My name is Irina Voulgari. I was born and raised in Athens. Growing up in a family environment that encouraged reading and creativity, I developed an interest in all things culture from an early age. Even as a child, books and art were my favorite forms of escape. This in turn led me to enroll at the Department of Graphic Design and Visual Communication of the University of Western Attica. As a student, I interned at the renowned Kastaniotis Editions, and received a first-hand, well-rounded typography and editorial design. However, not wishing to limit my expertise to one field, my thesis was focused on visual communication and its applications on city streets.

Following a grant from IKY (the Greek Scholarship Foundation) and a portfolio preparation course at St. Martin’s College, I completed my MA in Visual Communication at the Kent Institute of Art and Design (now part of the University for the Creative Arts). My studies, along with Britain’s vibrant creative scene, further deepened my passion for art and design, while at the same time introducing me to a whole new world of skills and professional capabilities. The years I spent at KIAD familiarized me with the process of extensive research, such as spending long hours at the library, and formed the basis for my further development. My student projects covered everything— from purely artistic to strictly business-oriented, from analogue and hand-made to multimedia—and showed me the fascinating future of an already exciting field.

Back in Athens, I worked extensively in the culture and publishing industries. I also had long and multi-faceted collaborations with the University of Athens and the National Technical University of Athens and partook in many research programs. My roles in all these projects were varied and included layout design, digitizing books and works of art, visual and brand identity, UX research. At the same time I continued my education in a wide range of graphic arts-related fields. I taught typography and layout design-related courses for more than five years. In 2019 I relocated my practice to my beloved Cycladic Islands – first to Mykonos and then to Syros, where Tilde Design was founded / It was in Syros that I founded Tilde Design.

My approach to design—whether for books, visual identity, illustration or any other kind of project—is that it should be simple, distinctive and functional. In other words, it has to be to the point. Of course, this cannot be achieved without applying three crucial principles: attention to detail, meticulous research and a clear understanding of the client’s vision and specific needs.

But my involvement in each project does not stop there. Having developed a network of collaborators—printing houses, photographers, programmers, copywriters and more—I can also help you find the right person for each job. So, apart from the design aspect, I can manage each project from start to finish, taking the weight of looking for other professionals off your shoulders. And although I’m currently based in Syros, this community of collaborators hails from all over Greece, making it easy to complete projects without having to think of geographical limitations.