SurGlobal

Episode 5

Open the File | Adriana García: Memory and Displacement in Augmented Reality

In this episode of Open The File, Adriana García, a multidisciplinary designer and founder of AGar Estudio, opens her archives and shows us the entire process behind a very personal project: an Augmented Reality experience that documents the displacement of the community from the former San Mateo neighborhood in Cangrejos, now known as San Dulce Park in Santurce. Adriana takes us from research to execution: how she reached out to affected residents and families, her work with paper, wood, and illustration alongside AR technology, and the technical challenges of recreating homes and people who are no longer there. We also discuss memory, community, the role of art in the face of gentrification, and why “your neighborhood is next” remains a timely warning. A project born out of her digital art residency at the Puerto Rico Museum of Art (MAPR) and nearly 100 years of family history in Santurce. Why should you listen to this if you’re a designer? Because it’s a case study in how to combine multiple disciplines—branding, illustration, paper, and AR—in the service of a message, and how to make design decisions with ethical responsibility when the subject matter is sensitive: you’ll see firsthand the research process, community engagement, and technical execution behind a project that isn’t commercial, but rather one rooted in memory and community. And as always, ask yourself: What problem are you facing?

Episode 4

Open the File | Vicente Gascó: Purposeful 3D Design

In this episode of Open the File, we speak with Vicente Gascó, a Puerto Rican industrial designer, founder of the Tredé studio, professor, and director of the Fab Lab at Atlantic University College. For Vicente, everyone should have access to digital fabrication so they can bring powerful ideas to life. We discussed how, during the COVID-19 pandemic, his team adapted and manufactured face shields with NIH approval, and—in collaboration with the Harvard Innovation Lab—developed nasal swabs with the capacity to produce up to 30,000 per day, despite bureaucratic hurdles. He also shared what he learned from working with Taller Salud to bring 3D anatomical models to sex education workshops, and what it was like to create tactile interpretations in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico and the blind community. Listen to this episode and be inspired by everything that happens when someone decides to go beyond simply “doing something nice.” This episode is part of “Open the File,” a series by Command Z Podcast in collaboration with Sur Global.

Episode 3

Open the File: Emma Aiyin | Who Designed Womanhood?

What happens when a designer leaves one of the world's largest lingerie companies to rethink how intimate products are designed? In this episode of Open the File, I sit down with Emma, a designer whose career took her from the fast-paced world of commercial fashion at Victoria's Secret to founding Relief, a sustainable menstrual underwear brand that challenges the way we think about menstruation, health, and design. Together, we unpack the systems behind the products we wear every day and explore how design can influence not only comfort, but also sustainability, communication, and the way we experience our own bodies. This episode isn't only about period underwear. It's about questioning industries, redesigning systems, and understanding how thoughtful design can create meaningful change for people and the planet.

Episode 2

Open the File: Kevin King | Typographic Sovereignty

In this episode we sit down with Kevin King a typeface designer typographer calligrapher and type researcher based in Canada. After working at Toronto’s Coach House Press and Canada Type he completed his Master’s degree in Typeface Design with distinction at the University of Reading. His work focuses on font support and research for minority languages collaborating directly with Indigenous communities across North America. This isn't just a story about fonts. It's a story about infrastructure, about power, and about who gets to decide which languages can exist on a screen. We go into what nobody sees: the technical proposals to the Unicode Consortium, the negotiations with companies, and the decisions that can determine whether a language survives or disappears in digital space. Join us as we open the file and explore how typography can become a tool for cultural preservation language access and collective memory. Because what you see today is only one version of many. It is time to… Open The File.

Episode 1

CMDZ Open The File: Karla Paniagua | Designing the Future

In this episode of Open the File, Layshi Curbelo speaks with Karla Paniagua, a visual anthropologist, writer, and futurist, about a key question for Latin America: How do we imagine the future of rural life by 2050? Through her work at the Center for Design, Film, and Television in Mexico, Karla leads research that combines futures thinking, participatory design, and visual culture to explore possible futures. In this conversation, we open the archive of a project that examines the futures of rural life in Mexico, integrating the voices of local communities, design processes, and critical reflection. We discuss how future design can help imagine alternative scenarios for rural areas, how the Tenkuä participatory workshops were developed, and what happens when community visions intersect with public policy, academia, and the limitations of the present. We also explore which ideas emerged during the process, which made it into the final document, and which remained open as questions for further investigation.

SURGLOBAL on The UX Rebels (Ep. 03, Season 6)

In this episode of The UX Rebels, we speak with Cristian Situ and Elsie Ralston, co-founders of Sur Global, a nonprofit organization that promotes more conscious and responsible innovation in Latin America. We discuss the origins of Sur Global, its purpose, and the educational model they’re using to train new generations of designers with a critical and locally grounded approach. We also reflect on the future of design in the region, the importance of rethinking the methods we were taught—methods that have historically been central to the world of innovation and technology—and the importance of adapting them to the contexts in which we are designing. We discussed the conference they’re organizing for October—a space where they aim to build community, learn collectively, and design from the Global South. A powerful, necessary, and urgent episode for those of us who believe that design has a social role to play in the world. And remember: we are rebels.

Ep084 - The Role of Communities in Designers' Development - Elsie Ralston and Cristian Situ

Today we are joined by Elsie Ralston and Cristian Situ, co-founders and Co-Executive Directors of Sur Global. From Peru, we’re discussing the key role communities play in the professional development of designers, the disparity in the maturity of design across the region, and how to create spaces with a local purpose that inspire learning, connection, and action.

Episode 164: Elsie Ralston & Alejandra Dancuart | Learning Communities

In this episode of the Command Z Podcast, I’m joined by Alejandra Dancuart and Elsie Ralston, co-founders of Sur Global, a project dedicated to responsible innovation. Alejandra has more than 10 years of experience in innovation, HR, and community building, creating programs that bridge the digital skills gap in Latin America and Europe, in addition to teaching in rural communities in Peru. Elsie, a writer and strategist based in Copenhagen, brings more than a decade of experience in strategic design and inclusive education; as Executive Director of Sur Global and editorial director of UNTOLD.ink, she drives educational experiences with tangible impact.