Hello! My name is Yannis Yannakopoulos, and I’m an independent developer from Athens, Greece. I build websites, experiment with generative art and modular synths, and often combine the latter two in audio-reactive sketches. I’ve been in the field for more than 15 years, roughly half of which I’ve spent working independently, collaborating with studios and individuals from around the world.
Here is a small list of my most favorite projects from recent years.
My personal website, designed by Brijan Powell almost two years ago, and I still love every pixel of it. It comes in different versions and includes a couple of Easter eggs!
A small personal project to collect music releases and more. It’s been running for over 10 years now, and recently, Isabel Moranta took it to the next level with a fresh design! Take a look around—you might find something interesting to listen to!
Another collaboration with Isabel, this time for her personal portfolio. We wrote a detailed case study on this very site, which you can read here: Case Study: Isabel Moranta Portfolio — 2024
Not an actual project of mine, but a fun exercise in what I love doing. Genuary is an annual creative coding challenge that takes place throughout January and encourages artists, designers, and developers to generate art using code.
I completed Genuary again this year, for the second time since 2023, and learned tons of things along the way. 31 daily sketches made in GLSL as a way to practice and learn new skills. You can see the full list here, but here are some previews.
More about me
I started coding in the days of Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash, slicing Photoshop images for button hovers. I worked at several studios and agencies over the years, until I decided to go independent roughly 7 years ago.
My main goal in all my projects is to produce something that feels right to everyone involved in the process.
What I’ve learned over the years is that it’s not about the tools, or about ideal routines and workflows. It’s about the mindset, the aesthetics, and the ideas. Trying to understand how tools work under the hood, developing a strong eye for detail, always experimenting, and trying new things on both client and personal projects can help you grow and easily adapt to any particular tool or environment.
And remember: sometimes, if you don’t go to extremes, you won’t get anywhere.
When not at work, I mostly explore oscillators, MIDI, and patches on modular synths. I’m currently developing a small audio-reactive library to use with live synth setups, and moving forward, I want to dive deeper into shaders and explore different mediums as well.
Thank you, Codrops, for being a constant source of inspiration from day one! I’m super proud to have been featured on this site over the years!
