Plantas Studio is the design practice of João Doria de Souza (MFA Graphic Design, Yale School of Art, 2014; BA Visual Communications, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, 2007). We’re a sibling of Plantas Press and Good in Theory.

Based in Oslo, Norway but together with an international network of collaborators, we offer purpose-driven design & editorial services in the field of publications & exhibitions in the cultural sector.

We cultivate: a hand | eye for craft & production; a heart | brain for content & social impact; plus: a soul | spirit for concepts & ideas.

  • The Multiple Selves of GD
    The Multiple Selves of GDTalk2016Public talk at Konstfack, component of the hiring process for Adjunct Professor.
  • metalcut
    metalcutTool, Code2026GPU-accelerated video cut detection for Apple Silicon. Detects hard cuts, dissolves, and fades using a two-pass scoring pipeline with adaptive thresholding.
  • The perforated kind
    The perforated kindWriting, Publication2022Contributing writer with a Science Fiction story on generational trauma in the forest, for "Seeds for a New Pattern" anthology. Illustrated by Shira Inbar, published by the School for Poetic Computation.
  • Plantas Transgender Flag Fundraiser
    Plantas Transgender Flag FundraiserRisograph, FundraiserA 2-color Risograph fundraiser print for PKI Norge -- Pasientorganisasjonen for Kjønnsinkongruens.
  • CORITA KENT: criar é revolução
    CORITA KENT: criar é revoluçãoPodcast2023Podcast participation on Lombada Podcast’s Season 2 Episode 3 about Sister Corita Kent's work, together with Tulipa Ruiz, Eduardo Souza and Rejane Dal Bello. Directed by Tereza Bettinardi and Duda Kuhnert.
  • Four Books
    Four BooksRisograph, Series2024–ongoingIn the “Four Books” series, I sketch small bibliographies for thinking economy, ecology and ways of being.
  • plantas-cli terminal demo — two parallel sessions with cross-session awareness
    plantas-cliCode, Tool2026plantas-cli turns git worktrees into isolated, parallel development sessions for AI coding agents. Each session gets its own branch and directory, shares persistent config through symlinks, and tracks a git-native session ledger kept conflict-free by a custom JSON-aware merge driver — so several Claude Code agents can work one repo at once without stepping on each other.
  • The Ventriloquist Summerschool 2016
    The Ventriloquist Summerschool 2016Workshop2016The second edition of The Ventriloquist Summerschool, organized by João Doria de Souza and Kristina Ketola Bore. The theme explored the role of illusion as a way of being, working and generating knowledge — what’s involved in accepting, rejecting, validating and iterating such constructs, and how we use them to project and deal with what’s in front and ahead of us. Five parallel workshops ran during the week at 1857, a former lumberyard in the Grønland area of Oslo, along with a public programme of evening lectures. The 35 selected participants worked with tutors Talk Magazine (Eric Hu and Harry Gassel), Anu Vathra, Nicole Killian, Kristina Ketola Bore, João Doria de Souza and Andrea Pinochet. A print studio was ran by designer Sean Kuhnke.
  • Publishing is the least you can do!
    Publishing is the least you can do!Teaching2018VK17 editorial course and studio visits i.c.w. Kristina Ketola Bore.
  • Flat scan view of "how to VOGUE"
    How To VOGUEPublication2026For the third reprint of VPGL, João commissioned Iselin Steiro to write a reaction piece. Steiro’s response was a summary of her many experiences from working for Vogue — a conceptual memoir?
  • Tsundoku-lelê
    Tsundoku-lelêWriting2023A pluriversal critique of AI in the shape of a choose-your-own-adventure story.
  • Spread view of "Notes on the Lettering" article
    Notes on the LetteringPublication, Writing2021Contributing writer with an essay on the history of the Nordic Pavilion lettering, for "Sverre Fehn, Nordic Pavilion, Venice — Voices from the Archives".
  • Cover of an issue of the newspaper "10 Undersøkelser"
    10 InvestigationsPublication
  • Object view of "Photophobia" publication
    PhotophobiaPublication2013Publication and Exhibition design for the Thai film director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's monograph.
  • Express Publishing (Publicações Expressas)
    Express Publishing (Publicações Expressas)Workshop2025Riso Workshop exploring the work of brazilian luminary black feminist thinker Dr. Sueli Carneiro, based on Cidinha da Silva’s “Só bato em cachorro grande, do meu tamanho ou maior". Co-taught with Luanda Jacoel Carneiro, and Átomo Fanzinotek as a guest (traveling) zine library.
  • Quem gosta de imagem boa é TV
    Quem gosta de imagem boa é TVPublication2017
  • Words "TEMPO TEMPO TEMPO" on a glass window of a gallery at Kistefos Museum
    TEMPO TEMPO TEMPOExhibition Design2019Visual identity. The group exhibition TEMPO TEMPO TEMPO displays installations, prints, paintings and performance made by eight young artists from the Norwegian scene — Ragna Bley, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Ane Graff, Yngve Holen, Sandra Mujinga, Urd J. Pedersen, Eirik Sæther, Fredrik Værslev. Curated by Rhea Dall.
  • Publication view "Din pust, din stemme"
    Your Breath, Your VoicePublication2023Din pust, din stemme (Your Breath, Your Voice) is the catalogue for the exhibition of same name, curated by Social Anthropologist Dr. Michelle Tisdel, Ph.D. The publication displays visual and oral history documentation regarding the George Floyd protests in Oslo. Co-published by Lift Every Voice, Plantas Press and Transcultural Arts Production.
  • Screen printing pop-up: 95 Years of Kunstnernes Hus
    Screen printing pop-up: 95 Years of Kunstnernes HusWorkshop2025A screen printing pop-up with Plantas Studio as part of the 95th anniversary celebration of Kunstnernes Hus. Visitors could bring a tote bag or T-shirt and brighten it up with a #HusetVårt print. The full-day celebration included a performance programme, the Autumn Exhibition (organized by NBK), family workshops, DJs, and a fundraiser for the renovation of Kunstnernes Hus.
  • Plantas Congo Flag Fundraiser
    Plantas Congo Flag FundraiserRisograph, FundraiserA 3-color Risograph fundraiser print for Future Forests Congo.
  • NITJA + PRAKIS: Reaching Out
    NITJA + PRAKIS: Reaching OutWorkshop2026Workshop about the “Elements of Help and Care". The group devised a definition of help and care into a printed stack of utility posters for participatory action. Curated by Jessica Williams at NITJA and Kristian Schroder at PRAKSIS.
  • Cover and Spread views of "Transcultural Flux" Publication
    Transcultural FluxPublication2017Nominated among 2016 Most Beautiful Books in Denmark (Den Danske Bogdesignpris 2016).
  • Ten Takes: Lecture Series
    Ten Takes: Lecture SeriesPoster, Series
  • Plantas Palestine Flag Fundraiser
    Plantas Palestine Flag FundraiserRisograph, Fundraiser3-color Risograph fundraiser print for the Norwegian Palestine Committee.
  • Poster series view of "Dealing with It"
    Dealing with It: Lecture SeriesPoster, Series
  • Composition with scans of "Klikk-her TV" publication for Kunsthall Stavanger
    Klikk-her TVPublicationSummer'20Designer (Web, print, SoMe), commissioned by Kristina Ketola Bore. Website developed by Thomas Kim / Goodthing.
  • Plantas Rainbow Flag Fundraiser
    Plantas Rainbow Flag FundraiserRisograph, FundraiserA 5-color Risograph fundraiser print for Skeiv Verden.
  • Cover of "Dreaming Awake" publication
    Dreaming AwakePublication2018Publication design and co-editing for the Dreaming Awake exhibition catalogue at Marres, House for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht. A tropical rainforest exhibition curated by Luiza Mello and Valentijn Byvanck with artists Luiz Zerbini, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. Published by Marres. Selected among the Best Dutch Book Designs 2018 (Best Verzorgde Boeken). Diplom, Årets vakreste bøker 2019, Grafill.
  • Cover and Spread views of "Mother Tongue" Publication
    Mother TonguePublication2015Publication design for the Mother Tongue exhibition catalogue, a bilingual (English/Turkish) publication accompanying a touring exhibition of six contemporary Turkish video and media artists addressing women's experiences of war, conflict, tradition and identity. Curated by Malin Barth and Brynjar Bjerkem, produced by TrAP and Stiftelsen 3,14. Diplom, Årets vakreste bøker 2016, Grafill.
  • Dealing With It
    Dealing With ItVisual Identity, Workshop2019Co-coordination, workshop and graphic design for the OAT Academic Forum hosted by the Oslo School of Architecture.
  • Self-publishing Design and Architecture
    Self-publishing Design and ArchitectureTeachingFall'18Elective course (M.Des. / M.Arch.), FTH/AHO
  • Carioca Design Championship (CCD no CCD)
    Carioca Design Championship (CCD no CCD)Workshop, Teaching20141-week Workshop on game formats applied to Graphic Design. Taught with Nina Paim (BR), Uta Eisenreich (DE), Julia Born (CH) and Chris Calvet (BR). Conceived and organized with Nina Paim.
  • The Ventriloquist Summerschool 2015
    The Ventriloquist Summerschool 2015Workshop2015The first edition of The Ventriloquist Summerschool, a graphic design summer school co-founded and organized by João Doria de Souza and Kristina Ketola Bore. The theme explored voice, self-representation and the reasons for practising graphic design today, with tutors Kristian Henson and Laura Pappa. The school attracted applicants from 17 countries and institutions including Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, Royal College of Art, ISIA Urbino, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Sandberg Institute, Yale University, Princeton, Cranbrook and Pratt Institute. A public programme at Grafill featured the ventriloquist Jan-Robert Henriksen, Tove Sivertsen of Tableau Paper, and researcher Ellef Prestsæter.
  • Printed Matter's LA Art Book Fair
    Printed Matter's LA Art Book FairExhibitor, Fair2017; 2019Participant at the "Xe(rox) Paper And Scissors" section at the fair, holding a table representing The Ventriloquist Press.
  • VPGL H-T:V IFLRPlaylist
  • Louise Bourgeois: Autobiographical Prints
    Louise Bourgeois: Autobiographical PrintsPublicationJan'16Publication, commissioned by Hayward Publishing
  • Huset Vart — Kunstnernes Hus
    Huset VårtVisual Identity, Fundraiser, Website2024–30Branding, public action and fundraising engine for building rehabilitation campaign.
  • Iness
    InessTypeface
  • Object view of "The Fog" publication
    The FogPublication2013Publication design for Espen Dietrichson's monograph.
  • Multiple covers of the "Concrete Oslo" publication
    Concrete OsloPublication2018Publication design for a guide to concrete architecture in Oslo from 1950 to today. Gull (Gold) in Faktabok category, Årets vakreste bøker 2019, Grafill.
  • metalgrow
    metalgrowCode2026metalgrow runs super-resolution on Apple Silicon GPUs through PyTorch's MPS backend, with graceful fallbacks to CUDA and CPU. It ships with a bicubic baseline so the pipeline is runnable end-to-end, and exposes a clean seam for plugging in a learned backbone (Real-ESRGAN, SwinIR, etc.).
  • Signals from the Periphery: Exploring new Terrains of Graphic Design
    Signals from the Periphery: Exploring new Terrains of Graphic DesignWritingDec'17Interview with Laura Pappa and Elisabeth Klement for “The Gradient”: Walker Art Center Design blog.
  • Worker hat with the saying "You're a worker too"
    You're a worker tooIllustration
  • Senior Lecturer in Visual Communications
    Senior Lecturer in Visual CommunicationsTeaching2018–2019BA level 6-week courses for VK Classes of 2017, 2019, 2021; Thesis supervision.
  • The Digital vs. The Archaic
    The Digital vs. The ArchaicExhibition2015Exhibition with the work produced during "Digital Campfire" at Van Eyck. Supervised by the Design Displacement Group.
  • Inbetween
    InbetweenFilm2012A response to Karel Martens’ 1st-year workshop at the Yale GDMFA. I was living inbetween the United States, Norway and Brasil and feeling spiritually distributed between those places. Those early studies in permutation still feel formative.
  • Queremos! Hip Hop Apresenta: De La Soul
    Queremos! Hip Hop Apresenta: De La SoulPrint2016Poster for De La Soul’s concert, commissioned by Queremos!
  • Concours International d'Affiches
    Concours International d'AffichesExhibition201526e édition du Festival Chaumont Design Graphique.
  • BHMN 🪴🖤⚛️ Express PublishingPlaylist
  • Object view of the "Biennials/Triennials" publication
    Biennials/TriennialsPublication2019Publication design for an interview collection on the -ennialization of architectural discourse. Published by Columbia Books on Architecture and the City. Selected as Excellent Work in the Editorial/Book Design category at the Tokyo Type Directors Club Annual Awards 2020, featured in TDC Annual Vol. 31.
  • NaMu Plantas Studio Residency, Workshops, Drop-inPlaylist
  • TEMPO TEMPO TEMPO
    TEMPO TEMPO TEMPOPublication, Exhibition DesignMay—Nov'19Exhibition and Publication Design, curated by Rhea Dall.
  • Drone shot of installation made by Gustavo Prado, Carollina Lauriano and João Doria de Souza shown at the "Rock the Mountain" festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
    Manifesto ColetivoInstallation2022Typographic installation supporting Gustavo Prado’s sculpture, written and curated by Carollina Lauriano. Shown at Rock the Mountain Festival.
  • Catalog and Archive: two Szeemann designs
    Catalog and Archive: two Szeemann designsWriting, Research2012Response to Craig Buckley's seminar "Publication, Politics, and Print: Episodes from the 20th century". Published on The Gradient: Walker Art Center Design Blog.
  • Boklansering og samtale: Lotte Konow Lund
    Boklansering og samtale: Lotte Konow LundTalk2025Dialogue with Lotte Konow Lund, Lena Lindgren and Synnøve Marie Vik about the publication "Det hun sa".
  • Art as Punishment
    Art as PunishmentPublication2024Kunst som straff is the catalog exhibition for Agder Kunstakademi's closing show at Kunstnernes Hus. AK's project ran a rich and layered art school program inside Frøland Fengsel for 3 years, coordinated by Thora Dolven Balke and Kristine Jærn Pilgaard. Co-edited, published and designed by Plantas Press/Studio. Commissioned by Agder Kunstakademi / KORO.
  • Events!
    Events!Poster
  • Debout les femmes!
    Debout les femmes!Poster
  • Drop-in: Plantas Studio at Nasjonalmuseet
    Drop-in: Plantas Studio at NasjonalmuseetWorkshop2025Open studio day at the Nasjonalmuseet, January 25, 2025. The workshop space was open for anyone curious about riso print, zines or the work produced at the preceding zine workshop. Visitors could browse zines and see examples of riso print. Inspired by the collection of the Queer Zine Archive Project, on display in the exhibition "Å samle på døgnfluer. Inn i motearkivet" (Collecting Ephemera: Into the Fashion Archive) in the Prints and Drawings galleries.
  • findforlag.no
    findforlag.noInteractive, Website
  • Lommeserien
    LommeserienPublication, Series2025Visual identity and typesetting for Find Forlag’s “Lommeserien” – their first pocket book series.
  • Reaching Out: A Book about Agency, Care, Identity, and…
    Reaching Out: A Book about Agency, Care, Identity, and…Writing2026A collaborative publication by the PRAKSIS Teen Advisory Board (Oslo), Index Teen Advisory Board (Stockholm), and PUBLICS Youth (Helsinki). Includes interviews, self-produced texts, and artistic contributions offering insight into young people's reflections on the role of print publications today and what their role may look like in the future. Edited by Gerrie van Noord, designed by Tuukka Kaila, published by Rooftop Press. Launched at the opening of Slow is a Verb — The Young Curators' Reading Room at Nitja Centre for Contemporary Art, Lillestrøm, February 2026.
  • Classic Album Sundays: Season 2
    Classic Album Sundays: Season 2Poster, Series
  • Guest Salons #17: Vogue’s Potential Guide to Life: And Did You Know That Models Have Feelings?
    Guest Salons #17: Vogue’s Potential Guide to Life: And Did You Know That Models Have Feelings?Talk2026Iselin & João talked about “Vogue’s Potential Guide to Life”, their visual-basic-meets-archive publication, which originated from looking into the history of “How To” articles in the Vogue USA’s digital archive. Through computation and literature, 65 thousand fictional article titles are presented and indexed over 156 pages. For the third reprint of VPGL, João commissioned Iselin Steiro to write a reaction piece. Steiro’s response was a summary of her many experiences from working for Vogue — a conceptual memoir? This was the 17th edition of Guest Salons; an active meeting point for free conversations around and beyond fashion, once a month at International Library of Fashion Research. This series is generously supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.
  • Object view of "Det hun sa"
    Lotte Konow Lund: What She SaidPublication2024–25Bilingual mid-career survey catalogue for artist Lotte Konow Lund. Archival research and publication design. Co-designed with Cecilia Costa for KODE Bergen. Selected as Excellent Work in the Editorial/Book Design category at the Tokyo Type Directors Club Annual Awards 2026, featured in TDC Annual Vol. 37.
  • Object view of "Jakob Weidemann's Ringsveen", edited by Karin Hellandsjø, published by Orfeus Forlag
    Jakob Weidemann's RingsveenPublication
  • Vogue's Potential Guide to Life
    Vogue's Potential Guide to LifePublication2013Publication design, 1st edition made for a workshop with Linda van Deursen during the second year of Yale GD MFA. Originated from looking into the history of “How To” articles in the Vogue USA’s digital archive. Through computation and literature, 65 thousand fictional article titles are presented and indexed over 156 pages. 3rd edition published by Plantas Press with an extension zine by Iselin Steiro.
  • Regarder et Simuler: photographies de la collection M+M Auer
    Regarder et Simuler: photographies de la collection M+M AuerPublication2009Regarder et simuler : photographies de la collection Michel et Michèle Auer. Curated by Eder Chiodetto and Elise Jasmin. Designed with the late artist Carlito Carvalhosa.
  • Søstra 100: Omsorgsbua
    Søstra 100: OmsorgsbuaPublication2024Omsorgsbua supplements Søstra100's installation at "Hånd og Maskin" — the first architecture exhibition at the new Norwegian National Museum. The publication is a 3-prong volume stapled across a long, folded cover. The first volume reflects on Søstra's feminist architecture practice, the second displays their handmade architecture drawings and the third one is a set of care exercise cards.
  • Fest i overlyssalene for #HusetVårt
    Fest i overlyssalene for #HusetVårtDigital Projection, Performance 2024Vi gjør det igjen: velkommen til fest i de flotte, store utstillingssalene på Kunstnernes Hus. Verdens beste dansegulv! VJ Set.
  • Polymathism
    PolymathismTeaching2018Designer talk and thesis Framework workshop for 1MFA Visual Communications.
  • Kunstbok Oslo
    Kunstbok OsloFair2025Plantas Press exhibited at Kunstbok Oslo, an art book fair showcasing art books, zines, comics, monographs and fiction by artists and independent publishers.
  • Amid the Rubble, We Persist!
    Amid the Rubble, We Persist!ExhibitionApr–May'26Fourth edition of Posters for Palestine, a solidarity sales exhibition of riso prints by Palestinian and Norwegian artists. All income goes directly to Palestinian artists from Gaza. Exhibited at Grafill, Oslo. João Doria de Souza is among 18 new contributing artists in this edition, alongside Sliman Mansour, Samia Halaby, Malak Mattar, Carmel Alabbasi, and others. Organised by Marie Payan, Martin Lundell, Espen Friberg and Mats Grorud.
  • Resample the archive into things in the world
    Resample the archive into things in the worldWorkshop2025A riso workshop at Kunstnernes Hus exploring the building’s rich and diverse historical archive. Participants created collages with archival material and gave them new life using the riso duplicator’s vibrant pigments and textures. Part of the #HusetVårt programme ahead of the extensive rehabilitation of Kunstnernes Hus, conveying knowledge about the building and its significance over nearly a hundred years. Made possible with support from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.
  • Spread view of "São Casas" publication by Luiza Baldan
    Luiza Baldan: São CasasPublication2012Publication Design for Luiza Baldan's exhibition catalogue.
  • It's a book / Independent Publishing Fair
    It's a book / Independent Publishing FairFair2015Selected for the Studentische Publikationsprojekte.
  • Exhibition view of "Your breath, Your Voice"
    Your Breath, Your VoiceExhibition Design2023Din pust, din stemme (Your Breath, Your Voice) is an exhibition curated by Social Anthropologist Dr. Michelle Tisdel, Ph.D. The exhibition presents visual and oral history documentation regarding the George Floyd protests in Oslo.
  • Frame of Reference
    Frame of ReferenceDigital Projection2014Mobile wooden structure + Digital Projection. Series, component of Prof. Sarah Oppenheimer’s “Digital Projection” MFA course.
  • A Line of Becoming
    A Line of BecomingTeaching2017MA/BA Kick-off week-long workshop and Studio Visits.

Clients (selected)

Automatica (BR); Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo (NO); Apichatpong Weerasethakul (TH); Classic Album Sundays (NO); Columbia Books in Architecture and the City (US); Espen Dietrichson (NO); Hayward Publishing (UK); Kistefos Museet (NO); Stavanger Kunsthall (NO); Michelle Tisdel / Lift Every Voice (NO); Marres — House for Contemporary Culture (NL); Orfeus Publishing (NO); Oslo Architecture Triennale (NO); Oslo City Museum (NO); Torpedo Press (NO); Transcultural Arts Production (NO); Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (BR); Akerselva Kvinnekor (NO); FIND Forlag (NO)

Exhibitions, Talks, Awards, Residencies, Fairs (selected)

  • Multiple Formats Symposium — Boston University (US) · Talk
  • ; Odds and Ends Art Book Fair — Yale University Art Gallery (US) · Fair
  • ; Bookmaker Symposium — Aperture Foundation (US) · Talk
  • ; Magical Riso — Jan Van Eyck Academie (NL) · Talk
  • ; The Alternative Art School Fair — Pioneer Works (US) · Fair
  • ; Best Verzorgde Boken — Stedelijk Museum (NL) · Exhibition
  • ; The Ventriloquist Summerschool 2016 — Grafill (NO) · Workshop
  • ; The Ventriloquist Summerschool 2015 — Grafill (NO) · Workshop
  • ; Amid the Rubble, We Persist! — Posters for Palestine (NO) · Exhibition
  • ; The Multiple Selves of GD — Konstfack (SE) · Talk
  • ; Printed Matter's LA Art Book Fair — The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA · Exhibitor
  • ; The Digital vs. The Archaic — Design Displacement Group (NL) · Exhibition
  • ; Kunstbok Oslo — Kunstbok Oslo (NO) · Fair
  • ; Pró-Design — Centro Carioca de Design (BR) · Award
  • ; Best Books from All Over the World (Shortlist) — Stiftung Buchkunst (DE) · Award
  • ; Concours International d'Affiches — Chaumont (FR) · Award
  • ; Den Danske Bogdesignpris · Award
  • ; National Award for Architecture and Design — DOGA (NO) · Award
  • ; Tokyo Type Directors Club — Tokyo Type Directors Club (JP) · Award
  • ; Visuelt — Grafill (NO) · Award
  • ; Prosjektstipend — Grafill (NO) · Award

Teaching

Konstfack (SE); Beckmans Designhögskola (SE); Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo (NO); Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo (NO); Aalto University (FI); California Institute of the Arts (US); Otis College of Art and Design; Virginia Commonwealth University (US); University of Wisconsin-Stout (US); Rogaland Kunstsenter (NO); Yale University School of Art (US); Beckmans Designhögskola (SE); Centro Carioca de Design (BR)

Image credits

Gisle Bjørneby, Julie Hrnčířová, Kristine Jakobsen, Jan Khür, João Marcos Latgé, Justina Nekrašaitė, Sem Shayne, Cronje Strøm, Rune Thorstein, Leon Vilhena

Contact