“Modern” Graphic Design in Greece after World War II

Abstract

As in other countries across Europe, Greece's post-war reconstruction was directed toward rebuilding and reshaping the war-torn nation. 1 The country's desperate call for international help was transmitted immediately after the end of the occupation in late 1944 via radio broadcasting, as well as through graphic means, such as charts, maps, and diagrams. These graphic forms were presented at several fairs and events in 1945 in key cities around the world (see Figure 1), 2 and they were compiled a year later to form an ISOTYPE-inspired album (see Figure 2). 3 In its volume, production quality, and graphic style, the war album was a testimony to two important accomplishments in the history of graphic design in Greece: First, it signaled awareness and appropriation of an international modern language to participate on equal terms and in common ways in the international forum of post-war reconstruction; 4 and second, it served as acknowledgment by the Greek state of the economic and political role of graphic design in international communication.

Introduction to Visual Communication in the Balkans: A Socio-political Perspective

“…Nevertheless, the situation has recently changed. Design histories of the region have started appearing in journals of design and monographs (Emmanouil, 2014;Pantelic, 2007;Traganou, 2009;Yagou, 2012;Žunić and Vukić, 2015), and design history surveys have started including references to design in Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Rοmania. These include the World History of Design (Margolin, 2015) and the forthcoming Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design (Edwards, 2015).…”