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Interview with Kemal Yıldırım |
Home > Designer Interviews > Kemal Yıldırım |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Kemal Yıldırım (KY) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Kemal Yıldırım by clicking here.
FS: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
KY: My professional journey started in the furniture workshop of my parents during high school years. On the one hand, while I was attending school, I was also assisting the furniture and decoration works produced in the workshop. The experience I gained between the school and the practice workshop made me love furniture and interior design. As my time progressed, my desire to be a design educator came to the forefront, and then my designs.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
KY: Gazi University, Department of Furniture and Interior Design, founded in 1937, created an environment for design studies in the early days ... Then, my design activities continued in different environments.
FS: What is "design" for you?
KY: Design is the expression of an idea.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
KY: I love to design office furniture, nowadays we spend most of our lives in offices.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
KY: It is “Second Prize” with our design called Life Bed at the “Furniture Design Competition for Saving Lives in an Earthquake”. When I first heard the name of the contest "life-saving" words were very impressed me. With this special and meaningful design, we wanted to support humanity and the right to life.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
KY: The reception desk is for a contemporary photographer.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
KY: My favorite is "natural wood material" and computer technologies.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
KY: I'm more creative in the morning between 9-11 hours to myself I feel more energetic and powerful.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
KY: I focus on the appropriateness of the materials used in the design to human health, authenticity, economy, ease of packaging and transport of all the pieces of furniture, and practical assembly in the place of use.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
KY: The moment I find the idea in my designs, my excitement reaches the highest level.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
KY: It gives me great pleasure to look at my design.
FS: What makes a design successful?
KY: Originality, solving a problem, ergonomics ...
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
KY: Environmentally sensitive, user-friendly, original, convertible, sustainable ...
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
KY: The designer is responsible for his decisions. Therefore, the materials used by the designer must not be harmful to human health and must be recyclable. It should be environmentally sensitive.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
KY: Nowadays, the design approach is developing in a very positive way, and protective arrangements such as design copyright and patent can be followed worldwide.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
KY: My latest exhibition was held on September 29, 2018 at the 3rd Istanbul International Invention Fair (ISIF'18) held at Istanbul Lutfi Kirdar Convention Center. I got a bronze medal award ...
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
KY: I prefer a comfortable and peaceful environment. In such environments, my productivity and my creativity are also making ceilings. Watching the developments in my field, making observations, and maturing my thoughts by using different opinions affect my productivity positively.
FS: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
KY: Mies van der Rohe's "less is more" proposition is my favorite. A simple approach that highlights aesthetics and functionality, storage and ease of use ...
FS: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
KY: I live in Turkey, Anatolia is the cradle of world civilization. Living in such a geography is a great advantage in the creation of design ideas.
FS: How do you work with companies?
KY: I worked in MOPAS- Furniture Production Marketing Inc. and Modern Furniture and Decoration Company in the field of planning and design. For many years, I have been teaching design courses at universities.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
KY: It is very important for companies to employ designers. Companies should be able to give new designers the opportunity, but the designs and previous awards of experienced designers can be an important criterion in the preferences.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
KY: My designs usually begin to appear when I focus on solving a problem ... Over time it is shaped and becomes final ... I can't intervene very much in the final situation ...
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
KY: Rest chair, sketch drawing book, pencil, sugar free tea and classical music.
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
KY: I usually do academic readings during my day at my faculty office, mostly consisting of student theses, research reports, article referees, associate professorship reports, course materials, etc. I'm developing my design ideas when I'm at the opportunity.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
KY: The first phase of design starts with gathering information, it is a very important stage ... The analysis, synthesis and evaluation stages sit on the information gathering stage.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
KY: The designer must always make the right decision, which is a very difficult task.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
KY: Purity and honesty!
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
KY: Problem solving, creativity ...
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
KY: My drawing notebook and pen play an active role in my design, then visualize the resulting idea with computer technologies. My inspiration can create everything in nature, sometimes a movie scene, sometimes a sentence ...
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
KY: If you are designing, you must forget the time!
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
KY: Sometimes it takes 1 minute and sometimes days ...
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
KY: What does this do?
FS: What was your most important job experience?
KY: I've never forgotten, we used to build a cupboard in a customer's house during high school. According to the customer's request, we took the measure and produced it in the workshop. Due to the size differences in the floor and ceiling sections of the opposite walls of the niche, we were very hard at installation. I remember that I took several measurements from every point of the place in the next works.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
KY: In addition to some furniture companies, I have made a lot of designs to ordinary people.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
KY: Furniture designed for a specific user group ...
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
KY: Furniture designs that make a difference ...
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
KY: I usually develop my design ideas by myself, but I get help in visualization.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
KY: I keep working on office furniture, I'm going to have some surprises soon ...
FS: How can people contact you?
KY: I actively control the contact addresses I share on my web page, you can write to these addresses.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
KY: Many new beautiful designs that make our lives easier, do not disturb our health ...
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A’ Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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