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Things that happened the past 18 years. Some more interesting than others... no doubt about it. Undisputed facts, nevertheless. Available as an RSS feed as well.
18–11–2019
ESPA 2014–2020 funding
Τhe enterprise George Triantafyllakos with headquarters in the Region of Central Macedonia, was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union for the implementation of its project under the Action “Technology Vouchers for small and micro enterprises of the Region of Central Macedonia". The Action is aimed at empowering small and micro enterprises, through the purchase of innovative ICT applications, in order to strengthen the ICT implementation strand, as key support technology, to achieve improvements in productivity terms and promotional activities.
Η ατομική επιχείρηση με την επωνυμία Γιώργος Τριανταφυλλάκος που εδρεύει στην περιφέρεια Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας, εντάχθηκε στη δράση «Κουπόνια Τεχνολογίας για τις μικρές και πολύ μικρές επιχειρήσεις της Περιφέρειας Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας». Η δράση έχει ως στόχο την ενίσχυση των πολύ μικρών και μικρών επιχειρήσεων, μέσω της αγοράς καινοτόμων εφαρμογών Τ.Π.Ε., για την ενδυνάμωση του σκέλους της εφαρμογής Τ.Π.Ε., ως βασικής υποστηρικτικής τεχνολογίας, για την επίτευξη βελτιώσεων σε όρους παραγωγικότητας και προωθητικών ενεργειών. Ο συνολικός προϋπολογισμός της επένδυσης είναι €5.729,35 εκ των οποίων η δημόσια δαπάνη ανέρχεται σε €5.729,35 και συγχρηματοδοτείται από την Ελλάδα και το Ευρωπαϊκό Ταμείο Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης (ΕΤΠΑ) της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης (ΕΕ) στο πλαίσιο του Επιχειρησιακού Προγράμματος «Κεντρική Μακεδονία» 2014-2020.
Το επιχειρηματικό σχέδιο που εγκρίθηκε προς χρηματοδότηση και υλοποιείται, περιλαμβάνει επενδύσεις στις παρακάτω κατηγορίες:
- Εξοπλισμός ΤΠΕ
Μέσω της συμμετοχής στη Δράση, η επιχείρηση πέτυχε:
- τον εκσυγχρονισμό και την αύξηση της υπολογιστικής ισχύς του τεχνολογικού εξοπλισμού της
- την ασφάλεια και διατήρηση των δεδομένων που προκύπτουν από την εργασία της.
01–11–2019
11th GRANSHAN Type Design Competition
The Dolce Noir type family was designed by George Triantafyllakos. It consists of a number of text typefaces designed for extensive text use. It was assigned by DOLCE Publishing to be used in their Polar magazine, a magazine about (neo-)noir literature, and other editions.
Find out more about the typeface or download a detailed type specimen.
The typeface was awarded at the 11th GRANSHAN Type Design Competition, October 2019 (3rd prize / Greek-Latin Typefaces). Find out more here.
Find out more about the typeface or download a detailed type specimen.
The typeface was awarded at the 11th GRANSHAN Type Design Competition, October 2019 (3rd prize / Greek-Latin Typefaces). Find out more here.
01–09–2017
backpacker.gr 10+1 anniversary edition
Part memoir/part specimen; an archive that offers a detailed look into the whats, the whys and the hows of the first 10+1 years (2006–2016) of backpacker.gr; a use cases collection and a personal typographic diary; a book that documents and celebrates the evolution of a self-taught type-designer from his infancy, to a rocky puberty and, eventually, towards a yet-to-be-discovered coming of age. Check it out.
21–04–2016
BPrever
Happy to announce the release of BPrever. A reversed-stress experimental typeface available in two weights (regular and bold). Both weights work great in very small text sizes, while the bold is a dashing choice for display applications. Also note that, since it is a reversed-stress typeface and thus the change in contrast between the two weights is distributed vertically and not horizontally, the two weights share (approximately) the same spacing.
27–02–2016
Greek Font Society
I feel really honoured and proud to work with George D. Matthiopoulos for the digitisation of historic Greek typefaces for the Greek Font Society - a unique source of comprehensive knowledge regarding Greek typographic history, with an impressive body of work freely available to the public domain. Visit the (redesigned) Greek Font Society's website to learn more about my work for GFS: GFS Didot Display - a display version of one of the most prominent Greek typefaces, and GFS Orpheus (with a Classic and a Sans variation) - a digital reproduction of a rare and never before digitized Greek Elzevir from the 19th century, with a display and a sans variation.
01–12–2015
Introducing the Atypical Type Foundry
Introducing the Atypical Type Foundry: an independent type foundry with a diverse collection of text and display font families available for desktop, web and/or screen use, available in a wide variety of styles, weights and languages (including Greek, of course). Atypical was initiated and is being operated by backpacker.gr from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. Visit Atypical @ atypical.gr
06–04–2015
BPtoughy + BPkinder
Two more free display font families available from backpacker.gr Celebrating another merit @ ebge2015
13–10–2014
Everything changes (again)
Once again (as accustomed periodically since backpacker.gr begun back in 2006) the site has undergone substantial changes both regarding its look and content. To celebrate this change two new free fonts are introduced: BPphdHand & BPnoScript. BPphdHand is a small sample of a superfamily that will be presented soon. Try it out and don't forget to check out the whole PhD superfamily when it will become available (hopefully soon). BPnoScript is the not-scripted sibling of BPscript. Strict and intentionally naive geometry with a twist. Available in 3 weights (Light, Regular and Bold) and as a webfont. Check it out and feel free to use it (responsively).
06–06–2014
Archive: Greek characters added
The Archive free font (designed by Slava Kirilenko) now supports greek characters (added by backpacker.gr): http://fontfabric.com/archive-free-font/
23–05–2014
BPreplay update: A newly kerned version release
After more than 6 years, BPreplay has been properly kerned by Igino Marini (ikern.com) with the valuable support of CleverPatch (cleverpath.com.au).
01–01–2012
Monuments and Museums of Greece
Together with Chryssa Lekka (architect) and George Louizis (computer scientist/amateur art engineer), I participated in a design competition concerning the overall brand identity of the Monuments and Museums of Greece. Our final proposal - which won an Honorable Mention - is presented here.
11–11–2011
backpacker @ DPSD beyond
I've been invited by the students of the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering (University of the Aegean) in Syros for two lectures on the 11th and 12th of November. The first lecture referred to participatory design, and, more specifically, to techniques that can support creativity in small design groups, while the second lecture had the form of a concise workshop on type design. You can find the dpsd press release here. I am really grateful to the dpsd students for their invitation... It was a trully amazing weekend :-)
22–06–2011
major site update + additions
To celebrate (even if belatedly) the ending of my PhD and obligatory military service, backpacker.gr has undergone some major changes and additions:
- Some changes and tweaking on the site's code,
- the addition of 4 especially selected and, at one case, exclusively released webfonts (created using Font Squirrel's @font-face Generator),
- the showcase of several old and new printed and interactive works, and
- the introduction of backpacker.gr/academic, including a concise presentation of my academic work from 2004 to 2010.
06–06–2011
CV + portfolio of selected works
With both my PhD (you can find my thesis in greek here) and obligatory military service ending, I feel ready to take my life to the next level (professionally, that is)... If you feel you can help, have a look at my cv (in greek or english) and/or at a detailed portfolio of selected works (in greek or english), and let me know.
21–05–2011
Root Boot meets Lomography @ La Doze
I participated in a photography exhibition organized by Root Boot and Lomography in La Doze bar in Thessaloniki, Greece. Get a glimpse of the photos and the exhibition opening in the projects section @ backpacker.gr
18–03–2011
nonBook: a typographic experiment exhibited at DYNAMO project space
I participated in an exhibition organized by Apostolos Kalfopoulos at the DYNAMO Project Space. with nonBook, a typographic experiment based on BPletterSquares. Read about nonBook and see photos from the opening of the exhibition in the projects section @ backpacker.gr
08–12–2010
THESSALONIKI GRAPHIC DESIGN 1980-2009: An anthology
Two posters and a logo were included in an anthology about graphic design in Thessaloniki, Greece, put together by Red Creative graphic design studio on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary. Have a look here.
17–04–2010
EBGE 2010 Finalist
I was really happy to see that the website of freequency, a web radio transmitting from Athens, was one of the finalists in the corporate websites category of EBGE 2010 (Greek Design and Illustration Awards). The site was selected among 54 submissions and it is featured in the annual catalog of this year's EBGE.
31–01–2010
BPtypewrite
Didn't you just love BPmono italics? Well, it has undergone through a transformation process and has eventually been reformed into an actual typewriter font. BPtypewrite is in fact BPmono italics standing up, with new soft edges, and a whole system of supporting fonts including underscored, strikethrough and slashed. The italics version remains in all variations, while a rough alternate complements the whole set (BPtypewriteDamaged). Let the BPtypewriting begin!
If you like BPtypewrite take a look at caketype's Nitti Typewriter designed by Pieter van Rosmalen (Pieter thanks for the support ;-).
If you like BPtypewrite take a look at caketype's Nitti Typewriter designed by Pieter van Rosmalen (Pieter thanks for the support ;-).
16–01–2010
backpacker.gr celebrates 4 years on the road with the release of BPimperial
backpacker.gr celebrates 4 years on the road with the release of BPimperial; a caps-only condensed typeface in two weights (light and bold), each one accompanied by extreme 12° italics. With several letters trying to impose on the rest, and a set of unexpected design choices in some of its puncuation marks, BPimperial is a display font that literally stands out! Give it a try (be careful though: you shouldn't mess with its spacing or kerning. It's designed to work as is)!
BPimperial showcase: don't forget to download BPimperial's pdf showcase. It includes works from a few friends that kindly responded in my invitation to try the font and design something (anything) with it. Thanks a million to all of you (Christos Tsoleridis + Christos Papatheodorou from togetherdesign, Giannis Kouroudis from K2design and Michail Semoglou from cannotnot design together with Emirihanna Litsa)
Moreover, check out a new variation of BPmono. The bold version of the font has a new stencil brother for those occasions who need the extra air. Check it out as well!
Finally, BPapeloig has been added in the chubby pack (Jan, 2010). The font was designed in 2004 and it's actually the basis (or, version 1.0 if you want) for BPchubby. As its name suggests, it was inspired by Phillipe Apeloig's work on type design and more specifically from his The P.O.S.T.E.R. poster (an all time favourite, I must admit).
BPimperial showcase: don't forget to download BPimperial's pdf showcase. It includes works from a few friends that kindly responded in my invitation to try the font and design something (anything) with it. Thanks a million to all of you (Christos Tsoleridis + Christos Papatheodorou from togetherdesign, Giannis Kouroudis from K2design and Michail Semoglou from cannotnot design together with Emirihanna Litsa)
Moreover, check out a new variation of BPmono. The bold version of the font has a new stencil brother for those occasions who need the extra air. Check it out as well!
Finally, BPapeloig has been added in the chubby pack (Jan, 2010). The font was designed in 2004 and it's actually the basis (or, version 1.0 if you want) for BPchubby. As its name suggests, it was inspired by Phillipe Apeloig's work on type design and more specifically from his The P.O.S.T.E.R. poster (an all time favourite, I must admit).
20–11–2009
backpacker.gr @ typodarium 2010
Three fonts from backpacker.gr are included in the latest edition of typodarium, 2010. Check out the calendar and buy it if you like it (which I am sure you will - the publisher, Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz, did an excellent job). The three BP fonts presented are BPscript (16 January // the birthday of backpacker.gr), BPmono Italics (15 March // my birthday) and BPbigHead (20 October // my house's birthday :-)
05–09–2009
BPdiet
BPdiet - An extremely "fat" typeface suitable for titles and (very) small texts. Feel free to play around with its spacing and kerning for better results. One regular and one italics variation, both available in OTF format. You got to love this fatty!
03–04–2009
Bullpen Greek
After a request from Sotos Anagnos (art director of Babel magazine) and support from Ray Larabie, I designed the Greek alphabet for the new Bullpen font family. The font family is comprised of 7 weights, all with corresponding italics (from Ultra Light to Heavy + a 3D version) and is available at myFonts (all 15 fonts for only $22.95)
16–01–2009
An interview with Chester Jenkins + Ada (Village)
I met Chester Jenkins [and Ada :-)] last October (2008) in DUMBO near Village's office. Read all of what we talked about in the projects section.
15–12–2008
myN.Y.
The parade of the Poles on 5th Avenue. The school band on 6th. The Sunday bazaar in front of Grand Central. Countless patrol cars, police officers, "yellow" cabs and American flags (I think I stopped counting from the first day). Employees, homeless people, tourists and "fabulous" ladies in front of expensive shops. Reporters and panic in Wall Street and a huge flag trying to "hold" and prevent the "collapse" of an entire edifice. The clamour on Times Square and the silence on Top of the Rock. The beautiful Subway and street signs. The old water reservoirs at the rooftops in Brooklyn. Manhattan seen from Tzina's appartment in Queens and the feeling of living on the 20th floor of a building. myNY is a small book of impressions from New York. A reminder assembled out of photographs. Out of instinctively captured images of one's "return" to a city so alien and strange that in the end it seems more than familiar. Available at protoporia and ianos.
23–09–2008
BP fonts usage case studies
Since July I have been contacted by three programmers and graphic designers from abroad (that is outside Greece) showcasing some of their works using three of the BPfonts. I was very happy to see that the fonts can actually support real-life design (and programming) projects.These usage examples include:
a. the use of BPneon in an opening sequence for a documentary on the theme of worldwide energy crisis entitled What A Waste, aired on BBC World this July and produced Rockhopper TV (see two pictures from the opening sequence),
b. the use of BPreplay in Wordle, a "word clouds" generator created by Jonathan Feinberg, and
c. the use of BPmono in Metacollider, a Roguelike game programmed in Python by Kevin James, licensed under FreeBSD general public license.Rockhopper, Jonathan and Kevin thank you very much for your choices. Your works make the whole backpacker.gr effort seem less pointless :-)
a. the use of BPneon in an opening sequence for a documentary on the theme of worldwide energy crisis entitled What A Waste, aired on BBC World this July and produced Rockhopper TV (see two pictures from the opening sequence),
b. the use of BPreplay in Wordle, a "word clouds" generator created by Jonathan Feinberg, and
c. the use of BPmono in Metacollider, a Roguelike game programmed in Python by Kevin James, licensed under FreeBSD general public license.Rockhopper, Jonathan and Kevin thank you very much for your choices. Your works make the whole backpacker.gr effort seem less pointless :-)
16–05–2008
Creatives Behind the Lens: Photo Contest by Corbis
I was very happy to see that all 3 of the photographs I submitted for the Corbis Creative Behind the Lens Photo Contest were selected for exhibition. The exhibition, comprised of 30 photographs from creative professionals all around Europe (you can see the rest of the photographs on the ed-awards website), took place in Stockholm during the 2008 European Design Week from the 16th to the 18th of May. I didn't have the chance to visit Stockholm during these days but I am grateful to Konstantinos Trichas who did visit the exhibition and sent me some very nice on-site photos. You can check them out in the projects section.
16–01–2008
backpacker.gr: 2 years on the road!
backpacker.gr celebrates 2 years on the road with two new fonts families (a total of 37 + 1 new fonts) and numerous minor (to major) design updates. The first fonts family's name is the ultimate dots pack and I think it says it all ... 30 monospaced "dot" fonts in 6 alternates (round, square, diamond, plus, minus, vertical) and 2 styles (normal and unicase), together with 3 non-monospaced condensed variations (round, square, diamond). Most of the 30 monospaced fonts can be used interchangeably, since they share the same width, allowing you to create stunning layering effects. Check them out in the fonts section! The second fonts family name is BPreplay and it's a redesign of Magenta's MgOpenModata. Small caps and old style numerals were added, while new italics, bold and bold italics were designed from scratch (many thanks to Alexios Zavras for the technical review). In addition, BPmono Bold is introduced, BPmono and BPmono Italics faced some glyph and hinting corrections (many thanks to Nick Tzanos for his help and suggestions) and, finally, BPneon faced some minor changes and corrections.
04–10–2007
Looking for a girl with a washing machine: A short rock-umentary
A short dock/rock-umentary about Stefan Schwerdtfeger, singer and songwriter of the band BIG SLEEP is (proudly) presented in the projects section. Enjoy!
02–08–2007
London, July 2007
A number of posters, graphics and events from London, UK this summer (July, 2007) are presented in the projects section.
11–06–2007
A poster for Amnesty International in Turkey
A version of a poster I designed 2 years ago for the Greek section of Amnesty International was redesigned in Turkish after a request from Amnesty International Turkey. The poster will be used for the World Refugee Day (June 20).
11–06–2007
Hellenic Alphabet (εα)
The Hellenic Alphabet exhibition has taken place with success during the 3rd International Conference on Typography and Visual Communication, between the 18th and the 24th of July, 2007. The works of Alice Savoie and Thomas Grace were the two selected submissions in the text and display/experimental category respectively. You can find more information about the event and the exhibited works at http://ea.backpacker.gr
13–05–2007
mapping (europe) + contrast
I participate in a poster exhibition entitled mapping (europe) with 2 posters. The exhibition will take place from the 9th until the 25th of May 2007 in Athens (Greece). For more information check out apeiron photos. In addition, I participate in a video exhibition entitled Contrast: A Video Projection Project with a small cg video trying to analyze the concept of contrast. The video exhibition will take place in Athens (Greece) from the 10th until the 13th of May. For more information check out gda.gr
01–05–2007
backpacker fonts @ PCmagazine (greece)
5 backpacker fonts were included in the PCmagazine's DVD (issue 05-2007) together with other latin and greek fonts.
16–01–2007
backpacker.gr celebrates its first year!
backpacker.gr was born this very day (16 January 2006) exactly one year ago (2006) (read the first year's retrospective in english | in greek, .pdf, 60KB). As a way of celebrating this first year 4 new fonts are presented (under a Creative Commons Licence). Their names are BP display black, BP mono and BP mono italics, and BP script. Check them out in the typefaces section. Furthermore, you can read an interview with Akiem Helmling (Underware). I met Akiem Helmling last summer (July, 2006) in Underware's office in De Illussie building for an interview. Have a look at what we talked about in the projects section.
Finally, check out the new section "wear a backpacker" and order a backpacker t-shirt! backpacker.gr collaborates with T-bar and gives you the opportunity to feel like a true backpacker...
Finally, check out the new section "wear a backpacker" and order a backpacker t-shirt! backpacker.gr collaborates with T-bar and gives you the opportunity to feel like a true backpacker...
02–01–2007
2 posters for Epsilon
After an invitation from Dimitris Papazoglou (designersunited.gr), I designed two posters in order to comment on two preselected events of 2006 for "Epsilon" magazine. The two events given to me were (1) Russians in Aegean and (2) Baby trafficking. The poster for the first event was published in the Epsilon magazine on the 31st ofDecember 2006. You can find a more detailed presentation together with 2 texts (one for each poster) in the projects section.
05–10–2006
strange screen V
backpacker.gr (actively) supports the 5th experimental video and documentary festival "Strange Screen V". I designed and developed the website and the festival programme and participate in the competition part with a (rather provocative) experimental video. Visit the site and find out more: www.strangescreen.gr
28–08–2006
introducing new logo + site update
Introducing the new backpacker logos, the site has gone to some minor design updates. The new logos have been designed directly on-screen and 3 different stamps have been created (just being curious about the result). See the logos and some pictures of the stamps in the design/logos section.
07–08–2006
Trento + Venice, August 2006
A number of posters and book covers found in Trento and Venice, Italy this summer (August, 2006) are presented in the projects section.
15–07–2006
Amsterdam, July 2006
A number of posters and book covers found in Amsterdam, The Netherlands this summer (July, 2006) are presented in the projects section. Quite nice works actually. Have a look.
12–07–2006
backpacker on Computer Arts Project, special issue on typography
After an invitation by Richard Hill, I wrote and sent a small piece of advice/quote to be published in a special Computer Arts Project issue on typography (#86, p. 65)
04–07–2006
backpacker fonts released from cannibal fonts
Five backpacker script fonts have been released from Cannibal Fonts. The collection includes the fonts Haroula Reg, Haroula Bold, Maria, Olga and Pallas.
17–05–2006
upcoming fonts from backpacker.gr
Previews of 3 new upcoming fonts have been added to the site. Some of them are still under development (eg. BP PhD Sans Regular and BP PhD Sans Bold), while others are in a final stage of retouching and fine-tuning (eg. BPscript and BPinktrap). I will strongly appreciate any kind of constructive comments.
05–05–2006
site menu update
A PayPal donation button has been added to the site. If you feel like it, then do so.
27–04–2006
site update
A new section has been added to the site. The new section is called "typography + design projects" and hopefully it will become a repository of typography and design related projects, surveys and more.
30–03–2006
survey
25–03–2006
site menu update
The code section has been moved into the about section. You can download the divide application from there.
18–02–2006
BPpong update
An updated version of BPpong is available. The new version contains redesigned glyphs for certain english and greek characters (eg. b, d, p, q, alpha, beta, epsilon, xi, rho).
16–01–2006
BPneon and BPpong
BPneon contains over 100 discretionary ligatures. This number can increase. Send me your suggestions on letters groups that could be joined into a ligature. Try out BPneon in 21px without anti-alias. The hinting works great! BPpong is a work in progress. Some glyphs (mainly greek characters like beta, epsilon, zeta, mu, xi, omega and sigma final) need revisions.
16–01–2006
about the fonts
Please read "about the fonts" and the Creative Commons License in the fonts section before using any fonts.
16–01–2006
backpacker is on-line
backpacker.gr is on-line. Since it's still the beginning, please report any bugs you run into, to contact@backpacker.gr. Enjoy :-)