Slanted Magazine #30 – Athens

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slanted 30 visits and authors Backpacker, Beetroot Design Group, Bend, The Birthdays Design, Blaqk, Bob Studio, Constantinos Chaidalis, Meni Chatzipanagiotou, Corn Studio, Stavros Damos, Dolphins Com­mu­nication Design, Dylsectic, Demetrios Fakinos, Diana Farr Louis, Fotagogos Book­store, G Design Studio, Irini Gonou, Greek Font Society, Vasilis Grivas, Mike Karolos, Michalis Katzourakis, Kommigraphics Design Studio, Luminous Design Group, Ian Lynam, MAMA Silkscreen, Theodora Mantzaris, Klimis Mastoridis, Georgios Matthiopoulos, MNP, mousegraphics, Original Replica, Panos Papanagiotou, Dimitris Papazoglou, Natassa Pappa, Parachute, Pi6, Polkadot Design, Semiotik, Niki Sioki, StudioJugi, tind, Alexander Torell, Filimonas Triantafyllou, Chris Trivizas, Charis Tsevis, Typical Organization, Urban Calligraphy, Nadia Valavani, Ifigenia Vasiliou, Irene Vlachou, Markos Zouridakis

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WELCOME TO ATHENS

MICHALIS KATZOURAKIS POLONNARUWA II 1996 MIXED MEDIA AND MESH ON STEEL LATH 62 × 43 × 77 CM

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MICHALIS KATZOURAKIS

MICHALIS KATZOURAKIS STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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MICHALIS KATZOURAKIS

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STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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BLAQK

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BLAQK

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GREG PAPAGRIGORIOU & CHRIS TZAFEROS (SIMEK) STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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GRAFFITI ARTISTS ARE AMONG THE HEROES OF ATHENIAN NEIGHBORHOODS. THEIR MURALS ARE GENERALLY CREATED LEGALLY AND CELEBRATED BY EVERYONE WHO LIVES IN THE AREA.

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MICHALIS KATZOURAKIS BLAQK

EMERGENCE FESTIVAL, GIARDINI NAXOS, ITALY 2015 ACRYLIC ON WALL PHOTO: © DIMITRIS VASILIOU

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BLAQK

STUDIO IMPRESSION

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IRINI GONOU

IRINI GONOU STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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IRINI GONOU

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STUDIO IMPRESSIONS MILTOS PANTELIAS

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URBAN CALLIGRAPHY

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ARK 2016 SIMON SILAIDIS IN FRONT OF HIS WORK MEDIUM FLAT BRUSH & ACRYLICS

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GREECE WAS ONCE A MASS OF ROCK THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNDERWATER. WHEN A TECTONIC PLATE CRASHED INTO EUROPE, THE COLLISION CREATED GREECE’S MOUNTAINOUS RANGES. THE PLATE IS STILL MOVING AND CAUSES EARTHQUAKES ALL AROUND THE AEGEAN.

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URBAN CALLIGRAPHY

FORSAKEN 2013 FLAT BRUSH & ACRYLICS

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PARACHUTE

ELENA DROSOU, MANOS DASKALAKIS, CHRYS NIKOLTSANI, NADIA PAPANIKOLAOU, IOANNIS FETANIS & PANOS VASSILIOU STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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PARACHUTE

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GREECE ENJOYS MORE THAN 250 DAYS OF SUNSHINE—OR 3,000 SUNNY HOURS—A YEAR.

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PARACHUTE

PANOS VASSILIOU PF VENUE 2017 SPECIMEN POSTERS

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PARACHUTE

PANOS VASSILIOU PF VIBES 2013, 2017 SERIF FONT FAMILY TYPEROOM

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G DESIGN STUDIO

STUDIO IMPRESSIONS MICHALIS GEORGIOU & DIMITRIS STEFANIDIS

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STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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G DESIGN STUDIO

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G DESIGN STUDIO

GREECE IS THE LEADING PRODUCER OF SEA SPONGES.

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MICHALIS GEORGIOU, DIMITRIS STEFANIDIS, ANNA TRYMPALI, RENATA KRASOVSKAJA, MARIANNA MANOURA, STEFANOS VEIS & SOFIA PAPATSONIS WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE WITHOUT MUSIC? 2016 CAMPAIGN IN THE STYLE OF A MODERN GRAPHIC NOVEL ATHENS STATE ORCHESTRA

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IN THE VERY FIRST GREEK FILM SHOWN ABROAD, DAPHNIS AND CHLOE (1931), THE FIRST NUDE SCENE IN THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN CINEMA WAS DEPICTED.

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G DESIGN STUDIO

SUNLESS LOVES 2017 PACKAGING DESIGN FIRST HAND RECORDS LENIA SAFIROPOULOU & ANDREJ HOVRIN

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ATHENS CULTURE NET 2017 MAP OUTLINING CULTURAL EVENTS INCLUDING DOCUMENTA 14 CITY OF ATHENS

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BOB STUDIO

STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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DIMITRIS PERDIKOPOULOS, ANASTASIA LOURI, ANNA THANASOULA, ANDREAS THANOS, ARIS TSOUTSAS & PANOS NIKOLAKAKIS STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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MAMA SILKSCREEN

MILTOS BOTTIS STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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THE WORD PAPER COMES FROM THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN WRITING MATERIAL CALLED PAPYRUS, WHICH WAS WOVEN FROM PAPYRUS PLANTS. PAPYRUS WAS PRODUCED AS EARLY AS 3000 BC IN EGYPT, AND IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME.

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MAMA SILKSCREEN

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THE BIRTHDAYS DESIGN

STUDIO IMPRESSIONS KONSTANTINA YIANNAKOPOULOU & GEORGE STROUZAS

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THE BIRTHDAYS DESIGN

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STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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THE BIRTHDAYS DESIGN

CITYWIDE ELECTRIC 2016 VISUAL IDENTITY

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THE BIRTHDAYS DESIGN

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TBD CONTACT REVERSE FONT 2017 FONT DESIGN TBD FOUNDRY

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BEND

VIKTOR GOGAS, ODYSSEAS TSOLKAS & GIORGOS AXIOTIS STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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ONLY BOYS AND MEN WERE ACTORS IN ANCIENT GREEK PLAYS. THEY WORE LARGE MASKS SO AUDIENCE MEMBERS COULD SEE WHAT PART THEY WERE PLAYING. THEATRE STAFF CARRIED BIG STICKS BECAUSE SOMETIMES THE HUGE AUDIENCES WOULD GET EXCITED BY A PLAY AND WOULD RIOT.

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BEND

RIDE CYCLE CULTURE CAFE POSTER FOR LIVE EVENT 2015–2016 35 × 50 CM PRINTS & DIGITAL

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KOSTAS VLACHAKIS & JOSHUA OLSTHOORN STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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TYPICAL ORGANIZATION

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TYPICAL LECTURE POSTERS 2016–2017 TYPEFACE & POSTER DESIGN DIN A3 PAPER

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IFIGENIA VASILIOU

NAZISM AND GERMAN CHARACTER 2015 BOOK DESIGN OF AN ESSAY BY NORBERT ELIAS

IFIGENIA VASILIOU STUDIO IMPRESSIONS

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IFIGENIA VASILIOU

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STUDIO IMPRESSION

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FONTNAMES

tind Mike Karolos Nadia Valavani Polkadot Design Beetroot Design Group Vasilis Grivas Constantinos Chaidalis Markos Zouridakis Meni Chatzipanagiotou

I L L US T R AT E D Fontnames Illustrated

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tind

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10 × 10 A T H E N S Corn Studio Georgios Matthiopoulos / Greek Font Society Kosmas Apatangelos / Kommigraphics Design Studio Theodora Mantzaris Gregory Tsaknakis / mousegraphics Natassa Pappa Pi6 Chris Trivizas Simon Silaidis / Urban Calligraphy Irene Vlachou

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one What do you love about Athens?

Corn Studio — Athens is a city that combines beauty and ugliness in a very beautiful and creative way. This is especially true for some areas of the city center. You could walk a few minutes into the city and you’ll be transported from a traditional Athenian neighborhood with old neoclassical buildings into a dazzling neighborhood of blocks of flats that have their entrances full of posters or from there into a slum full of gorgeous graffiti and street art.

Georgios Matthiopoulos / Greek Font Society — Athens is the city where I was born and grew up. Most city names in Greece are referred to in female gender and therefore Athens is like a grandmother figure in my mind.

In many ways, the pulsating rhythm of the metropolis, the countless hidden corners of life’s tragicomedy, the accumulated layers of memories in every street are me. Athens is the abundant sunlight that welcomes us all every morning. Athens is the stories which her hills whisper in the sultry nights. Athens is an ugly heap of cement, traffic jams and pollution.

Athens is the sun setting behind the Acropolis.

Athens is the lingering taste of my first kiss to a girl in a park a long time ago. Athens is my heart beat waiting for the first proof to be pulled out of the press.

Kosmas Apatangelos / Kommigraphics Design Studio — Athens has a very multicultural environment, we have many options in terms of art, music, gastronomy, museums, and things like that. It’s a city with lots of cultural activities, something that keeps us alert and feeds us the new ideas, images, and all the inspiration that is so necessary for our kind of work.

Athens is also chaotic, just like almost every country’s capital, but on the other hand Athens is always friendly with lots of contrasts. To me, the most important thing is that Athens has its own special identity. The latter means that it stays unique as well as original.

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Theodora Mantzaris — Athens is a source of inspiration for me, I love walking in the historic neighborhoods and get a lot of ideas simply by paying attention to all the details of your surrounding environment. The light in Athens is very special and I’m very fortunate to have my studio situated on Lycabettus Hill with a great view of the park and the most luminous sunlight in the room I work in.

Theodora Mantzaris, Parnassos Ski Center Brand Identity, 2008.

Gregory Tsaknakis / mousegraphics — The sea.

Natassa Pappa — Athens is a city that is full of never-ending diversity and contrasts. There are always little details left to be discovered, even in the streets that you walk on everyday.

I wouldn’t trade the tasty lunch breaks, under the sun with friends who work nearby, for anything—nor the coincidental meetings in the streets of the city center.

Pi6 — It’s the honesty! Athens is not pretending.

It is not the prettiest city, but it has a charming soul and a rebellious character.

Chris Trivizas — Athens is a modern capital that combines a bit of everything. Depending on your mood, you can enjoy art in a museum, taste various gastronomic treasures from all over the world, or even do your favorite sport, which in my case is trail running, on the nearest mountain or at the beach, half an hour away from the city center.

Simon Silaidis / Urban Calligraphy — Athens is a very beautiful city that combines many different types of civilization, ideas and cultures.

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146 brainstorm solutions, choose the best solu­tion, do development work, build the basic forms, design, test and then redesign.

Georgios Matthiopoulos / Greek Font Society — My work is mostly in the fields of type design, book design and education. It does incorporate a dual modernist and classic­al approach. A designer is the bridge between the author and his or her readers, so the visual communication has to operate within these limits. There is undoubtedly a major shift towards digital technology in graphic design, and being at the forefront of this field when I returned to work in Athens, it did offer me a great deal of opportunities. Yet my interest for the analog processes are always strong and I had many chances to meet, work with and learn a lot by several master printers of the past.

My work as an educator now spans more than 25 years. I try to introduce to my students the notion that design is a social process and that it has a meaningful content and significance in form only in context of its historical past: No one can be a modernist in any discipline unless he / she has studied in depth the past achievements and failures.

Georgios Matthiopoulos, Greek Font Society, GFS Conference Catalog, 1992.

Kosmas Apatangelos / Kommigraphics Design Studio — My aim always is to overcome myself, to apply a different design to every project. This is our mentality as a team in our

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design department at Kommigraphics Design Studio. It helps us research, learn, listen, evaluate, evolve, become better. Everything we do is custom. Our process is applied to every project and if we had to list our top five process points they would be: 1. concept, 2. originality, 3. emotion, 4. experimentation, and 5. good use of typography.

Our process involves the all important and active interaction of all of our departments, that being marketing, design and development.

The starting point of each new project is the internal project analysis by each department, followed by a call for an open discussion between the departments involved, letting us set an overall objective and a common understanding. The most important issue for each new project is the in depth understanding of each request. Based on the request and the objectives set, we assign each new project to a team that has the right skills for the task. I am involved with work for print as well as in digital projects, even if over the last few years I have been concentrating on the digital work a little more than print.

Theodora Mantzaris — I always conduct an audit because I am very curious to see what has already been done in the past in that particular industry. My creative process is an extensive fulfillment of my curiosity on how to express functionality through easy to understand design and on how to achieve my clients objectives.

I like working with my clients around the world and I really enjoy every single project. I really love what I do. I think if there is a characteristic to what I do, it is love, curiosity and the ability to make very big and complex projects look rather simple.

Gregory Tsaknakis / mousegraphics — “Thinking through design.” I do not look for processes. I find them on the way.

Natassa Pappa — In my work content is king and this was the point I was finding difficult to communicate to my clients. They were expect­ing dazzling graphics and I was struggling to bring their attention to content first. I cannot design with blind text. After publishing some

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147 projects where the process worked better for me and it occurred to me that research and editing are what fills 80 % of the time I spend on a project and also what is needed to create strong concepts. I can happily say now that this is clear to the people who contact me for collaborations.

Natassa Pappa, und. Athens, 2017.

Folded map / Art guide of Athens, 110 × 210 mm.

Photo: © Giorgos Vitsaropoulos.

Pi6 — Analytics. We are interested in the process of learning and understanding. With every project we try to develop a new and unique solution, tailored to the specific needs of the project. We do not like to repeat aesthetic concepts or patterns, just because we know that they work.

Chris Trivizas — All my projects are comprised of two phases. Phase 1 is devoted to the background / organizational work: communicating with the customer and identifying his needs, do specific research for the project. Phase 2 is the most exciting part: creative thinking.

Simon Silaidis / Urban Calligraphy — Calligraphy is both image and text, considered by some the highest form of art. The ways of taking one character and how it can be brushed seem limitless. My work is characterized by a mix of Western Arabic and Asian influences applied to abandoned spaces, trying to expose the atmosphere of the location through calligraphy. I spend a lot of time getting the idea out

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of my head and on to the wall … What I mean is, I try to find special spots where I intend to express the atmosphere of the surroundings through the art. I use a variety of brushes; my favorite color is black because it remains a neutral expression to the viewer while maintaining a strict character. I try to keep all my works as sharp as possible and this means that it can take quite some time before reaching the result I want. I also prefer to work on the natural environment of a wall because I firmly believe that time is the best background for every piece, that way it blends 100 % and creates a better physical appearance. From that, I try to get the exposure of a single person finding the spot that I decorated. That way I am sure the wall will communicate with them. I get many emails from people that explore these kind of spots writing back to me about the way the mural spoke to them. This is my reward, the communication. Art, after all is all about expression and communication and that is why I spend so much time finding the ideal location that can merge perfectly with the art—not the other way; finding a place where many people can see it.

Irene Vlachou — My aim was always to combine and represent, in the best way possible, the connection between traditional practices and rational theorizing before taking into account the commercial side. The most rewarding aspect is when I have the opportunity to teach and be taught by the younger generation during lectures and workshops.

six Do you think it’s important to incorporate cultural, social or political topics in design or does design function on a separated sphere?

Corn Studio — We think that design does not operate on a separated “sphere” from the sociopolitical events of the world. It is certainly good for a designer to engage in, design for society

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G F A W

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E R D E

Beetroot Design Group, Thessaloniki Meni Chatzipanagiotou, Kilkis Stavros Damos, Thessaloniki Thanasis Tsampoukas / Dolphins Communication Design, Thessaloniki Original Replica, Thessaloniki Dimitris Papazoglou, Thessaloniki Dimitris Koliadimas / Semiotik, Thessaloniki George Triantafyllakos, Thessaloniki Filimonas Triantafyllou, Thessaloniki Charis Tsevis, Tala, Cyprus

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one What do you love about the place you are living in? Why did you choose to live where you live?

Beetroot Design Group — We like the sea, we adore the nice weather. We love Thessaloniki, because even though it’s a small town it makes you feel welcomed. Thessaloniki has all the advantages of a big city without being faceless.

Some of us grew up here, studied abroad, traveled all over the world. Others came for a trip and ended up staying for ever. Thessaloniki became the starting point for building our individual style for all of us but we all have different reasons for staying. The fact that our relatives live here, indeed plays an important role. On the other hand, Thessaloniki it isn’t the capital city of Greece, which can make some things difficult, especially when dealing with the global market. Nonetheless, the most important thing is that Thessaloniki has a strong creative interest, which has helped us to develop our skills and to move forward easily one step at a time. It was a really conscious decision to stay here, near to Thermaikos Sea. We love the calmness and the ambience of the city, combined with its joyful citizens. Those are the reasons why we chose to live in this place.

Meni Chatzipanagiotou — We all have a place that works best for us. I find that small cities in the countryside can offer you great inspiration and motivate you to be closer to nature, while industrial cities can be stressful, both professionally and personally. At first it wasn’t so much of a choice, since I was born and raised in northern Greece, where I still live and work. But I came to realize that as much as I travel and explore the world, I always want to return to my homeland.

Stavros Damos — To be honest, I was born and grew up in my city Thessaloniki, so I learned to love it. It is a beautiful city with easy going people. Everything is near by and you can have a good life here.

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Thanasis Tsampoukas / Dolphins Communication Design — I love this multicultural city, with a 2,500-year-old history, which can be seen all over the city center. A city with a unique seafront, which is an outdoor meeting point of all its the tribes, with the largest uni­ver­sity in the Balkans with 120,000 students who form its living “fuel,” tens of creative teams which are constantly active, a great tradition in gastronomy which combines the East with the West and humane living conditions, due to its size. I was born and studied in Thessaloniki. If I weren’t content here, I would have probably looked for other places to live.

Dolphins Communication Design, Bike Art, 2016. bikeart.gr. Poster.

Original Replica — It is difficult to be objective about the place where you grew up and live. We have a love-hate relationship, but in the end the benefits outweigh the downsides.

Thessaloniki can be relaxed and chaotic at the same time and this is probably the main reason why we have chosen to stay here.

Meeting people is easy here and being with all the people we love is very important to us.

Dimitris Papazoglou — I first arrived in Thessaloniki in early 90s, stayed for a couple of years and after a period of moving among

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V O I C E S O F EXARCHIA

Panos Papanagiotou

The voices of Athens’ most controversial district aren’t meant to be heard, but can be seen: Written in ink on its walls. → 251

Panos Papanagiotou

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189 Back in 2004, along with three friends in a car, I was challenged to jump out at a random place and tag something on the wall with a spray can I happened to carry with me, on my way back from university. I accepted the challenge and right behind the Leeds Train Station I found the perfect blank white wall. No extra thoughts whatsoever and I find myself writing Π Α Ο Κ (the name of a Greek football team; a rather random choice as my expertise in football is literally zero). My rebellious session was not over until I decided to put a circle around the second letter, gloriously suggesting that this was not a message about football or some random Greek letters. This was a political act, my “anarchy in the UK moment” that placed me on the very top of my friends’ respect list and some kind of security camera’s black one.

Some years later, I find myself looking for a place to live in an apartment in Exarchia, right in the city center of Athens. From the clean walls and the almost sterile environment of the UK to a whole opposite situation with the streets looking tired and dirty, public spaces suffering from uncomfortable and unpleasant places to rest, cars parked everywhere and walls filled with spray marks up to their very last bit. I was transferred to a different planet. A much warmer one for sure but most importantly one with a new language I had to comprehend and start using instantly. I am Greek and I should have been used to this but Exarchia is a special place like no other.

With a long reputation of political history, during the last 60 years, Exarchia managed to get together a rather interesting mix of people, including artists, musicians, intellectuals, young people and students. First the hippies of the 70s and later the punk movement of the 80s brought a strong political tradition to the place that is still carried along.

Now, in 2017, Exarchia is the kind of area parents don’t like. The one that you hear about on the news, the area where the people that live here should be wearing an achievement badge for being able to resist to abandon it for a “better” → 251

Panos Papanagiotou

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DO WE NEED A HISTORY OF GRAPHIC DESIGN IN GREECE? Niki Sioki

For a country so enveloped in history and defined by the remains of it, the course of Greek graphic design seems to play only a small role among its marble siblings, though it has much to show. → 252

Niki Sioki

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199 Graphic design, as the whole field of design, is undergoing change under the pressure of the current socio-political, cultural, ecological and economic environment. Boundaries between traditionally well-defined design disciplines tend to dissolve. Outcomes of graphic design practice are not anymore restricted to tangible products such as objects and images but they also include processes that respond to societal, humanitarian and environmental challenges. Similarly fluidity has become a characteristic of current design activity as professionals are regularly requested to “traverse, transcend and transfigure disciplinary and conceptual boundaries.”

Language usually reflects the occurrence of change in a field. This is clearly shown in a series of recent initiatives where linguistic changes were adopted in order to indicate a broader interpretation of the graphic design discipline. In 2014, the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda), which was founded in 1963 in London, changed its name to International Council of Design (ico-D). The main reason for removing the word “graphic” was to “reflect its new strategy for increasing the dissolution of boundaries between disciplines.” 2 The change of name also acknowledged the emergence of a new kind of design profession, where practitioners are expected to respond to multifaceted demands imposed by new technologies and media, as well as a new professional environment. Currently, graphic designers “are working within complex, globalized environments that required them to research outside of their field and to synthesize entirely new concepts and solutions in order to engage people with their environment and community in potent ways.” ³ Following the same line of thought, the official publication of the International Council of Design was relaunched under a new title. Communication design, interdisciplinary, and graphic design research replaced iridescent, for the term “better describes and supports a range of new kinds of practices, processes, and methods,” “better reflects where contemporary design practice and research is heading, and it allows space for the definition to evolve.” 4 Even more recently AIGA Design Educators’ Community response to change was the inauguration of Dialectic, a new scholarly journal with the aim to provide “a gathering place for those who wish to critically and thoughtfully propose, question, and argue about the ideas, systems and processes central to the nature of design education and practice.” 5 Both the title of the journal and the publishing project indicate the critical need for addressing design education issues in a period of constant change.

In a globalized world Greek graphic design cannot but experience the impact of the change the field goes through. This is probably more obvious in professionals’ every day practice as well as in publications, exhibitions and conferences. In times of change, historical knowledge can help us understand the evolution and complexities of the discipline and underpin decision-making, planning and strategies for the future. The aim of this article is to suggest that we now stand at → 252

Niki Sioki

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FA I T H / VO I D SPLIT

Text: Ian Lynam

Photos: Patrick Tsai

Sometimes it’s important to notice the differences between what seems the same, but is only similar. → 250

Ian Lynam

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233 I’ll tell you a story a Greek friend of me told me once.

I warn you, it’s a little bit sexist-seeming, but knowing that the original narrator is / was female (but note that I didn’t say “a woman”) should settle you some. You see, the story was related to me by a goddess. Yes, a literal goddess, but a graphic designer, just like you and I. (Gods and goddesses need to do things to keep themselves occupied, just like us.)

Talking about gods and goddesses brings up some big cultural and societal considerations—notably, ideas of belief and notions of faith. I didn’t think about faith or belief very much for many years. I was and continue to be agnostic (a hard act to pull off when you’ve consorted with the immortal). Additionally, I worked primarily alone for many years, so I didn’t have to worry about these kinds of things. But then I started teaching in two very different design schools where the students were Buddhist. Or Shinto. Or sometimes both. Or sometimes nothing. Or sometimes Muslim. Or Christian. Or Mormon. Or smaller, lessknown religions, and I just had to learn to become tolerant of different flavors of religious folks really fast. I’d adhered to the old Amebix “No gods, no masters” credo a bit too well for years, and learning to be someone who is open-minded with people of other belief systems kind of takes a lot of work.

Ultimately, I was able to boil down my ideas about faith and belief, and distill them into how I thought about my students, instead of how I thought about my students’ spiritualities. Some of my students are so exceedingly promising, talented, intelligent, and kind that I have faith in them and their abilities. On the other hand, I have many students that I must actively believe in and devote much of my energy to, because they have potential, even if it is often unrealized. Faith is when people are so talented that you know that they will create amazing work no matter most situations. Belief is … well, the opposite. Belief is having to try.

(OK, I was digressing, but this is a big point: when enraptured, faith and belief aren’t so different, I guess. There are always students who are annoying, and neither faith nor belief favor the annoying.) → 250

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H

O

T Hotel Bar

Exarchia

Café Omonia

Restaurant Kolonaki

Psirri / Gazi Monastiraki

Plaka

Fast food Ice cream / Dessert

Syntagma

Thissio / Makriyanni

Music / Club Shopping

Pagrati

Books Swimming / Spa Have a look

Kallithea

Museum / Art Architecture Cemetery Park

01 Exarchia Affordable, central, and in close proximity to the University of Athens, Exarchia is definitely a neighborhood that belongs to the young. It is full of restaurants, used vinyl and CD shops, terrific guitar shops, used bookshops, clubs, bars, anarchists, stray dogs and just about every kind of person, except cops. Some caution is wise, as feelings run high here when it comes to politics, but it pays off to go for a stroll around this exciting place.

After Dark At the corner of 31 Didotou and Ippokratous Street afterdark.gr Small club that has the best bands for the money according to knowledgeable rocker-journalist Perri Pagonis of the Athens News.

An

Solomou 13–15 anclub.gr One of the oldest and best rock clubs in Athens. An features local bands and will remind you of your favorite rock club from anywhere.

CHEAPART (Gallery) Andrea Metaxa 25 cheapart.gr This awesome gallery features exhibitions by Greek and foreign artists, whether you’re looking to see great art or BUY for yourself.

In Vivo

Charilaou Trikoupi ke Methonis invivoclub.gr A great place to see live jazz, rock and blues bands on weekends and meet up with friends for a drink or perhaps more.

SPOTS Hotspots

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Emanual Benaki Street 38

facebook: Ouzeri Lesvos A tiny ouzeri and fish restaurant, which will make you think you are on Lesvos island. It’s open day and night and can get very festive as often happens in places where people from Lesvos gather to drink ouzo and eat fish. It’s just on the fringes of Exarchia, close to Akadamias Avenue for those who fear venturing too far into the neighborhood.

Mpoemissa

Solomou Street 17–19 For those who want a night of live Rembetika and Laika music.

National Archaeological Museum

Patission Street 44 namuseum.gr You won’t find a better collection of ancient Greek sculpture, jewelery, pottery, and the Antikythira Device, a 2,000 year old computer found in the shipwreck off the island of Antikithira will have you wondering just how advanced those ancient Greeks actually were.

Ouzadiko

Themistikleous Street 72 It is a mezedopoulion (it’s a sort of a Greek tapas bar) that has live music on Friday and Saturday nights as well as Sunday afternoon.

Pirinos Kosmos At the corner of Solomos and Ippokratos Street pyrinoskosmos.gr An esoteric-spiritual-new-ageoccult bookshop with an upstairs full of English language books of the same genre.

Rozalia On Valtetsiou Street off Exarchia Square rozalia.gr Classic taverna with its outdoor garden in an old neoclassic house.

Alexander Grigoropoulou Memorial On the corner of Mesolongiou, now unofficially renamed Alexander Grigoropoulou Street and Tzabella Street Alexander Grigoropoulou, a young boy, was shot here by the police, which set off the riots of December 2008. The wall has some of the most intense graffiti and art you can find anywhere in the city and people are always leaving flowers and personal things in memory of this poor boy.

Vergina Achilleas On Valtetsiou Street off Exarchia Square Famous for its stuffed cabbage and Giantes, a modern taverna with organic food.

02 Kallithea In Greek Kallithea means “the best view,” and considering its beaches and scenic location, the naming is quite accurate. It connects Athens with the sea and offers a change from hectic city life.

Argoura

Agissilaou 49–51 facebook: Fish restaurant with a typical taverna environment. Here you can find a good combination of fresh fish, seafood and shellfish.

Kallithea Beach

Kallithea Beach Sunbeds are free as long as you buy a 5 Euro drink each. Lovely beach, very clean with great beach bars. Good for both swimming and snorkelling and very long and near to great commercial center with good entertainment and shopping.

Psaromezedes Antonia

Isminis Street 34 facebook: This place is super delicious with big portions. Do note that menus are in Greek however there is a waiter who will assist with English.

If you love seafood and are in the Kallithea area do not pass this place up.

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center Andrea Syngrou Ave. 364 snfcc.org This is the place to be if you are interested in culture, design, architecture and Renzo Piano. Both National Library and Opera are superb. The view is amazing, first you can admire Acropolis from the distance and when looking the other way you see some buildings made for Olympics 2004.

03 Kolonaki Kolonaki means “little column” in Greek and the neighborhood is named for the column on its main square. Located on the slope of Mount Lycabettus, its slight distance from the busy center made

Hotspots

it the place to be for the “Crème de la Crème” of Athens. Nowadays both northern and southern suburbs offer quieter and more spacious alternatives, but Kolonaki is still one of the places to see and be seen.

Benaki Museum

Koubari 1 benaki.gr A unique museum showcasing the development of Greek culture, supports knowledge, research and freedom of expression. It has the first and largest photographic archive in Greece. The museum has one of the best Islamic art collections in the world. Also it is the first multipurpose cultural center in Athens and hosts dozens of exhibitions and cultural events every year.

Café Boheme

Omirou Street 36

facebook: Café Boheme This is a bistro-style restaurant with a great little bar, interesting patrons and a DJ. Listen to cool traditional jazz and blues as well as stuff like Frank Sinatra, big band and music that your parents might have listened to if you don’t.

Carpo

Kanari Street 6 carpoathens.com A one stop shop for all kinds of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, made with the highest quality ingredients. Here you really can taste the difference, and they make delicious mixes with various combinations of their goodies. As if that wasn’t enticing enough, they also make great coffee and delicious chocolate. What more could you want?

Museum of Cycladic Art

Douka Neofitou 4 cycladic.gr The private living cultural institution is located in the heart of Athens. More than 3,000 objects of Cycladic, Ancient Greek and Cypriot art (dating from the 5th millennium BC to the 6th century AD) are displayed in the galleries of the museum.

Mount Lycabettus Center of Athens lycabettushill.com This hill is the highest point in the center of Athens. You can climb up to the top and enjoy the view from a height of 277 meters.

We suggest to dine in the restaurant on the top and watch the beautiful sunset of Athens.

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U S E F U L GREEK Kaliméra!

Good morning!

Kalispéra!

Good evening!

Kaliníhta!

Good night!

Giásas! (informal: Giásou) Hárika polí!

Hello / Goodbye!

Pleased to meet you.

Nai

Yes

Óhi

No

Efharistó!

Thank you!

Parakaló!

You’re welcome!

Parakaló.

Please.

Endáxi.

Me synhoríte.

Syngnómi.

Thélo …

Na mou to gráfete parakaló?

Okay / All right.

Excuse me. (to get attention) Excuse me. (to get past) I want …

Please write it down for me.

Ti kánete? (informal: Ti kánis?)

How are you?

Kalá, esís? (informal: Kalá, esí?)

Fine, and you?

Giámas!

Cheers / Your health! (when drinking)

Boríte na me voithísete?

Could you help me?

Boríte na mou díxete …

Can you show me …

Den xéro.

Den katálava.

Milás angliká?

Parakaló, miláte sigá-sigá?

Parakaló, xanapésteto.

Póte tha oloklirothi h Akrópolh?

Oou, eisai se heiróteri psihologia apó tin Persefóni!

Eheis dei to souvláki mou?

Iparhei hortofagiki ékdosh sto souvlaki?

Ah ohi! ’Ehasa to kompoloi mou ekei!

Xéreis énan kaló kalitehni tou graffiti?

Ohi polí págo ston frappé mou parakaló!

Aftó eínai to teleftaío mou potíri Oúzo!

Páme na aráxoume éxo stin Akrópoli.

Signómi allá vgaíno ídi me ton Dia. Pígaine píso stis eliés sou!

I don’t know.

I don’t understand.

Do you speak English?

Can you please speak more slowly?

Please say that again.

When will the Akropolis finally be finished?

Wow, you’re in a worse mood than Persephone!

Have you seen my Souvlaki?

Do you have vegan Souvlaki?

Oh no! I lost my worry beads over there!

Do you know a good graffiti artist?

Not too much ice in my frappé, please!

That’s my last cup of Ouzo!

Let’s go hang out on the Acropolis.

Sorry, I’m already going out with Zeus.

Go back to your olive garden!

WORDS Useful Words

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BY TYPICAL ORGANIZATION The song title is referring to the route of the subway train within two central stations of Athens, Attiki and Victoria.

A quite grainy view to the the typology of movement within blocks and the probably lost dreams of a certified paradise.

Attiki Victoria / Odos 55 / Odos 55 / 2012

The collective of Dimosioypalliliko Retire—translates as “civil servant’s penthouse”— plays with the common sense of the obvious, utilizing as a vehicle within seriousness and the absurd.

Here, in a a cappella version of the famous bolero. Translation not really needed …

Bolero / Dimosioypalliliko Retire / 1987 / Maurice Ravel Cover

Kostas Theodorou released his album Rousilvo as an attempt of reenactment. The voice of an actually uncharted part of Greece, formerly Slavic and the struggle of his ancestors, that after the Balkan Wars were even prohibited by the Greek state to speak openly their mother tongue.

The acoustic ensemble becomes the voice of the land.

Song Of The Unquietness / Kostas Theodorou (aka Dine Doneff) / Rousilvo / 2010

There is not a lot to say about this song. Joy Division remains a common reference and this cover is somehow a clear snapshot of an old era, but absolutely not obsolete.

She’s Lost Control / Alive She Died / Viva Voce / 1985 / Joy Division Cover

The Man from— the imaginary island of— Managra (aka Coti K) meets again Blaine Reininger for revisiting the child of the second. Repetivity and exception. Like a multitude of unspoken words that found their way. Finally.

Fifth Column / The Man From Managra featuring Blaine L. Reininger / Give Me New Noise: Half-Mute Reflected / 2016 / Tuxedomoon Cover

We are listening to the voice of Andreas Embirikos back in 1964, reading his own poem Immortals while a cloud of electronic micro sounds is being gathered somewhere between our ears. Not in order, neither chaotic. Possibly, both.

Ordo Ab Chao / Vault Of Blossomed Ropes / Vault Of Blossomed Ropes / 2014

She is the mother. Not of the so-called Greek electronic scene. Not only this. The mother of the voice that narrates our common mythology written in apartments with domestic animals, not in imaginary fields, neither with dragons and heroes.

Ti Nea Psipsina (What’s New Pussycat?) / Lena Platonos / Gallup / 1985

Lost bodies embody the existent connection within existentialism and meaninglessness, the same way as tragedy and farce are crossing each other. “[…] What we had considered as sun, it looks like weak lights in a dull landscape of decommissioned chimeras […]”

Perithinisi (swirling) / Lost Bodies / Brutal / 2006

Typical Organization, consisting of Kostas Vlachakis and Joshua Olsthoorn, is sharing its cultural impression of Greek music with us.

Turn the music on and immerse in the world of myths and legends while exploring this magazine.

Scan the QR code or follow this link: bit.ly/2xhOlFb

LIST → 253

Playlist

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FAVO R I T E BOOKS

Trying to make sense of what is happening in a place where life stays entwined with the past, while everything around is constantly changing.

Photographer and writer Ioannis Kostaris views the microcosm of his home village, Kalamoti on the beautiful island of Chios from the viewpoint of his father’s old coffee shop. There, he sits and writes, offering entertaining insight into the moods and changes that touch not only upon his subjects life.

The Village / Ioannis Kostaris / To Rodakio Editions and Fotagogos Books / 2015 / 15 × 23 cm / 128 p.

Fotagogos Bookstore has been open since 2013 and is located at the end of a stoa (Gr. passage) in the historic center of Athens. It was founded by the publisher Julia Tsiakiris, the journalist Stavros Dioskouridis and the graphic artist Yannis Karlopoulos. It’s the house of the To Rodakio Editions founded in 1992 and here you can find the most unique books in Athens if you are interested in arts, design, photography and poetry. In addition, it houses and organises lots of contemporary artists’ exhibitions showing paintings, photography, and other artwork. The bookstore is open every day of the week and remains a meeting point for booklovers and art maniacs in this increasingly interesting and ever-evolving city.

Fotagogos Bookstore Kolokotroni 59b & Limpona 10560 Athens

Dimitris Mitropanos was a Greek singer born on April 2nd, 1948.

This book contains a small part of a conversation started on April 18th, 2012 between some people close to him. Efthymis Filippou is known as the screenwriter of the cineart of George Lanthimos and obtained the Jury Prize of the Cannes Film Festival for the movie The Lobster.

Dimitri / Efthymis Filippou / MNP Editions / 2014 / 28 × 21 cm / 64 p.

Constantinos Pittas’ book, Athens, City Of Women features photographs and short stories that vividly show the lives of Athenians he met on the streets in the 80s, with their joys and tragedies. Most of the photographs in this album were taken in between March and December of 1984. Pittas had just discovered the photographic medium for himself and was passionately taking pictures around the city. It enables to reexamine a past that still impacts each of our lives.

Athens, City of Women / Constantinos Pittas / 2017 / 20 × 24 cm / 192 p.

+30 210 3839355 rodakio@otenet.gr Monday–Friday 10 a.m.–21 p.m.

Saturday–Sunday 12 p.m.–18 p.m.

PUBLICATIONS → 249

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247 Natassa Pappa connects the exits by following old, often overlooked, exit signs, taking you on a trip through the most interesting passageways in the heart of Athens. This guide Into Stoas— Athens Walkthrough maps all found exits, allowing access to the city’s bounty, without orders, cliches and prefabricated images.

The full map is intentionally hidden inside the folding cover, to suggest a more intuitive stroll and leaves space for notes. Eight postcards portray this unarchived Athenian graphic design.

Into Stoas—Athens Walkthrough / Natassa Pappa / Paperkingdom / 2015 / 135 × 215 mm, 88 p.

Niki Marangou (1948–2013) was a poet, writer and painter from Limassol, Cyprus.

A collection of poems from the era 2000–2012 in a bilingual edition under a title inspired by the poet and revolutionary of the 18th century Rigas Feraios. Niki Marangou combines legends, history and reality describing the current multinational human condition in the globalized southeastern Europe.

For A Faint Idea / Niki Marangou / To Rodakio Editions / 2013 / 15 × 23 cm / 224 p.

This is a book about the choreographer Pina Bausch, which includes poetry by Dimitrios Kraniotis and photographs by Konstantinos Ignatiadis. Dimitrios Kraniotis was assisting Pina Bausch as dramaturg at Tanztheater Wuppertal for her two works, Das Stück mit dem Schiff, 1993 and Trauerspiel, 1994. The text of Zaubertrauer and the poems of the Wunderbar chapter were created during the preparation of these two works, were edited in 2011 and finalized in 2016.

Pina: In the Rhythm Of Oracles / Dimitrios Kraniotis & Konstantinos Ignatiadis / To Rodakio Editions / 2017 / 17 × 24 cm / 97 p.

South as a State of Mind was founded in 2012 by Marina Fokidis. Since 2015 the magazine is the temporary documenta 14 journal, publishing four special issues until the opening of the exhibition in Athens and Kassel in 2017. Edited by documenta 14’s Quinn Latimer, editor-in-chief, and Adam Szymczyk, artistic director, these special issues are conceived as a place of research, critique, art, and literature. Writing and publishing are an integral part of documenta 14, and the journal heralds that process.

South As A State Of Mind / Issue 8 / documenta 14, #3 / Fall & Winter 2016 / 22 × 29 cm / 260 p.

This book tells us stories of a long journey from one end of Greece to the other, lasting more than ten years. They are told without any conveniences or beautifications, becoming “A personal tale and a constant search of my own inland.” Next to fifty-eight photos, the sixty-one texts about places, people and commonplace events are poetically composed into short stories that range from north to south and attempt to create a new map without seeking a homeland. The journey continues.

Short Homeland Tales / Ioannis Kostaris / FOS biblia / 2013 / 14 × 20.5 cm / 128 p.

Following the death of his beekeeper father, Rodakis, the main character of this thrilling crime novel, lives a solitary life in the old family house on a Greek island. One day he is asked by the village elders to take in a young fugitive woman. He reluctantly agrees. Soon, the woman persuades him to return to the family business of making honey, using a secret recipe that everyone on the island wants to get their hands on, giving way to an exciting plot that plays lovingly with the stereotypes of idyllic Greek island life.

Four Walls / Vangelis Hatziyannidis / Marion Boyars / 2006 / 13 × 20 cm / 224 p.

On December 13th, 1943, in Kalavryta, the Germans retaliated by killing all male civilians. The women are left to bury the men.

Marianthi and her daughter Margarita leave the city.

Leuki, a doctor, Margarita’s daughter, born in 1955, is haunted by this war crime and lives in the shadow of her grandfather Athos, a forest ranger in Kalavryta. She devotes herself in the investigation of the Nazi massacre. But is Athos one of the thirteen survivors? It’s about passing on the trauma of the war to the next generations.

Athos, The Forest Ranger / Maria Stephanopoulou / To Rodakio Editions / 2015 / 15 × 23 cm / 288 p.

God Hypnos’ brass head of the Hellenistic era in the British Museum was Euphrosyne Doxiadis’ inspiration to create nine depictions of Hypnos in natural environments but also keeping a reference to ancient times. Based on familiar classic or roman statues, Doxiadis preserves the fourcolor technique. The painter asked the writer Vangelis Hatziyannidis, with whom she had previously collaborated, to create a story based on her nine images.

Hypnos / Euphrosyne Doxiadis & Vangelis Hatziyannidis / To Rodakio Editions / 2008 / 27 × 17 cm / 64 p.

This small book

by Niki Marangou is a reminder and at the same time a dedication to the artist Alexis Akrithakis.

This bilingual edition describes a night of his life and includes 23 photographs of 1968 from Berlin with moments of his daily routine. Akrithakis was full of freedom and totally ignored the instinct of self-preservation.

In his paintings you don’t even suspect fear, you can enjoy the freedom of expression and a clear point of view, an innocence that art lacked from the 4th century BC. A Night With Alexis / Niki Marangou / To Rodakio Editions / 2007 / 17 × 20 cm, 56 p.

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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS P 154–170 backpacker.gr atypical.gr

George Triantafyllakos / Backpacker, Thessaloniki (GR) George Triantafyllakos holds a PhD in Participatory Design. He works as a developer and designer.

In 2015 he started the type foundry Atypical. In 2017 he participated in the team of designers that won the competition for the design of the visual identity of the National Library of Greece. In the same year he was a member of the jury committee of the Greek Graphic Design and Illustration Awards.

P 133, 154–170 beetroot.gr

Beetroot Design Group, Thessaloniki (GR) Beetroot Design Group is a Thessaloniki based, multi-awarded communication design office and think tank that provides design services and solutions to a worldwide clientele. The team is consisted of talented and enthusiastic designers with a common goal to communicate via stimulating social awareness with a sense of humor.

P 68–75 bend.gr video interview: slanted.de/athens

Bend, Athens (GR) Bend are excellent providers of graphic design, illustration and interactive media. Their passion lies in the production of printed and digital matter, motivated by visual research and close collaboration with people, initiatives, institutes and organizations. Since 2005 they provide fresh ideas that turn into concepts and communicate through functional and fine design with a multi-disciplinal approach.

P 60–67 thebirthdaysdesign. com video interview: slanted.de/athens The Birthdays Design, Athens (GR) The Birthdays Design is the design practice of Konstantina Yiannakopoulou and George Strouzas, both working in the creative industry, for several clients.

Established in 2013 and based in Athens, the studio works locally and internationally. Working across a range of disciplines, they treat every project as a typographic system development, always in a creative, unexpected but reasonable way.

P 10–17 behance.net/blaqk video interview: slanted.de/athens

Blaqk, Athens (GR) Blaqk is a collaboration between Greg Papagrigoriou and Chris Tzaferos (Simek) who’ve been working together since 2011. Both are graphic designers and visual artists based in Athens. Blaqk is a combination of graphic elements— calligraphic forms, letters, lines, geometric shapes, patterns, negative space, textures. They work with murals, painting, and graphic design among other things.

Photo: © Matteo Armellini

P 42–49 bobstudio.gr video interview: slanted.de/athens

Bob Studio, Athens (GR) Bob Studio is an independent design agency based in Athens and London offering a wide range of design services, specializing in packaging design and illustration.

They create new brands for a worldwide clientele and also have a wide portfolio of visual communication projects, corporate identities, books, posters and websites.

Their work has been many times awarded in national and international competitions.

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Constantinos Chaidalis, Athens (GR) Chaidalis Constantinos is a multidisciplinary designer, specializing in graphic design, illustration and motion graphics. He has worked as a motion and broadcast designer for mad.tv and nomint.gr and now works for JNL and 3dreams as a creative director and does all kinds of creative work. Alongside his full job he always tries to work on freelance projects and find time for personal art projects.

P 137, 154–170 menisart.com

Meni Chatzipanagiotou, Kilkis (GR) Meni Chatzipanagiotou was born in Thessaloniki, but her home is in Kilkis, Northern Greece. She graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from AAS College in 2012 and spent the years afterwards gaining experience. In 2015 she started Menis Art Studio and now works as an independent graphic designer and illustrator. Most of her current work centers around typography and illustration.

P 138–153 cornstudio.gr

Corn Studio, Athens (GR) Corn Studio is a design studio based in Athens, providing outstanding custom design solutions.

Dimos Stathis, Andreas Xenoulis, Vassia Kalozoumi and Ilias Stathis; make up the creative team of open minded, design freaks with passion for creativity. We work closely with our clients on each project to create not only a nice design that will help the business grow, but a long term relationship of trust and caring.

P 154–170 stdamos. daportfolio.com

Stavros Damos, Thessaloniki (GR) Stavros Damos main professional activities and specialization is focused on illustration. His clients are primarily advertising agencies, publishing houses and magazines, in Greece and abroad.

He spends his free time in a continued creative quest for new ideas. His love for the arts is what gives him strength and fuels his optimism for the future.

P 154–170 dolphinsonline.gr

Dolphins Communication Design, Thessaloniki (GR) Dolphins Communication Design is an award-winning creative studio based in Thessaloniki, Greece. They offer art direction, branding design, packaging, illustrations and web design, with cultural focus and for commercial use, for clients from Greece and abroad. Their straightforward, modern visual language aims always at ingenuity and originality. Their work has been featured and awarded globally.

P 50–55 dylsectic.com

Miltos Bottis / Dylsectic / MAMA Silkscreen, Athens (GR) Miltos Bottis is an Athens based graphic designer and art director with a methodical approach to visual communication.

Content-based research and typography-led design justify his approach to every project. He began his career as a junior graphic designer at G Design Studio and went on to become a senior designer at Semiotik Design Agency.

He now runs his own practice.

Index

P 218–221 europeandesign.org video interview: slanted.de/athens

Demetrios Fakinos, Athens (GR) Demetrios Fakinos studied Business Administration at the University of Piraeus and Human Resources Management (MSc) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. His professional career has granted him a central role in the advancement and promotion of design both in Greece and the international level. His work is to publish books and organize events that concern the various design disciplines.

P 222–231 dianafarrlouis. wordpress.com

Diana Farr Louis, Athens (GR) New Yorker Diana Farr Louis has lived in Athens since 1972.

She is the author of Prospero’s Kitchen about Ionian food, Feasting and Fasting in Crete and A Taste of Greece, several guide books and travel books and dozens of articles. She has a monthly column called Eating Well is the Best Revenge on weeklyhubris.com and is a regular contributor to culinarybackstreets.com.

P 246 / 247 facebook.com/ fotagogosbookstore

Fotagogos Bookstore, Athens (GR) Fotagogos Bookstore has been open since 2013 and is located at the end of a stoa in the historic center of Athens. It was founded by the publisher Julia Tsiakiris, the journalist Stavros Dioskouridis and the graphic artist Yannis Karlopoulos.

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MARKUS LANGE, LARS HARMSEN & JULIA KAHL (WITH UNBORN THEO) MICHALIS KATZOURAKIS DANIEL RUPP, JULIA (HIDDEN) & LARS ON THEIR WAY TO THE NEXT INTERVIEW

Αντίο

Slanted 30—Athens

Preparing the Documenta for the first time at two sharply contrasting sites was the core of Adam Szymczyk’s concept. He wanted to show art against a backdrop of pressing societal concerns. Athens, in parallel to Kassel, offered the perfect canvas: the gulf between rich and poor, and between Germany and Greece, but also between the wider cultures of Europe, facing crisis, boundaries and displacement. Some critics remarked that Szymczyk’s vision of art as broader social engagement was found only sparingly in some of the works, though all the designers we met talked very positively about the event bringing back art and life to Athens, a city that has suffered from draconian cuts in culture budgets.

Athens was the birthplace of democracy, classical architecture, sculpture and theater. Today’s dramas play out on the streets, where desperation and violence are never far from the surface. We once walked from our hotel to the center and passed, by chance, one of these modern arenas. Drug addicts stumbled through a living death, smoking and shooting shisha (Σίσα), a drug mixed with battery acid, engine oil and even shampoo. The “cocaine of the poor,” available for two Euros or less, burns your insides, makes you aggressive and sends you out of your skull.

It’s scenarios like this that have seen Greece grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with discussions of its decline often interweaving schadenfreude and pity. We discovered Athens from many angles and found it a city of vibrant contrasts. There is the inner circle under the Acropolis where visitors flock to see the Parthenon, sip cappuccinos at insane prices and buy trashy souvenirs. And there is the outer center, mostly unnoticed by the crowds; beautiful walks to pine-covered hills with their winding marble footpaths, connecting a cluster of neighborhoods that epitomize modern Athenian life—Petralona, Koukaki, Filopappou.

Here Athenians relax over frappé, beers or ouzo along with local dishes, celebrating the country’s timeless verities.

Of course we met taxi drivers who had tumbled precipitously from the middle class—and it is a bad idea to mention you come from Schäuble’s country. But we also met a lot of very enthusiastic people, full of vitality, an ambitious generation of designers and entrepreneurs on the rise, demonstrating a unique approach to business, where a well-honed sense of survival in an uncertain world is key. Forced by the nation’s economic malaise to raise their game, they are masters of improvisation and natural risk takers, valuing all the more their ability to spread their skills around the world and work for international clients. We met people who are intensely proud of what they have achieved. They are determined to make the best of it, to make their mark while forging a uniquely Greek identity— and of course, to have a good life in one of the most exciting places in Europe. They are the living proof that struggles produce real strengths.

This issue of Slanted Magazine goes along with additional video interviews which have been conducted by the Slanted team in April 2017 in Athens.

To watch videos scan QR code, or visit slanted.de/athens