversity is exported globally through many tropes and fantasies and is often described as ‘developing’ or ‘emerging'. In this session we challenged this loaded idea and explore how, in what ways and what are the possible emergences or developments that are uniquely shaping Latin America's futures.
The conversation was led by School of Critical Design Fellow Malex Salamanques.
The speakers included:
IgnacioTovar Fernandez - Centro de Futuros - TEC Monterrey - Toluca
Juan Pablo Garcia Sossa - “Real Magicalism”- Estación Terrena - Bogotá / Design department SAVVY - Berlin
Jose de La O - “Takes Technological Aesthetics in Mexico” - De La O Estudio - CDM
Jorge Camacho - "Do ‘Futures’ Create Futures?” Diagonal Studio - Diagonal Estudio - CDM
Malex Salamanques - Mundano Bogota/ UK