Here: Cypriot Sketch → Cypriot Sketch is a research initiated by Clio Hadjigeorgiou as a diploma project in graphic design at ECAL. As with Swiss German and High German, the Cypriot dialect differs significantly from Modern Greek as it is only used as an oral language for everyday conversations. The research is based on the “Cypriot Sketches”, three radio performances broadcast in 1950 that are considered to be the first formalisation of the oral tradition. Encompassing the island’s rural life, the plays bring together many stories, traditions and customs that play a considerable role in the reflection of the Cypriots’ own culture.
Clio Hadjigeorgiou
Graphic Design
There: Unfolding culture → The book is divided into sections corresponding to the three foundational plays. Each is transcribed and translated into English. Every chapter is followed by a visual and linguistic explanation of compound words, proverbs and expressions, and loan words. The deconstruction of compound words, supported by pictures all made by the designer, presents their origins, pronunciation and an interpretation. Illustrated by photographs acting like a rebus, the proverbs and expressions are indexed together with their literal translation in English, and supported by an interpretation. Finally, loan words found in the dialect are translated into all related languages, thus revealing all the different cultures and ethnicities that have passed through the island and left their own traces.
Everywhere: Design as pedagogical tool → For Clio Hadjigeorgiou, the aim of this project is as much about sharing the Cypriot culture and customs through the island’s dialect, as about developing a new didactic and educational concept of linguistic analysis. This latter topic is highly relevant for the designer, who is interested in understanding the relationship between education and design, language and visual communication. While looking for an opportunity to publish the book, Clio is investigating further topics where she can address social and cultural issues through design.
Education → BA in Graphic Design, ECAL, Lausanne; BA in Illustration at UAL, Camberwell
Project(s) → Cypriot Sketch, 2019