The Department of Visual Communication Design of the Faculty of Communication organized an event titled “An Anatomy of Design”. The event, moderated by Prof. Dr. And Algül, Head of the Department of Visual Communication Design, hosted Enes Malik Baykan, Art Director of Avngart Creative Advertising Agency, as a guest. Baykan emphasized that a designer must be a good researcher and highlighted the importance of sharpening the purpose in design.
At the event held as part of the department's activities at Üsküdar University Fuat Sezgin Conference Hall, Enes Malik Baykan, as a designer, drew attention to the importance of sharpening the purpose in design.
“Sharpen the Purpose in Your Designs”
Enes Malik Baykan, Art Director of Avngart Creative Advertising Agency, stating that design is the visual form of communication, pointed out that knowing the dynamics of communication provides designers with great freedom. Baykan said; “When you enter the industry, you will see that most clients don't know what they want or cannot express themselves correctly. As a communicator, you must read them well here and frame the work by asking questions about what they want. In this regard, sharpening the purpose is very important because imagine an arrow; the sharper its tip, the faster it goes when shot and hits the target. After determining the purpose, mastering the subject is crucial because a good designer is a good researcher. Research skills enrich your design skills. Over time, as you become literate in your own discipline, you gain the freedom to play with its logic. Over time, you develop yourself by performing manipulations in line with your purpose.”
“A Good Designer is Someone Who Can Extract Original Meaning from Different Works”
Emphasizing that designers' success comes from practice, Enes Malik Baykan said; “In my opinion, a good designer is someone who can produce original works from various different projects rather than someone who designs something great from scratch. In other words, design is about taking elements that are meaningless or meaningful on their own, making them meaningless or meaningful, and creating new meanings, or enriching existing meanings. In this context, the more you practice, the better works you will produce at the end of the day. When you graduate, they will ask for your portfolio, not your diploma. They will ask what you did while studying at university. That's why, especially in my last two years, I approached every project as if I were presenting it to a client, and this developed me.”
Think Simply…
Enes Malik Baykan underlined that a design should be perceivable at first glance and stated that thinking simply is crucial for this to happen. Baykan said; “In design, one mostly needs to think simply, but the concept of simplicity itself creates a paradox in terms of theory and practice because it requires a thought practice. That's why children are the best at achieving this. An adult cannot give simple answers to questions. Adults struggle to think simply due to existing prejudices and learned behaviors. Therefore, it is necessary to detach from existing knowledge and prejudices and approach the question simply. Sometimes, a kind of 'curse of knowledge' causes a near-blindness, and we cannot think simply, but the message in a design needs to be perceivable at first glance, because if it's not understood at first glance, it won't be understood in this hustle and bustle.”
The highly popular event concluded after a Q&A session.