Symbio
Media Design School
Symbio is a speculative concept for the future of community gardening, an innovative, tech-integrated space designed to regenerate endangered native New Zealand plants while fostering social bonds. These gardens include sensor-equipped plots, climatised greenhouses, social hubs, and tools like seed dispensers and plant drop-off points.
Through the Symbio app, users can monitor plots, track plant health, dispense seeds, join groups, and connect with others. More than just a garden, Symbio envisions a platform for ecological restoration and meaningful community connection.
Team: Liam Bennett, Micheal Dong, Elijah Francis, and Jade Luke-Hurley.
Roles
Project Manager
Graphic Design
Branding
Illustration
Videography/Motion
Year
2025
Project Type
Speculative Project
Explainer Animation by: Micheal Dong and Jade Luke-Hurley.
Branding and Campaign
Symbio evolved through three design iterations to arrive at its current identity: a refined wordmark using an elegant, modern typeface that fits a future-facing aesthetic. The branding targets environmentally conscious people aged 35–45 who value social connection and want to contribute to meaningful change.
The campaign uses large-format posters and wallscape advertising to reach urban audiences in both city centres and near garden spaces, bridging technology, nature, and community.
Spatial
Concepts.
Symbio’s garden spaces are designed using human-centred principles to strengthen social connection, reflecting research that many New Zealanders join community gardens for this purpose. With nearly 30% of native plant species under threat, the spaces include wetlands, rock gardens, and artificially climatised greenhouses to support regeneration.
Sensor-equipped plots track conditions like soil moisture, light, humidity, and temperature, connecting to the Symbio app so users can care for plants together, arrange events, and organise meetups within the garden spaces, combining environmental action with meaningful social engagement.
Plant
Rejuvenation
The Garden Vault is a key feature that integrates the garden with the Symbio app, enabling nearly seamless garden management. Once a group and plot are set up in the app, members can dispense seeds, seasonally appropriate, directly through the app for planting in their plots. When plants mature, they are potted and returned to the Vault, where conservation groups or individuals can collect them to provide suitable new homes, supporting plant regeneration and community involvement.
