Meeting Ayça Yılmaz
Hailing from the vibrant city of Izmir, Turkey, Ayça Yılmaz stands at the intersection of creativity and innovation. Born in 1993, Ayça's journey into the world of design began with a passion for photography, evolving into a skilled website designer during her high school years. Her academic pursuits led her to Anadolu University, where she delved into the realm of Industrial Design from 2011 to 2016. A pivotal chapter in her story unfolded in 2014 when she embraced the opportunity to become an exchange student at L'ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, enriching her perspective with invaluable insights and a multidisciplinary approach. I had a chance to speak with Ayça in Istanbul during Future Heirlooms Exhibition provided by the Circle www.thecircle-o.com/en/events/future-heirlooms-exhibition .
I learned how designers creates her present projects and how she sees the future of the industry.
"I first created websites for my interests in high school, playing with graphics. Interested in how things work, I decided to become an Industrial designer, where artistic approach and functionality meet," Ayça shares.
Future Heirlooms Exhibition
Future Heirlooms Exhibition
Diverse Inspirations and Creative Influences
Design Philosophy: Questioning and Exploration
Curiosity and Collaboration: The Keys to Success
Ayça draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, which brings ideas from different fields and open vision to the trends.
Ayça notes: “My inspirations were art installations where we see manifestations and the 3D presentation of the idea. Then I found this approach very valuable to express such things. Now I'm following very wide mediums to get updated for design, but I'm also inspired by such singers and other creatives like Björk to David Lynch, Alfons Mucha to Rick Owens.”
Ayça's superpower lies in questioning elements at the very first abstraction phase. Her design philosophy revolves around exploring every element's impact, allowing her to play with ideas and materials, resulting in design solutions.
Ayça describes her design philosophy very honest, "It's questioning the elements at the very first abstraction phase. My design philosophy revolves around questioning and exploring every element's impact, allowing me to play with abstraction and materials, culminating in mesmerizing materializations."
Reflecting on her journey, Ayça emphasizes, "Curiosity and collaboration" as the cornerstones of her success. These two basis stand as the key services and driving her success. The combination of these elements fuels her ability to create meaningful, data-driven, and feasible industrial products.
The Empath Door: A Highlight Project
Ayça has left her creative imprint on numerous products in various sectors, both in Turkey and the Netherlands, showcasing her multidisciplinary expertise and passion for design. One of Ayça's standout projects is "The Empath Door," a testament to her design prowess. Explore the project here.
This design idea comes from thinking about how humans and pets connect. Inspired by cats playing with things at home, we came up with a cool idea: a toy for cats and a big indoor structure for people. The goal is to make us feel what it's like to be a cat, promoting a friendly bond between us. The design serves as a space where pets and humans can exchange.
Dreams and Innovations
Challenges and Triumphs
Dreaming Big
Overcoming Challenges: Communication and Adaptability
Envisioning the Future: A Call to Conscious Consumption
Dreaming wise designer wants to craft bespoke projects down the line and use AI to make some design steps a breeze. Discovering new tools bring a new source of creativity.
“I use AI to simplify certain steps within the design structure. It's a tool that adds efficiency to the process.”
Designer’s life isn't all a fairy tale. There are a lot of challenges on the daily basics. However there is a secret source in this journey.
"Not only working in the visual but creating meaningful, data-driven, feasible industrial products. Creating the new with old-school machinery was a challenge. Also, introducing the artsy side of things to business folks. Communication is key, and being adaptable is my secret ingredient."
Describing contribution to the the industry designer notes the challenges: “I find it interesting to bring different perspectives from different disciplines into work such as philosophy or psychology. I have the intention to create more products that bring different disciplines together within work.”
Ayça faced challenges, particularly in introducing the artistic side of her work to business-minded individuals and navigating the complexities of conventional machinery. Her success mantra involves prioritizing communication and staying adaptable in the face of obstacles. She reflects, "Communication is first and being adaptive."
Facing the biggest challenges in the design industry today we revolve around time constraints hindering creativity. Designer emphasizes the importance of carving out space for creative exploration.
Ayça dreams of a future where conscious choices prevail. She foresees challenges in 2050 if we continue to consume ignorantly without considering the environmental impact. However, she believes in the power of collective action, urging everyone to take steps towards a better, sustainable future.
“We always have solutions to problems of our time we just need to take action one by one and it will follow a better one not the perfect one.”
Meet Ayça Yılmaz
Website: https://www.aycayilmaz.design/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aycayillmaz/