Demetrios Fakinos was born in Athens in 1973. He studied Business Administration at the University of Piraeus and holds a Masters in Science in Human Resource Management from the University of Strathclyde. Since 1998, he has been organising and managing publications and activities that support and promote various design disciplines, in Greece and abroad. In 2002, he initiated the Greek Communication Design Awards and, in 2004, the DesignAthens conference. Since 2007, he has been Director of the European Design Festival, a series of events that travels annually around different European countries.