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Kristamas Klousch

11/29/2010

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Kristamas Klousch is a young artist with a distinct passion for photography! A sample of her portfolio has been already featured in EyeCandies and time has come to host an interview with the girl that captures the essence of dreaming through self-portraiture.

Welcome to EC Kristamas! When did your photographic explorations begin and what triggered your creativity?

I can't really pinpoint an exact time though my childhood was full of creative individuals and I had the opportunity for so many creative adventures. I can remember being a very imaginative child, I had a collection of dolls that I would create stories for, it's funny to remember. I recall cutting up old clothes and sewing outfits for them, I would also draw a lot--my stepmother is a painter, she was very influential in that respect. I have also spoken a few times about my father being a huge influence ... one of his hobbies was photography and I can remember sneaking into his room to look at photos he had taken, it fueled a lot of my curiosity for the camera. When he knew I showed interest he taught me how to develop film, and always gave me access to a camera. It wasn't until my late teen years that I started to experiment with self-portrait photography, using myself in the photo was more due to being a loner and I've always enjoyed working alone in that way.


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Black X List Photography

11/22/2010

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Recently featured in the photo section, Black X List Photography captured my interest with his inspiring urban shots taken in the deserted High Peak College. Today, Martin the photographer talks to us about his true passion: photography! Enjoy!

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George Beleveslis aka WAKE

11/15/2010

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George Beleveslis aka WAKE is an active street artist with numerous paintings both in Greece and abroad. Passionate about graffiti he has also collaborated with other artists, bringing some color and emotion in grey city walls! Today he unravels his thoughts on urban art and talks about his creative explorations! Let’s welcome him :)
 
Hello George and welcome to EC! When did you start actively doing street art? Do you remember your first wall painting?

Thessaloniki, 1997. I was in the car with my dad driving to Kalamaria, when I suddenly caught a glimpse of a huge “Wall of Fame” under a bridge. For months, every time we passed by, I knew I only had just a few seconds available to see the painted walls through the window as we passed by. Not having a photo camera, I decided to walk to this place and document these alien things by hand drawing everything in my school sketchbook. For days and days, I was trying to understand and conceive all these arrows, stretched  geometries  and English words.

I hadn’t realized that a word is actually the nickname of a unique person (tag) and I considered graffiti as a random  multiplication of words, symbols and colorful patterns. Who? When? Why? How? Well, curiosity killed the cat!

Books and older friends cleared things out for me. In the end, this lead to my first wall painting, a bad copy of a wildstyle ('joser'). I remember the strong smell of the spraycan paint, my dirty clothes, the dumbed wall, the joy of vandalism and that incomparable feeling after I had finished. The world has never been the same after that. I was infected. I was a graffiti writer.


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Dimitris Kanellopoulos

11/4/2010

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Dimitris Kanellopoulos aka b-positive is another designer I’ve met online via VCDC a few years ago. Active and passionate with graphic design, he has won various design awards for his inspiring work and he is currently the President of the Greek Graphic Designers Association Board. He talks to us about his projects and shares his views and advice on the field of visual communication. Let’s hear him out!

Welcome to EyeCandies Dimitri! You’re dealing with design in various aspects, but how did you start and what were your first creative outlets?

I started back in 2001 when I worked in a photographic studio (eyephobia adv.) for six months. Ι had just returned from my military service. Then I did my BA at Kent Institute of Art and Design and in 2003 I got my first job at “Ideografiki SA” as a junior designer.


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Elle Muliarchyk

10/21/2010

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After featuring the radical and original photographic projects of Elle Muliarchyk, time came to ask her for an interview. Elle was discovered in New York by Patrick Demarchelier and started off as a model. She currently lives and creates in New York and received worldwide attention after her “Dressing Rooms” photo series was presented in the New York Times Magazine. Since then, she has been busy and today she shares her plans, inspirations and thoughts. Enjoy!

Hello Elle! It’s a great pleasure to have you in EyeCandies! What triggered your passion for photography? How and when did it all start?

Photography is more like a tool to me with which I document my current  fetishes and experiences. I took my first picture with my first camera in a dressing room of a posh boutique, rehearsing for the first most important shoot of my life with Patrick Demarchelier. And I spent next 2 years taking guerrilla self portraits in dressing rooms wearing the most beautiful and expensive garments I’d never be able to afford. I created my alternative realities there using various backdrops and crazy props of enormous sizes and materials... The store security kicked me up upon discovery, or even called the Police... But my obsession of doing whatever it takes for the image... has begun!

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SPANAKI

10/8/2010

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Anna introduced me to her colorful world and I was more than delighted to discover her fresh creations mainly made out of old vinyl and magazines! Spanaki [greek word for spinach] is her collection’s brand name! Let’s check her out!

Hello Anna and welcome to EyeCandies. When did you first start crafting and what urged you towards it?

I think that the first jewelry I’ve ever made were necklaces from raw pasta… This was an obligatory practice I had to do for my lazy eyes when I was at about 5 years old. :S But as far as I can remember I was always one of those kids decorating their books, cutting, collecting, doing collages, sewing the cloths for their dolls and stuff. Sketching, crafting was something I was good at and could also please my closest people. So, I used to create several things, which I gave away as presents to friends & family. But things changed, when I got my first degree on Computing. When I started to work on this sector I felt the need to do something more creative in my daily routine. So I decided to study graphic design. Through my “career change” my crafts got a more compact identity.

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Most of your creations are made by recycled and reused materials. How important is this in your opinion and what are the main characteristics of your work?

I’ve been thinking lately how ephemeral and disposable most of the things we use everyday are and I felt so fed up with this… I find this cast of mind we all have, consuming and throwing away with no second thought about the environment or the economy, very disturbing. My intension is to expand the product’s lifecycle by transforming it into something new that can offer a new satisfaction to its owner and in a way delay it from being detrimental to the environment.

Do you experiment with various materials? What is your favorite one and why?

I have tried to work with several materials like metal, resin, polymer clay, threads, leather and many more but for sure my favorite is vinyl because it has all the properties of metal, it gives more than many potentials for creating unique designs and it’s more fun to work with.

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If you were to choose a persona to show your collection, who would you choose?

So hard to answer! Two women come to my mind right now:

Björk and Róisín Murphy, whom both I admire as musicians, performers and always liked their stylistic choices. So a possible approval of my work would be really important to me.
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What in your opinion makes a designer successful?

Love for design, will, hard work, knowledge on the history of design, and considering the 10 principles for good design of Dieter Rams.
Can you give us a peak to your future plans?

These days I am working on a boys collection but what I intent to do next is to create a series designed and crafted totally by me – graphics, illustration & manufacture.

LINKS: […]

- http://www.spanaki.gr
- http://spanaki.blog.com/
- http://spanaki.bigcartel.com/
- http://el-gr.facebook.com/spanaki

EMAIL: [email protected]
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Charis Tsevis

10/1/2010

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Designer enthusiast, illustrator, teacher, writer and a great networking and supporting spirit, Charis Tsevis has a lot to be proud for! I admit that I’ve been waiting for this interview with great anticipation! Here is what he shares with us:

Hello Chari! I’m very glad to have you here! We met online some years back in VCDC (Visual Communication Designer’s Club). Since you are one of the forum’s founding members, would you like to share a few info about the whole project? {how did it start / evolve / future plans etc}

Hi Afroditi. Glad to find you here in your new adventure. I wish you all the best for it. Yeah I remember the VCDC days. It was a project that I am really proud of being a part of. It was a simple and natural concept that tried to create a warm community of creative people. It started when several designers from Greece who met online and decided that there is no need to wait for others to do what they wanted. What we wanted wasn't exactly known, but all of us were feeling that we wanted something - like a common platform to communicate, to collaborate, to share ideas, knowledge and to form a real community for Greek creatives.

The best thing in this initiative was that there were very different people involved. Designers from almost any level. In VCDC there was space for students and teachers, employees and employers, even for unemployed designers or amateurs. The best thing of that era was the warm community that was formed online and offline. People started to meet, to collaborate, to socialize, to learn to have fun. I decided to distance myself from VCDC when the democratic experiment we were trying wasn't going too well. I also became more involved in other projects which limited my time available. I am still a member and occasionally enjoy to read the forum or joining the parties.

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Your mosaic illustrations are very original and visually attractive. As a matter of fact you’ve portrayed various famous people such as: Barrack Obama, Steve Jobs, Michael Phelps and recently Marc Zuckerberg for numerous editorials and magazine covers! Would you share some info on the technique and overall concept?

Thanks for the kind comments. Mosaics have been around for centuries. I always had this passion for images of highly complex systems and mosaics are such systems. I have probably contributed some ideas to the topic, mostly by experimenting on the grid systems, by being more corrageous with the use of varied sizes and other parameters.

The basic concept is that every image is a mosaic. Everything our eyes are seeing is a mosaic of different stimuli. What an artist is doing is collecting the different elements and arrange them in a way to communicate specific messages. There are some different architectural approaches in the creation of the image, there are many aspects that need the designers' attention, such as color, form etc, but the bottom line is the message.

You know from the VCDC years that I am passionate about Gestalt psychology. So the main rule of Gestalt is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The challenge of every mosaic is just this. To create something that is greater than the sum of the parts. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes not. For example I am really happy with my Steve Jobs and Barack Obama mosaics. I think they have found a way to talk about the personality of the people and give my personal view on them.
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Can you describe your average working day?

I am not sure there is such thing as an average working day. I am having very different days with very different faces. There is a lot of music, a lot of staying in the middle of many Macs, a lot of coffee and tea and some pizza.

My working day has more than 12 hrs of work and sometimes last more than 1 day and night. But I wouldn't exchange the designer's worklife for anything else.
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You also design typefaces as a member of the Parachute Fonts circle of type designers. How would you describe the procedure of creating fonts and what are the vital points one has to have in mind?

I have designed more than 10 typefaces but I am not considering my self a typedesigner because I am not doing it very often. Creating typefaces is a work that I have always admired and I wanted to try my self with it. It's a very nice procedure. Can be really long - or quicker - but to me it has always been something serious that I wasn't absolutely sure I could do. I was always feeling very responsible for my typefaces. Maybe because designing typefaces is something like writing a symphony when creating an illustration is like writing a song. Typefaces are also a work of yours created to be used by others and having its own life. It's like giving birth to a child and trying to educate it. Then the child is going to take its own path.
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As a design professor you get surrounded by students involved in the creative field. What is your opinion and impression in general concerning the evolution of graphic design during the last years and what is the latest ‘trend’ in the inner circles of young designers?

Teaching is a gift that you can give to your self. It keeps you young, it helps you experiment, it keeps your eyes open to the fresh part of the society.

Trends are always hot in the circles of young designers because they live with more passion in their era. I am trying to keep them enthusiastic and passionate about their generation but I am trying to make them understand that trends come and go. They are needed to any society because they renew it but as professional designers they will have to develop the skills to analyze them, to use them for a purpose and of course to create or destroy them.

What is the latest one? The mainstream rediscovered the hand painted and hand drawn graphic design lately. The underground is experimenting with a revival of the early 80's or with the ethnic styles of what we once were calling "third world".

But I think that there is space for personal trends. For personal choices that are going to be followed or not by others but they would be sincere and meaningful.

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Where do you seek inspiration from and who are your favorite designers/illustrators?

Inspiration could be found everywhere. But Everywhere! From other forms of art like music, literature, cooking, biology or statistics. Traveling is also very helpful. Being there, touching the actual experience is so educational and inspirational. I also like to have the "travel" approach with my studies. I like to take a specific historic era in a specific geographic area and try to explore it through books, online sources or actual visits.
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Which was your latest most exciting project and why?

I enjoyed a lot a work I have done recently for Unilever in Dubai. We created a gigantic billboard advertisement (200 meters x 20 meters) based on a mosaic illustration. The whole collaboration was really cool because the LOWE team was sending me photos of the place and ideas and even if I have experimented with space graphics in the past, I have never created something so big.

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[Copyright ©: Tsevis Visual Design, LOWE Dubai, Unilever Inc.]
It's going to be up and running in October and I cannot wait to go and see it live. And believe or not, one of the most exciting projects, for me is every new Steve Jobs' mosaic portrait someone asks me to do. I have created several new ones and in every one there is an new challenge. The latest, created for ALFA magazine in Brazil, tries to reflect the psychedelic period of Steve Jobs life. The trips in India or LSD and the early years in Apple.
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Thank you Chari for the interview! Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I remember meeting you back in the VCDC era and admiring your courage to go after a second carrier. That of an illustrator. You took so many steps since then that I have always enjoyed. I am seeing you taking a third carreer now with EyeCandies, that of a journalist. I just want to wish you luck in everything you do and encourage you to go after your dreams.

Thanks for the conversation.

LINKS: […]

- http://www.tsevis.com/
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iNO

9/24/2010

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iNO is a young artist with a clear passion for street culture! He may not talk much but he makes sure his artwork does. He has designed the fantastic mural @ Technopolis, Gazi, which I admit is one of my favorite urban art projects!

Hello, glad to have you in EyeCandies. Firstly, what does your nickname iNO stand for?

I would rather not reveal.

When did you start realizing that art was what you wanted to go for and what were your first steps?

Graffiti saved my life.

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You have designed and painted a lot of walls in this grey city. How does it feel to work in the street and what themes do you choose to show publicly?

I don’t like people watch me when I draw.

About themes, there is no menu, depends on my mood and spot.

Have you ever had any weird incident during your urban art adventures? Would you care to share?

Once upon a time i was chased for trying to paint somewhere, after some years I was paid to paint that spot.

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Where do you search for inspiration?

Reality

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Talk to us about your last group exhibition “No Money Just Honey” at a.antonopoulou art gallery.

I liked the theme, I liked the gallery and I needed some honey.
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What else can we find you doing in your spare time – other than painting?


Gym, bikes, girls, have fun.


Who would you choose to work with in a hypothetical street art project and why?

Since we talk hypothetical, I would choose MC Escher because he’s elusive.

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Describe your current mood with a link (image, video, song, anything)

< < <

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And last but not least, is there anything we should look forward to? Any future plans?

I plan to travel as much I can.

LINKS: [   ]

- www.ino1.gr


EMAIL: [email protected]
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Antigoni Chryssanthopoulou

9/17/2010

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I’ve met Antigoni Chryssanthopoulou aka inogitna via the meet market sessions but only realized the variety and depth of her artistic expressions after a close look through of her inspiring portfolio. So get ready to get swept away by amazing visuals and fantastic urban photography explorations!

Hello Antigoni and welcome to the EC Blog! How and when did you start actively working as a graphic designer?

Hello Aphrodite; thank you for having me at EyeCandies!

I started working in 1993, right after my studies at VAKALO School of Art and Design. My first job was at the Creative Department of certain Advertising Company at Kolonaki, Athens, where I remained for approximately 1.5 year. For the next 8 years I worked mainly as free lancer and I cooperated with various advertising and publishing firms, design studios and individuals. Because I love traveling, I used to be away from my home city for approximately 3-4 months per year. The fact that, when returning home, I always  looked for new job assignments and for interesting projects was rather beneficial for me, because this way I became experienced in many graphic design sectors. During the last 8 years I am devoted to my work, but I still travel whenever I have some time.
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I currently work as Art Director at a small advertising company and at the same time I undertake various projects as free lancer. I also work a lot with photography, which is my second major passion, and has become one more creative outlet for my artistic visions.
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Talk to us about the inspiring custom design work you did for Cruel Candy.

Cruel Candy is a very dear friend of mine. I was thrilled when she asked me to design her identity. I believe that I have the talent to “catch” the deepest personal core of any of my clients and to push it forward in my design, while at the same time the information given is communicated with clarity, in order to outreach the target group, but also the largest possible audience (well – this is the goal of graphic design after all!). Especially in this particular assignment, and exactly because I know this person very well and I care for her, I became rather obsessed! For one full month my mind was full of thoughts and ideas, which succeeded one another, without having the faintest clue as for the final outcome. I used to search indefinitely for my material on the internet, in books, everywhere, without having made any draft. Finally, I made the Cruel Candy illustration in one night, almost impulsively, within one hour only. When I looked at the image I knew that this was totally Cruel Candy! I sent it to her right away and we decided that, yes, we go on with it!

Who is your favorite designer / artist / crafter and why?

This is a very difficult question. Really, at this moment I am not in a position to pinpoint just one. I could mention several reknowned illustrators, designers, architects, etc, whom I admire and who have certainly influenced me deeply. However, because I always like seeing new things, I am interested in various creative communities and internet portfolios – especially behance.

I can just mention ONLY VERY FEW of the persons that I have marked out at certain points in time, because they inspire me and because I am happy to be in dialog with them.


(Of course I love a lot of greek artists and designers, but I can’t name them all.........!!!)

http://www.behance.net/matthewb
http://www.behance.net/theatomicghost
http://www.behance.net/seanballdesign
http://www.behance.net/marcdacunhalopes
http://www.behance.net/amv256
http://www.behance.net/milen
http://www.behance.net/moshik
http://www.behance.net/Pixel_Junglist
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What was your latest most challenging and exciting project?

I could refer to my Berlin Pieces series of photographs. It is neither the latest nor the most challenging, but it is an example of what I described above, meaning the images of spots that nobody “sees”. I took these pictures last Christmas in Berlin. They show interior window panes at the building of Tacheles arthouse, at Oranienburger street. Very small details, among the numerous graffiti and collages, which cover the whole building top down. The light was great (it had just snowed) and it beautifully diffused through the windows. This is what gives the impression that the outcome has been processed on the computer, while it is not! These pictures are exactly as I shot them, without any further intervention, for example color adjustments or whatsoever.

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Describe your current mood by using a link (image, video etc)
Any future plans you’d like to share with us? Or anything else you’d like to add?

I would like to add something. I love art in general. I understand that graphic design is a lot more disciplined; it does not provide the art’s freedom of expression, because it serves a very concrete goal. However, graphic design fascinates me, because the things that a graphic designer makes come to direct contact with the broader public on a daily basis – and they are also of usage.
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What I mean is that it is not necessary to visit a gallery to see them; the whole city becomes a large gallery, open to all, a gallery full of posters, magazines, books, brochures, labels, packages, illustrations – whatever we design. Most of the times people do not know who has designed all these things, which of course is blow against our human vanity, but … it doesn’t matter! That’s life!   :D

As far as it concerns the future, I am open to any new cooperation and adventure to come!

LINKS: […]

www.behance.net/inogitna
www.myspace.com/inogitna
Facebook

E-MAIL: [email protected]
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