Loukia Nicolaides-Vassiliou, A Modern Painter

When appios® studio was approached to design a publication dedicated to Cyprus’ first female painter, Loukia Nicolaides-Vassiliou, the creative team was adamant that the design required a fresh approach, giving Loukia a new visual identity as ‘A Modern Painter’.

As the first book in A. G. Leventis Gallery’s ‘Artists of the Cyprus Collection Monograph Series’, the publication aims to honour and present the work of this first Cypriot painter who dared to leave Cyprus and study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the 1930s. Each page sheds light on the life and social identity of her era, which inevitably influenced her work.

appios® designers opted to emphasise the artist’s first name in the book title, immediately conveying a sense of intimacy and familiarity, welcoming the reader into Loukia’s creative world. The fine, simple black typeface used for the elegant and contemporary logo expresses the painter's femininity and contemporary appeal, while on the inside pages, text by Eleni Nikita accompanies the artist’s work on glossy white paper.

“The publication cover was designed to entice the reader and art-lover with its simplicity and intrigue the imagination with a logo that embodies, strength, creativity, and the unapologetic expression of the female spirit.”

“As Cyprus’ first female painter and the first Cypriot woman who studied art, Loukia Nicolaides-Vassiliou paved the way for a new mindset and the next generation of artists that followed in her footsteps. The book is a testament to her profound legacy.”