Seeds for Nations Of Plants Des — Portfolio Alaka Shantakumar

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Seeds for Nations of Plants
Exhibition Design | Publication | Illustration

Mentors: Ellen Lupton, Chen Lou, Jennifer Cole Philps,
Jeff Glendenning, Jeremy Hoffeman

We live in a world shaped by human ideologies. Yet our nations remain at war, and the pursuit of progress threatens the environment, pushing humanity toward collapse. The decay of our ideologies is evident, leaving us to ask what future we can look forward to. Perhaps the answer lies with plants, ancient beings that have thrived for eons and embody resilience, renewal, and harmonious coexistence.

Inspired by Stefano Mancuso’s The Nation of Plants, my thesis advocates for a world guided by the wisdom of plants. Through zines, posters, and speculative design assets, it uses graphic design as a tool both to spread this vision and to visualize how a plant-centered worldview might be experienced as lived reality. Much like the quiet benevolence of nature, its tone of voice is reflective rather than didactic, gently nudging audiences toward curiosity, reflection, and action through poetic storytelling.

Phase 1 - Making the Case

Zine establishes why humans need to acknowledge plant wisdom. Using appropriated botanical specimen documentation aesthetics - but inverted so plants present their own evidence - the zine positions plant knowledge as empirical fact rather than abstract philosophy.

Phase 2 - Propagating the Idea
Exhibition of propaganda posters spreads plant philosophy using Fibbiola typography (condensed like political posters, curved like nature). The visual language persists gently rather than demands urgently, mimicking how plants communicate.

Phase 3 - Lived Reality
Speculative design artifacts (currency, governance structures, organizational systems) visualize the world that emerges when plant wisdom shapes human civilization.