Inspiration is everywhere
Many years ago while participating in a craft show a product caught my attention that I thought was a great idea for a Greek product. Upon further inspection it was a lot tougher than it looked. English letters typically don't have tails, letters like 'g, y, j'. See these letters expend beyond the horizontal line that letters rest on. Greek letters have tails and most of the best Greek words that have meaning will have tails. That idea sat for years until this past weekend the inspiration took hold of me and propelled me further to complete it.
An elegant solution that allows the letters to stay together and float that can be displayed on a table top and hung on the wall. The solution works well all virtue words like wisdom, strength, love and others. Laminated cherry wood veneer over the Plexiglas skeleton achieves the look that is needed. From a distance that letters look like the they float, hence their name.
Instead of using Cherry wood, the colors of the Greek flag, blue and white, will be used. With a blue letter starting for the boys' name and white for the girl's name. Ancient Greeks used this technique too for their pottery. Pottery designs toggled between two colors, black and terra-cotta. Sometimes the figures were black on a terra- cotta background and other times terra-cotta figures on a black background.
As the designer that I've become used to the pressures and ideals that are needed to great Greek gifts even if it means looking at what the Ancients did.
UPDATE
What have I learned since this blog was written 30 months ago. A better solution is needed when transporting and displaying these words. Many have been broken in transit and during storage. Better solutions are needed.