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Arts & Communication Contemporary Greek typeface design

interviews and analyzing the data to discern common By identifying these common themes, the research aimed
ideas and patterns. The qualitative approach allowed for to provide a comprehensive overview of the current
a comprehensive analysis of the complex nature of the landscape and dynamics shaping Greek typography.
research topic, offering rich and detailed insights into the
phenomenon under investigation. 4.1. Overview of participants
Participants were selected based on their expertise in The following paragraphs provide an overview of the
Greek typography, ensuring the relevance and value of professional backgrounds of the designers being studied,
their contributions. Specifically, prominent Greek typeface emphasizing their contributions to the field of type design
designers actively involved in creating unique typefaces and typography.
supporting the Greek language, both domestically and Kostas Bartsokas (https://kostasbartsokas.com/)
internationally, were invited to participate. Out of 16 is a Greek-type designer and typographer who has
identified designers, 12 agreed to partake, resulting in a worked independently in Greece, the UK, and Norway.
robust response rate of 75%. These participants included Although he initially focused on various areas such as
(in alphabetical order) Kostas Bartsokas, Eleni Beveratou, graphic design, illustration, web design, packaging, and
Vassilis Georgiou, Panos Haratzopoulos, Yannis animation, he ultimately decided to pursue his true
Karlopoulos, Takis Katsoulidis, George D. Matthiopoulos, passion: typography. He completed his master’s in typeface
Natalia Qadreh, Konstantinos Siskakis, Emilios design at the University of Reading. In 2021, he cofounded
Theofanous, George Triantafyllakos, and Irene Vlachou. Foundry5 with Mohamad Dakak, Jason Harcombe, and
Pria Ravichandran, offering customized solutions in
To explore the perspectives of the abovementioned the expanding global typography scene, embracing the
contemporary Greek designers on various aspects of philosophy that every script is unique and presents exciting
typeface design, a core set of open-ended questions was design challenges.
used as a research tool. These questions were divided
into four thematic parts: (A) Typeface Design, (B) Greek Eleni Beveratou (https://www.instagram.com/
Typefaces and Greek Script, (C) Entrepreneurship, and (D) ebeverat/), born in Munich, Germany, and raised in
New Technologies and Modern Trends in Typeface Design Athens, pursued her education in visual communication
(Appendix). at the Vakalo Art and Design College from 2004 to 2008.
Following this, she worked at Red Design Consultants
The research tool was distributed through email, along in Athens from 2008 to 2010 before earning her master’s
with an explanation of the study’s purpose and a request in typeface design from the University of Reading, UK.
for consent to participate. The distribution began in Beveratou’s research on fonts for individuals with impaired
December 2020, and responses were collected until May vision was featured in “Digital Fonts and Reading” (2016)
2021. Initially, information on the designers’ backgrounds by World Scientific. Since 2012, she has been a member
and work was gathered from online sources, which were of the Dalton Maag design company in London, currently
later verified by the designers themselves through their serving as creative director. In this role, she contributes to
responses to the questionnaire. font design projects for clients such as Piraeus Bank, the
The interviews were conducted in two formats based National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens, Airbnb,
on the participants’ preferences: written responses and others.
through email or remote face-to-face interviews through Vassilis Georgiou (https://ateliergeorgiou.com/) is a
teleconference or telephone. For the latter, core questions visual communication designer located in Athens. He
served as discussion prompts, and the conversations were pursued his studies at the Technological Educational
transcribed afterward. As the questions were designed to Institute of Athens, specializing in graphic arts and design.
encourage discussion, the participants sometimes provided His research primarily revolves around the historical
additional insights beyond the core questions and not all evolution of alphabet morphology, delving into writing
queries were fully addressed. techniques and exploring mechanical text reproduction.
After the responses were collected, an analysis was Moreover, he examines how letter forms affect readers,
performed to identify recurring themes and patterns viewing text as visual imagery, and scrutinizes the diverse
across the participants’ insights, which involved closely methods of conveying written information, spanning from
examining the responses to discern commonalities, trends, propaganda to artistic mediums.
and key points raised by multiple designers. The goal was to Panos Haratzopoulos (https://www.haratzopoulos.
gain a deeper understanding of the overarching principles, com/) is a Greek designer and typography expert, with
challenges, and perspectives within Greek typeface design. a background in graphic design from the Technological

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 4 doi: 10.36922/ac.3133