Maria Papaefstathiou, from Athens, Greece was the first one who embraced the idea for an international Reggae Poster Contest and accepted to partner with Michael in creating the contest.
Maria has been a practicing graphic designer since 1996. She graduated and received an award for poster design from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design of the Technological Institute of Athens. She has been focusing her research on poster design and particular on social poster design and recently exploring portrait design (www.itsjustme.net). Her most recent poster project is a series of designs on a subject that is dear to her heart, a collection celebrating the personalities of Greek traditional and popular culture. These include actors, singers, musicians, poets, writers etc.
She is the curator and art representative of Freestylee (Michael Thompson) (www.freestylee.net).
Maria Papaefstathiou is also the creator of www.GRaphicART-news.com, a blog for graphic designers and photographers, focusing on high quality designs and art photography.
As a poster designer her posters have been selected and exhibited in several countries around the world, through poster projects such as the Mandela Poster Project, Green+You-Pray for Japan, Green+You-Pray for Africa, Intl. Reggae Poster Contest, “Innovation for Education”, 10th International Festival “Jazz w Ruinach”, “ε/Design your Expression”, “W|Design for life”, “1st international poster festival of Shenzhen”, “Right to Decide”, “Boobs Art”.
Maria and Michael firmly believe that Reggae music has the power to bring generations, nationalities and communities together. This international calibration drawing creative people from around the world to participate in the contest; an excellent example of the global “One Love” message that Bob Marley sung about. “We believe that poster art and Reggae music is a perfect marriage to stimulate and inspire designers from around the world to create amazing art that will become iconic visual masterpieces for future generations to admire and to learn from. It is a wonderful way to show the global appreciation for the powerful music.”
Maria’s portfolio can be seen on her official website : http://www.itsjustme.net/
Personal Facebook : facebook.com/maria.papaef