Interview with Antonia Skaraki
AS Strategy, Design & Communication is an Athens-based creative studio specialising in brand strategy, visual identity and narrative development.
Designer of the Day Interview
16 May 2022
I studied Visual Communication and Advertisement – graphic design in Vakalo. I worked as head of the art department in several magazines and as a creative director in Able Communications. I was a co-founder of Design Lab where I served as V.P., I organized the Athens Design Games with Dimitris Fakinos at a biennale of Greek artists. I founded Karamella advertising in 1993 and in 2000, when the company became S.A. I served as a V.P. In 2005. I regularly participate as a keynote speaker at meetings and conferences on issues concerning Branding and modern concepts of tourism. Recently I held a personal exhibition in my hometown Chania, Crete called: 14 Stories 14 Routes Local & Global identity (branding). I also practice mentoring as a member of HUB 2 B in Crete, of the Dubai Center for Risk Innovation, member of the British University of Dubai, and member of Women’s Business Angels.
Natural born designer. It was a call of nature.Design is a matter, or state of being. Being happy, being self-content, being sad, being creative, being communicative, in harmony and being expressive. Design is a form of expression.
The right listening. The need becomes inspiration. The inspiration becomes an idea. The idea becomes strategy. The strategy becomes an application. The application opens the way through the market.
One emotion. JOY and mood for play.
It’s a natural evolution of myself. I could not imagine myself doing anything else.
To design until the age of 100 and to promote Greece.
Just one thing, Passion.
To observe, to focus, to analyze, to penetrate, to synthesize and finally to implement the synthesis that leads to the application.
Being with my team and “play”!
I observe them, analyze and deconstruct them in order to rebuild them at the extent of my preference.
I need to feel it. If I feel it, the acceptance is coming. The acceptance serves the purpose of creativity.
A design is never ready, because nothing ends, ever.
There are many inspired projects businesses over the last 30 years, that give me pleasure when I see them and I hope that the best is yet to come.
Le Corbusier, Gaudi, Philipe Starck, Vivienne Westwood, Neville Brody.
The Cretan temperament, the mood for play and my son’s smile define my culture and life.
I work a lot with groups and my team. The question is for how long can the teams bear with me.
I participated in the European Community Equal program with the project Andromeda – Actions against racial segregation in workplace environment. I practice mentoring as a member of the Dubai Center for Risk Innovation, member of the British University of Dubai, and member of Women’s Business Angels.
It is another route which gave me the opportunity to show my business in a broad highly trained audience such as the A Design’s. Thank you for that.
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I studied Visual Communication and Advertisement – graphic design in Vakalo. I worked as head of the art department in several magazines and as a creative director in Able Communications. I was a co-founder of Design Lab where I served as V.P., I organized the Athens Design Games with Dimitris Fakinos at a biennale of Greek artists. I founded Karamella advertising in 1993 and in 2000, when the company became S.A. I served as a V.P. In 2005, I participated in the European Community Equal program with the project Andromeda – Actions against racial segregation in workplace environment. I regularly participate as a keynote speaker at meetings and conferences on issues concerning Branding and modern concepts of tourism. Recently I held a personal exhibition in my hometown Chania, Crete called: 14 Stories 14 Routes Local & Global identity (branding).
Design is a matter, or state of being. Being happy, being self-content, being sad, being creative, being communicative, in harmony and being expressive. Design is a form of expression.
Natural born designer.
Branding is “The Thing” for me but whatever is challenging is welcome. If it’s challenging, bring it on.
Work – passion - work
The great designer has failed a lot more times than a good designer. Moreover a great designer never rests upon her/his success.
Being something unique and something that not only the professionals appreciate but also the whole world.
Because a good design says a 1000 different things with a glimpse of an eye.
I'd like to do some things for me. To design personal projects, allow myself the luxury of having myself as the client.
I have one dream: to design a project along with my son who's specializing in visual arts. I hope one day we'll be able to materialize this dream project.
Having the correct team, having a close relationship with them and always challenging ourselves. Teamwork is one of the ingredients for success. Another ingredient is a throughly conducted strategy based in research analysis and insights. Talent is also one of the main ingredients. Put all these together and you have the recipe for success.
Le Corbusier, Gaudi, Philippe Starck, Vivienne Westwood.
Can’t tell.
We overcome ourselves everyday. Each day we create something that is better than the one yesterday. So, no, I don't have a greatest design, only great designs every day.
Analyzing, synthesizing, travelling, working, reading, smiling, loving.
A mum of many many children. I'd love to have them running around, cooking for them, nurturing.
It's symmetry, passion, life, beauty.
My mentor, Hristos Arvanitis, designer.
My endless passion for what I do.
My effort to try to convince my senior colleagues to allow me express my suggestions.
There should not be any kind of norms. Every project is directly related with its designer and presented according to their personality. Presentation is a permormance and each performer has their own style. This the magic when we exhibit our work.
To never stop to self-inspire, in order to build a tank full of inspiration, from where I can draw material to help young designers, to help my colleagues find new paths, explore new worlds.
To always challenge and overcome their expectations.
Design = image
Design = positioning
Design = communication
Design = attitude
Design = positioning
Design = communication
Design = attitude
Can’t tell.
I draw satisfaction from every project. Each one has something to give me. Each one I use to admire, compare, get angry, jealous, thankful.
I'd like to see the people of our industry better alligned with the world today. We tend, sometimes, to lose ourselves in our microcosm. We have to get out there, hear, smell, touch, learn. Also, I'd like to see more women. In my country, the design industry is still ruled mainly by men.
It's making a switch towards a more functional and environmentally friendly practice.
We don’t know how long it takes for the spark to light up. And each project has its own whims. So, it's hard to set a time. It can be a very short project or it can be one evolving with time.
First I get to know the product I have to design. I want to be in the shoes of the manufacturer. In the shoes of the consumer. Explore its world. Feel it. Only then can I start designing it.
Seize the day
Sometimes design sets the trends, at other times the opposite happens. It's a dual relationship with a double dynamic.
We use it and we love what it can do for us. But it's not our inspiration merely our tool.
Adobe creative suite, Photoshop, Illustrator,In Design, XD, After Effects. Equipment: Apple iMac
Colour is feeling. Colour can evoke different reactions and it also creates categories in products. Materials influence functionality, image of quality and placement of products.
Rather than asking, we want our design to evoke glimpses of memories in people. We want it to trigger the process of thought and interaction. We want our design to become a part of people.
How wonderful the idea is. How brilliant its application.
Teamwork - teamwork - teamwork
Giannis Xenakis
It is every book on every single moment on any given time.
Work, inspiration work, fail and try again.
Socrates, Epicurus
Yellow, Crete, mousakas, spring, a painting, Supreme.
A letter that received from a company, letting me know that our work was exceptional but we cannot work together because our passion and creativity cannot be controlled!!
The smile I exchange with my partner before leaving the house, the good morning exchanges at the coffee place as I grab my coffee, the happy morning chatter in the office, the dedication on the work itself and closing the day with a little chat with my son.
I had no clue then.
I cannot predict the future, but I'm an optimist. And in a thousand years I hope my soul rests in a world that has the image of a thousand valleys full of colourful wild flowers.
See it, feel it.
Designer Interview
31 October 2022
Absolutely yes! Art is a form of communication, and being a designer is my way to communicate.
Allow me to describe it in English words that have Greek roots:
Dynamic works characterized by talent, fantasy and energy.
The protagonist: every project.
Dynamic works characterized by talent, fantasy and energy.
The protagonist: every project.
To bring fresh and innovative ideas to life.
To communicate visual sensations.
To craft great experiences.
To communicate visual sensations.
To craft great experiences.
Anything that stimulates the senses. I strongly believe that multi-sensory design considers not just the shape of things but how things shape us… our behavior, our emotions, our inner truth. Our senses are powerful forces, and when more than one sense is stimulated at a time, there are wildly creative applications.
The universe. The extreme fine-tuning of so many laws of nature that leads to the greatest design of all. The cosmos; anything having order is, for the ancient Greeks, a cosmos!
Myself! Well, in a figurative sense, of course! But this is the first thing that I had to do when I created my first design & communication company, Karamella.
I don’t have a specific favorite. Every little thing has its own beauty! We should always choose the best tool that can help us reach our strategic goals.
I feel most creative first thing in the morning, seeing the first sunrays. After all, cutting-edge research shows that exposure to nature and access to daylight can spark creativity!
Fresh ideas and innovation. And of course, strategic analysis.
I feel like a teenager. Design is the way you think; the way you explore, discover and create.
Joy and pride.
Strategy. It is not enough to create something beautiful. You have to create something useful, perpetual and enduring.
The strategy. And of course, the concept. Most of the well-known designs globally are famous because of their concepts. Many have failed just because of the opposite.
The idea that designing carries social and ethical responsibilities is not new. Designing is creating. And with creation comes responsibility. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the global challenges set before us.
We need to prepare for the changing nature of the industry. We need designers who can push the limits of design and keep a constant focus on innovation. Designers have always worked at the intersection of cultural trends. But today these cultural trends are being accelerated by advances in technology! Of course, we should also take into account the perpetual need for harmony.
My last exhibition was in the “Good Design Greece”, an exhibition held in my homeland, Greece, fueling thoughts about art and exploring the prospects of design philosophy.
My inspirations come from many sources, from life’s experiences. You know, most designers, when lacking ideas, turn to galleries to find new perspectives. But there is a major problem with that approach; when taking inspiration from similar mediums, there’s a fine line between “inspired by” and “copied”.
I love my country’s history and heritage. And I often get inspired by it. In a similar way, I always focus on other cultural references and current global trends when I’m asked to work on international projects.
Greece is a cornucopia. A symbol of abundance. The place where the notion of philosophy was born. So, yes, of course the cultural heritage of my country affects my designs, the way in which I understand the world, the way in which I feel the world!
I work with people who share the same ideas and values with me. And I always want to gather inquisitive people around me.
Fit the brief to the correct designer. And keep inspiring your designers’ team! Inspiration is always the first key-step.
Brief (see and notice) – Brainstorming (think and co-exist) – Creations (express your inner needs).
My Poaa Dumbbells by Philippe Starck – almost like a sculpture! A ‘le Petit Prince’ doll. A Pear sculpture, a symbol for fertility with a modern, surrealist twist. A Supreme skateboard. And a spiral, a symbol for evolution, life and creation.
Creative!
Passion. And never stop learning!
Dream big. Think big. That’s what you do when you are a good designer.
Exceed your expectations.
Creativity and curiosity. Analysis. The insatiable desire to create through design.
I always choose tools to fit the brief.
Time management is often the biggest challenge. I always try to follow the work flow with consistency, and double-check the needs of each project.
Every project is special, and the needs and time frameworks for each work are different. But what is important (and what you can define) is the moment; the moment of inspiration, the moment when you find the right concept.
Can you analyze this?
Every single day offers a different experience; that’s the mafic of this profession!
Branding. Design is about seeing opportunities, about making intelligent, strategic decisions.
To ‘be present’ for as long as possible.
In every aspect of a business, the diverse skills of teams are needed for reaching success. The importance of teamwork cannot be stressed enough! The French language has an excellent expression to describe it: esprit de corps. This means a sense of unity, of enthusiasm for common interests and responsibilities.
skaraki@antoniaskaraki.com & www.antoniaskaraki.com
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