Imagining Greece

Growing a digital archive of cultural memory

Imagining Greece is an interactive archival website celebrating Greece’s cultural identity, through the lens of its tourism history, design heritage and global perception. Developed by The American College of Greece, the Greek Ministry of Tourism, The University of Sheffield and Leeds Beckett University, Field were commissioned to design and develop a responsive digital platform that could house an expansive, image-led collection while remaining intuitive, engaging and accessible to a global audience.

Our approach is centred on storytelling. Drawing from archival material spanning from the 1960s to the present day, the platform is structured around four journeys: Imagining, Travelling, Exploring and Remembering. Each one captures a distinct moment in the experience of Greece: from aspiration and first impressions to lived experience and nostalgia.

These journeys shape both the narrative and the website design. A bespoke design system assigns each theme its own colour palette, reflecting shifts in mood, place and perception. This creates a clear yet flexible framework that guides users through the digital archive while reinforcing the emotional arc of travel.

The platform uses a collage-inspired aesthetic, inspired by scrapbooks, postcards and travel diaries. Layered textures, film grain and print details echo the tactile quality of the original materials, ensuring the design complements the archive itself.

The archive's interactive tools include a timeline that allows users to move through decades of material, revealing shifts in culture and representation over time, while a dynamic map enables exploration by region, connecting content directly to place. Together, these features transform the archive into a living, navigable landscape.

The result is a digital platform that bridges past and present. It serves as both an academic resource and an immersive experience.