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Arts & Communication Contemporary Greek typeface design

most recent typeface creation, “Touvlo,” has been honored Table 1. Demographics and professional expertise of the 12
with the Communication Arts Award of Excellence for Greek typeface designers
typeface design. Embracing the ethos of giving back, Demographics and professional expertise n
Emilios is passionate about engaging with young designers
and frequently conducts workshops on type design and Gender
emerging technologies. He possesses a diverse educational Men 9
background, having graduated from EsadType in type Women 3
design, complemented by a multidisciplinary foundation Location
including a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s Designers based in Greece 9
degree in digital arts. Emilios is also an enthusiastic Designers based abroad 3
collector of type specimens, often drawing upon them for Field of work
consultation, research, and inspiration.
Design original Greek typefaces 10
George Triantafyllakos (https://backpacker.gr/) earned Redesign historical Greek fonts 6
his PhD in participatory design of educational software Expand existing typefaces to support the Greek language as an 7
from the Computer Science Department at the Aristotle individual designer
University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and completed his BSc Collaborate with foreign designers or type foundries to expand 8
in the same department. In September 2015, he established existing typefaces and provide support for the Greek language
the Atypical type foundry (https://atypical.gr/) and has
contributed to designing typefaces for the Greek Font
Society. In 2017, he was part of the design team that won type foundries or as independent designers, they have
the competition for the new visual identity of the National achieved a high level of specialization in type design for
Library of Greece, alongside George D. Matthiopoulos, the Greek language. They have created original typefaces
or expanded existing fonts to support the Greek script,
Dimitris Papazoglou, and Axel Peemöller. That same year, offered consultations to foreign designers on Greek
he served as a member of the jury committee for the Greek typography, and researched and revitalized historical fonts,
Graphic Design and Illustration Awards. In October 2019, highlighting tradition as a crucial element of type design
th
he received an award at the 11 GRANSHAN Type Design for a specific writing system. Although most of these
Competition for his work on the Dolce Noir type family. designers are based in Greece, three of them – Aimilios
His page features a catalog of all the commercial and Theofanous, Natalia Qadreh, and Eleni Beveratou – reside
custom fonts he has developed, including free-to-use fonts.
in London (at the time of the research), where they work
Irene Vlachou (https://www.ivtype.com/) completed for major international foundries. These positions provide
her master’s degree in type design from the University them with opportunities to gain experience in various
of Reading in 2004. Subsequently, she commenced scripts, connect with an international clientele, and
collaborations with international type foundries and undergo training in the font software production process.
corporations, assuming roles as a type designer and Greek Today, fonts are essentially software, shifting the role of a
type consultant. From 2013 to 2019, she was a senior designer to that of a developer. The designers in Greece also
designer and variable font expert at Type-Together. Some participate in international collaborations, bolstering the
of her remarkable projects during this tenure include reputation of Greek-type design globally. Collaborations
Colvert, Parmigiano, and Stratos. In 2017, she cocreated with foreign foundries or designers are seen as beneficial,
Bradford Greek for Documenta’s corporate identity. fostering the exchange of knowledge and experiences,
In addition, she co-established FauxFoundry in 2019, which is inherently educational.
specializing in webfont services featuring variable fonts. The subsequent discussion is based on the data collected
Since 2017, she has volunteered as a mentor for Greek-type through the interviews conducted, organized according to
design during the Google Summer of Code, representing the sections delineated in the research tool (open-ended
the Greek Open-Source Community. Since January 2020, questionnaire; Appendix).
she has returned to full-time freelancing, concentrating on
Greek and variable fonts. 5.1. Typeface design

5. Discussion Designers view types as integral to visual communication,
a tool that efficiently conveys messages to the recipient
The 12 Greek typeface designers who participated in and influences their choices. The relation with visual
this study have made significant impacts both in Greece communication is reciprocal; type choices shape graphic
and internationally (Table 1). Whether working for design, and design trends affect font production. Types

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 6 doi: 10.36922/ac.3133