# Leonidas Sampanis

> Brand strategist based in Ikaria, Greece, working with small businesses and independent professionals.
> Positioning, competitive analysis, audience definition, naming and verbal identity — backed by 12+ years of graphic design, which is why the strategy arrives buildable rather than theoretical.
> The premise: you are stuck at position A and belong at position B; the work is the bridge between them.

## About
- [Desktop home](https://sampanis.co/): The Windows 98 desktop the whole site is built as — every window is also a real URL.
- [About Leonidas](https://sampanis.co/whoami/): Background, skills, and design philosophy. Grew up inside a design agency. Creating since age five. Combines brand strategy, design, AI, and code with the slow philosophy of Ikaria.

## Work with me
- [Work with me — a letter about how I work](https://sampanis.co/hire/): Brand strategy for people who are good at their craft but stuck getting found. Sandbox session, deep dive, positioning workshop, and the written strategy you hand to anyone who makes anything for you. Written as a letter, in his own words.

## Skills
- Brand Strategy: 4 years
- Graphic Design: 12 years
- Marketing & Sales: 3 years
- AI & Generative Design: 2 years
- Web Development: 1 year

## Common questions
- What is brand strategy, and how is it different from a logo? A logo is a mark; brand strategy is the decision the mark is made from. Strategy tells the designer what to draw.
- Do I need a rebrand or just a new logo? If people find you and stay but not enough people find you, that is usually positioning, not graphics.
- How long does it take? Weeks, not days.
- Does he do the design too? Both, when the visual side matches his work; otherwise the papers are written so any trusted designer can pick them up and run.
- Who does he work with? Small businesses and independent professionals — people genuinely good at a craft and stuck getting found. Works on projects all over the world, with a soft spot for Greek craftsmen. Not energy drinks, not anything gray on ethics.
- Full answers: https://sampanis.co/hire/

## Portfolio
- [Portfolio index](https://sampanis.co/portfolio/): Identity work — the visible end of the strategy. The mark is the last step; the positioning is the first.
- [Alianza Travi Case Study](https://sampanis.co/work/alianza-travi/): Illustration and mascot design for a Barcelona-based company. Created character "Travi" who became the protagonist of the entire campaign.
- [ElaWell Case Study](https://sampanis.co/work/elawell/): Logo and brand identity design with hidden letterform concept — letters C+M+E+W form a flower symbol.
- [Logofolio](https://sampanis.co/logofolio/): Twelve identity marks across a range of industries, each one the output of a positioning decision.

## Blog
- [Creative Blog](https://sampanis.co/blog/): Design resources, shared without gatekeeping.
- [3 Font Galleries You Should Know](https://sampanis.co/blog/3-font-galleries/): Curated list of free font resources — Fontshare, Free Faces, UNCUT.
- [3 Games for Graphic Designers](https://sampanis.co/blog/3-games-for-designers/): Interactive games for practicing kerning, color theory, and type design.

## Try
- [paint.exe](https://sampanis.co/paint/): A working Windows 98 paint program in the browser.

## Philosophy
"I hate gatekeeping. I share everything. Always."
"Turtle pace. Marathon results."

## Contact
- [Contact form](https://sampanis.co/contact/)
- [Newsletter](https://sampanis.co/newsletter/): A weekly dispatch from Ikaria — fonts, tools, games and things worth stealing.
- Email: leonidas@sampanis.co
- Location: Ikaria, Greece
- Available for: Brand strategy, identity design, and web development projects

## Social
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sampanisco
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sampanisco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sampanisco
- Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/sampanisco/