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About Me

Luca Longa

Visual Communication Designer & Researcher — Como (IT) / Basel (CH)

Profile

Visual communication designer working at the intersection of data visualisation, critical research, and investigative practice. Work spans information design, instructional design, and the translation of complex research into clear, public-facing materials — across digital and print media, with a structured, self-directed approach.

Currently completing an MA in Digital Communication Environments at FHNW HGK Basel. Thesis project: Other Eyes Shine in the Night Sky — a practice-based investigation into Starlink mega-constellations using radio signal reception, real-time data visualisation, and public installation.

Experience

2021 — 2024
Instructional Designer & Video Editor
METID — Task Force Innovation Teaching and Learning, Politecnico di Milano

Production of over 150 educational videos for 12 MOOCs and learning projects. Co-authored and lectured in the MOOC Enhancing Education through Open Opportunities. Designed and monitored Virtual Reality laboratories; co-authored the publication Due anni di laboratori VR ↗ Link.

Led the end-to-end production pipeline — from storyboarding and scripting through filming, editing, and post-production — for over 150 educational video modules. Managed simultaneous production schedules across 12 MOOCs, coordinating with faculty subject-matter experts and the instructional design team. Designed and conducted VR laboratory sessions using 360° immersive content. Co-authored the institutional publication documenting two years of VR lab methodology and outcomes.

  • Enhancing Education through Open Opportunities
  • Finanza per tutti
  • Introduzione all'Ingegneria del Software
  • Laboratorio di Progettazione Meccanica
  • Automation and Control Technologies
  • Design e Sostenibilità
  • Machine Learning and Deep Learning
  • Matematica di base per le STEM
  • Costruire Futures Sostenibili
  • Open Science: strumenti e risorse
  • Innovazione Didattica e Tecnologie
  • Data Visualization for Decision Making
2021
Intern Operator & Video Editor
METID — Politecnico di Milano

Six-month internship in the Task Force Innovation Teaching and Learning.

Education

2024 — now
MA in Digital Communication Environments
FHNW HGK Basel, Switzerland

Thesis: Other Eyes Shine in the Night Sky. Supervisors: Dr. Paloma López Grüninger · Jinsu Ahn · Lena Frei. Defence: 21 August 2026.

Practice-based investigation into SpaceX Starlink mega-constellations using self-built radio reception hardware (Raspberry Pi + SDR), real-time data visualisation (D3.js, P5.js), and public installation. The project critically examines the politics of orbital infrastructure through the lens of feminist satellite practice and counter-archival methodologies. Output: interactive installation, data sonification, and open-source toolkit.

2024
Executive in Data Visualization
2024
Type Design
Cfp. Bauer, Milan
2016 — 2020
BA in Communication Design
Politecnico di Milano

Thesis: D.MOSTRA — Reconstructing Design Exhibitions through Interactive Storytelling. Grade: 99/110.

A web-based interactive archive that reconstructs historic Italian design exhibitions — primarily from the Triennale di Milano — through navigable timelines, digitised artefacts, and contextual storytelling. Built with HTML/CSS/JS and archival data from institutional collections. The project explored how interactive media can make cultural heritage accessible beyond the physical exhibition space.

2016
Diploma in Graphics and Communication
I.S.I.S. Paolo Carcano, Como

Grade: 92/100.

Talks & Conferences

2025
csv,conf,v9 — Bologna, Italy

Oral presentation, 25 min, EN. 11 September 2025.

Scientific Organisation

2025
Visual Communication & Documentation Lead

Organised by Bérénice Serra & Allan Deneuville. Partners: SNSF · Hasler Stiftung. 22–24 January 2025.

2025
Visual Identity Designer
Festival OSINT, 3rd edition — Gaîté Lyrique, Paris

Partners: Ville de Paris · Gaîté Lyrique · OpenFacto · Geode · ECLLA. 5 December 2025.

Publications

2024
Corti, P., Longa, L., Tantimonaco, L. — Politecnico di Milano / Edvance

MOOC. Licence CC BY 4.0. Available on POK Polimi, Coursera, Edvance and Zenodo.

2024
Due anni di laboratori VR ↓ PDF
Baldoni, V., et al. incl. Longa, L. — Politecnico di Milano – METID

Complementary Training

Forms of Policing / Il mondo in sintesi / Generative AI / Responsible Vision for a Responsible Design

[ ID_PORTRAIT_PLACEHOLDER ]

Currently

now
MA Student & Researcher
FHNW HGK Basel — IDCE

Practice-based thesis on satellite constellations, radio signals, and data visualisation as counter-archive. Defence: 21 August 2026.

Skills & Tools

Design
Typography Information design Editorial systems Cartography Data visualisation Identity Print Motion graphics
Production
Video production Immersive (360°/VR) Instructional design
Technical
HTML/CSS/JS D3 SVG P5.js Python QGIS ArcGIS Blender Raspberry Pi Adobe Suite Kirby CMS RAWGraphs
Research
OSINT Practice-based research Visual ethnography Feminist satellite practice
Languages
Italian (native) English (proficient) French (A2)

Other

2018 — 2025
Chief Scout
AGESCI (WOSM/WAGGGS)

Six years of voluntary service with young people aged 11–22 in various leadership roles.

Contact

Open to research collaborations, editorial & exhibition commissions, and teaching work.

Full CV as PDF →