Aris Stathis

I was born in Athens in April 1983 and grew up in a middle class neighborhood of the city. Even though during my school years I was not much into studying, since my interests rather focused on music and other creative activities, I succeeded in graduating from a technical school with a Graphic Design orientation. Following the directions given by some of my teachers, I followed the Industrial Design courses of Technological Institute of Kozani were I gained engineering background and fell in love with Design.

By the end of my studies I moved to Thessaloniki, Greece, in search for new professional and personal experiences. During the first six years of my stay I was employed by various companies; from furniture to urban equipment and from playground toys to metal constructions and dental equipment. During my employment I also worked on personal projects with my main focus concentrating on furniture and gadget design. The first international recognition of my work came through the international Industrial bench design competition Athens Benchmark. By winning the first prize I not only had the opportunity to produce a small quantity of benches and have them installed in the center of Athens, but also to promote myself in the Greek press. Apart from that, I have also been included in articles by some international Industrial Design blogs and magazines, the most important of which was the annual Design and Design book.

By the end of the summer of 2011 I moved from Thessaloniki to Utrecht, Netherlands, making, for one more time, a brand new start, aiming at new employment opportunities, studies, and interaction with interesting people.