Illustration – Interactive Placemat Design
In 2016, when my hometown Elefsina was a candidate for the European Capital of Culture, the team of Eleusis 21—who conceived the concept of the candidacy—approached me and gave me carte blanche to design a promotional placemat for the city's bid.
Instead of a traditional passive advertisement, I designed an interactive, participative experience inspired by Elefsina's rich ancient history and the Eleusinian Mysteries. I created a series of custom illustrations that both children and adults could cut out and rearrange to create their own artwork, complete with a visual manual and an inspirational sample composition.
The project successfully launched in the summer across local cafés and restaurants and continued into September with the opening of the school year, when the organization distributed the placemats to primary schools. This gave children total creative freedom to engage with their city's heritage. Here are some examples of their creations.
The kickoff of the cultural capital was ultimately postponed to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.