GREENLAND: A Modern Life

Design Research, Digital, Publication Design & Speculative Design Workshops

GREENLAND: A Modern Life is a research-led publication and speculative design teaching framework developed to support design students at RMIT University in developing their understanding of design thinking, building contextual awareness, critical observation skills, and future-facing thinking. Beginning with an accidental encouter via Google Street View, the project is complemented by a collection of texts from Greenlandic and Nordic academics, and documents everyday life across contemporary Greenland and uses this material as a foundation for speculative design workshops, worldbuilding, and reflection upon design.

SERVICES

Art Direction
Design Research
Digital
Education
Graphic Design
Illustration
Imagemaking
Print
Publication Design
Speculative Design
Workshop
Website Design & UI

The initial aim behind this project was to develop an art book utilising alternative image making techniques, but soon grew into the creation of an educational resource that acts as contextual starting point for an educational resource that introduces students to design thinking and speculative design through a real-world context. The book, and the project as a whole avoids the clichés of tourism, futurism, or technological spectacle – evident through the imagery featured throughout the book, and the workshops prioritising thinking and making free from technology. The project itself needed to blance visual documentation, critical research, and structure, allowing students to engage with complex social, cultural, environmental, and political themes through observation rather than assumption.

This project was developed as a multi-part system, each part being built on foundations of what came before.

A hardcover publication to life, combining Google Street View imagery with selected academic and journalistic texts on Greenlandic society, modernity, urban life, governance, and climate.
A six speculative design workshops aligned with stages of the design thinking process, using Greenland as a shared contextual playground.
A digital portal to house the research, workshop materials, and student reflections, allowing the project to grow across cohorts.

GREENLAND: A Modern Life functions as a research artefact, teaching tool, and as a photobook exploring alternative image-making. It has been used to support design studios within the Bachelor of Communication Design at RMIT University, helping students develop empathy, frame complex problems, and explore speculative futures grounded in present-day realities. The project encourages slower modes of seeing, critical engagement with context, and an understanding of design as a way of thinking, not just making.