doing the bare maximum

Black and white photo of a smiling man and woman standing in front of a textured, peeling wall. The man has curly hair and wears a long-sleeve shirt, while the woman has long hair and wears a sleeveless top.

Abstract squiggly lines resembling a handwritten signature on a white background.

Together, Nikitas & I make n & i, a creative studio committed to doing the bare maximum! Oh, by the way, my name is Ilia and it’s more of a creative home.

Why do we do what we do? Well, at first, it was to satisfy our own creative needs as entrepreneurs. While this remains more true than ever, today it is to also satisfy other entrepreneurs’ needs from an entrepreneur’s POV.

How do we do it? By doing the bare maximum! We do the most we can possibly do and without you asking us to.

What do we do? From creating your brand’s identity and manifesting it in your branding, packaging, and website to offering additional, ever-expanding services such as poetic writing and artistic implementations.

The name came to us quickly… Descriptive of the product itself and, perhaps, one day of the product category as a whole: Teapsule. Some of you call the company tea capsule, but that’s okay with us. We’re confident you’ll merge the two words in the near future. Some of you may read the logo backwards, then forwards and backwards again. That’s also okay with us; after all, Teapsule seeks to merge tradition (backwards) with innovation (forwards), a philosophy also reflected by our two chosen fonts.

Teapsule, our first creative project and business venture

Stack of four herb tea boxes labeled spearmint, rock rose, lemon verbena, and chamomile, with illustrations of herbs on a white background.

Box and capsules of geranium and lemon balm tea for Nespresso machines on a white surface.

Vector illustration of a retro car with large wheels and detailed front grill, side view.

Cleanliness of flavour = cleanliness of packaging

Three components: (1) organic Greek herbs from Crete, (2) in Nespresso-compatible, (3) home-compostable capsules

Circularity in concept and design, taking inspiration from the capsule’s shape as well as from Cycladic architecture

Discover Teapsule's new packaging

Map silhouette of Crete with a rocky landscape and trees

CREAT, a Cretan brand with a mantinada or two

original photos

While we did not design CREAT, we did realise that mantinades are at the heart of the Cretan heart.

A mantinada is a spontaneous poem composed of a 15-syllable rhyming couplet in Cretan dialect.

Remaining true to the mantinada’s spirit and form, we wrote some mantinades (in English, of course) to hopefully make you chuckle while telling you a thing or two about each product.

+ we also designed CREAT’s website

Historic stone bell tower with a Greek flag against a blue sky.

Oh, like an (extra) virgin embraced for the very first time,

Made with very fresh olives, so your heart long beats next to mine.

Hippocrates called it “the great healer,” Homer “liquid gold,”

olive oil is sacred to Crete and to Greece, let it be told.

If breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day,

then start your day with dakos that’s what Cretans do always say.

Maybe it rings a bell, the irrational Greek letter π…

Ring ring! No longer a headache, but the Cretan pie to try!

Olive Roots rebrand, a play on the polka dot pattern

See the full rebrand soon

Oli, Greek olive oil for the US market

See Oli

Euphoria, flavoured water to feel Euphoric

Concept 2: Periodic Table, a playful & educational direction

See Euphoria

Concept 2: Rothko, an artistic & modern direction

Reload Travel, an artistic touch for a boutique travel agency

Promotional text for Reload Travel, highlighting personalized travel services with air, sea, and VIP options. Emphasizes human connection over online bookings and offers tailor-made travel experiences, accommodations, and professional drivers for a worry-free journey. Mentions travel for business, pleasure, and adventure with a focus on memorable experiences. Includes multilingual gratitude and the tagline "Reload Travel, your travel companion."

Inspired by Beetroot’s “Romeo and Juliet, finally brought together,” which connected the words Romeo and Juliet with 55,440 red lines, here we bring together words that are at the heart of Reload. You’ll see the text we wrote on the website we designed, from start to finish in purple with 496 yellow lines, Reload’s company colours.

Silkscreen printing on Munken paper.

In the works…