Organic Puzzle
Xiran Wang
Bioplastic
2025
Xiran Wang is a designer from mainland China and is now based in NYC. She is currently an MFA student in Communications Design at Pratt Institute and is obsessed with storytelling, 3D modeling, graphic design, illustration, and material exploration. She explores biomaterials, crafting, knitting, 3D modeling, illustration, and visual storytelling, and loves to pay attention to what’s going on in society, sustainability, environmental issues, and animal protection. Coming from an underground background in illustration, she is still getting used to new design techniques.
Instagram: @Xiraaaann-Waaaang
Xiran Wang
Bioplastic
2025
Xiran Wang is a designer from mainland China and is now based in NYC. She is currently an MFA student in Communications Design at Pratt Institute and is obsessed with storytelling, 3D modeling, graphic design, illustration, and material exploration. She explores biomaterials, crafting, knitting, 3D modeling, illustration, and visual storytelling, and loves to pay attention to what’s going on in society, sustainability, environmental issues, and animal protection. Coming from an underground background in illustration, she is still getting used to new design techniques.
Instagram: @Xiraaaann-Waaaang
From mixing ingredients to shaping in puzzle molds, every time I experiment and document, I learn not simply about material’s properties, but also how it encourages the audience to have playful and interactive experiences while staying eco-friendly.
Through this project, I focused on learning through making and embracing unpredictable features of bioplastic. I tested and failed a couple times. I learnt from failure and documented potential causes for it. Later, when I added new ingredients into my experiment, I discovered bioplastic was unpredictable since some of them went mouldy while others became curved and shrunk. However, I’m obsessed with the process and find out I can truly relieve the depression while mixing ingredients and shaping mixtures in puzzle-shaped molds. I produced puzzles that are not simply a way of interaction, but also sustainability and the potential alternative for petroleum-based plastics in design.
Through this project, I focused on learning through making and embracing unpredictable features of bioplastic. I tested and failed a couple times. I learnt from failure and documented potential causes for it. Later, when I added new ingredients into my experiment, I discovered bioplastic was unpredictable since some of them went mouldy while others became curved and shrunk. However, I’m obsessed with the process and find out I can truly relieve the depression while mixing ingredients and shaping mixtures in puzzle-shaped molds. I produced puzzles that are not simply a way of interaction, but also sustainability and the potential alternative for petroleum-based plastics in design.
