I am a Cupertino-based designer of systems and experiences with a background in graphic design. Currently, I am working as a Product Designer for the App Store at Apple.

Nothing is absolute. Designing experiences is a complex process, and resolving all of this complexity and creating simple journeys requires effort. I'm passionate about filtering all these complex problems into simple and actionable solutions, allowing people to be more efficient with their time. My approach is evolving to find the right balance to achieve what I enjoy and what people love; it has been a balance since I started designing. It comes from carefully considering users' needs and desires and boldly following my instincts, experiences, and observations.

I have a traditional design education, with a B.A. in Visual Communication Design from Bahcesehir University, Turkey, with a merit scholarship. I also extended my knowledge in Gdansk, Poland, and Busan, S. Korea for an entire year on Graphic Design and Multimedia.

After several years designing at small boutique design firms in Turkey after graduation, I moved to Denmark and gained practical experience of UX & IA in digital shopping experiences and UX & UI for emerging products while working for Bestseller—a fashion brand. As a Sr. Designer, I was significantly responsible for improving the user experience across all digital touch-points. I also art-directed major campaigns by fleshing out storyboards, layouts, and graphic design materials for the websites and mobile applications.

Then, in the winter of 2017, my wife and I decided to build a life in the States and accepted an offer from a Los Angeles-based design agency, Hello Design. It was an incredibly challenging place to work in—the pace, expectations, culture shift, process—and it took a lot out of me in every regard, but the rewards were massive. I worked as a Design Director, led a talented team, and designed visual concepts for new businesses. It was my first real experience designing and deploying full-scale design systems and brand executions for major brands like Facebook. While most of my time has been spent with Facebook, I also worked with amazing brands to build design systems and bring their ideas to life. During my time at Hello, I learned a lot from people around me and feel blessed to be friends with them.

After 2,5 incredible years in sunny, bright Los Angeles, we wanted to try the Silicon Valley vibe, and I joined Postmates (acquired by Uber) as a Design Lead to manage a team of designers and lead all the design efforts. Postmates was a growing company when I joined, and working in a fast-paced environment with talented people was very satisfying. It was the first time someone (James Butts) challenged me to produce great usability through my designs and be responsible for expansive end deliveries. It required some physical and mental effort; however, I am thankful for all the failures, successes, challenges that I shared with the team.

Now I am at Apple, working for my dream company with great talented folks. I can't talk much about it, but it has been an exceptional experience for me so far.

In the past decade, I've garnered many awards, including FWA, Awwwards, CSS Design Awards, Webby, and also had the honor of being a judge for the CSS Design Awards, The Webby Awards, The Lovie Awards, and had the privilege to work with several global brands such as Apple, Facebook, Postmates, Square, Marvel, Tillamook, Insomniac, Bestseller, Jack&Jones, Turkish Airlines, Ferrara, and Absolare. Here you can also read my interview with Lovers Mag from two years ago.

I occasionally post pictures reflecting my personal life on Instagram and share some findings, thoughts, recommendations on Twitter. I also listed the names of amazing people I've come across over the years, impacting my journey.

Let's connect.