Explore the contemporary design scene of Athens!

Illustrations, photography, interviews and essays about Athens fill this volume.

In the spring of 2017 the editors of Slanted embarked on a trip to Athens to take a close-up look at the contemporary design scene there. This issue encapsulates their experience and research. 

The 14th edition of documenta was also taking place in 2017. For the first time, the exhibition took places in two cities. Curator Adam Szymczyk conceived of two concurrent exhibitions that would show art against the background of commercial and political concerns. Athens, paralleling Kassel, offered a perfect canvas, highlighting differences between rich and poor, Germany and Greece, and the tensions between Europe's different cultures as they face crisis, boundaries, and displacement. Slanted was able to conduct interviews with local Greek designers during this critical time.

Slanted met with design legends (such as Michalis Katzourakis) as well as with the young, wild creatives who are impacting the today's design community. Studios and designers—including Bend, The Birthdays Design, Blaqk, Bob Studio, Dylsectic, G Design Studio, Irini Gonou, Luminous Design Group, MAMA Silkscreen, MNP, Parachute, StudioJugi, Typical Organization, Urban Calligraphy and Ifigenia Vasiliou—share a glimpse into their world.

Essays include: “Learning from Athens: The Power of Negative Thinking,” “A Primer in Greek Typography Until the Digital Revolution,” “Greek Graphic Design Has No Image,” “Do We Need a History of Graphic Design in Greece?” “Thessaloniki, a Special Case in Contemporary Greek Visual Communication,” “A Practical Guide on How To Create New Projects or the Way to the European Design Awards.”   

With contributions from Backpacker, Beetroot Design Group, Constantinos Chaidalis, Meni Chatzipanagiotou, Corn Studio, Stavros Damos, Dolphins Com­mu­nication Design,, Demetrios Fakinos, Diana Farr Louis, Fotagogos Book­store, Greek Font Society, Vasilis Grivas, Mike Karolos, Kommigraphics Design Studio, Ian Lynam, Theodora Mantzaris, Klimis Mastoridis, Georgios Matthiopoulos, mousegraphics, Original Replica, Panos Papanagiotou, Dimitris Papazoglou, Natassa Pappa, Pi6, Polkadot Design, Semiotik, Niki Sioki, tind, Alexander Torell, Filimonas Triantafyllou, Chris Trivizas, Charis Tsevis, Nadia Valavani, Irene Vlachou and Markos Zouridakis.

An included booklet, Contemporary Typefaces, presents a curated selection of international high-quality typefaces. A special section features Greek typefaces from høly, Parachute, and Atypical (among others).

Designed by Clara Weinreich

Published by Slanted Publishers
First edition, 2017 (English)

Softcover, 256 pages + 48-page booklet, 6.3 × 9.45 inches