OZLEM TUNA; 20 YEARS
I created 3 for 20 years:
How and why did I start?
How did 20 years pass?
What are my dreams for the future?
How did I start?
In the jewelry industry in Istanbul...As a young designer, I constantly changed jobs in my search for creativity between 1996 and 2003. In 2003, I resigned from the company where I worked as a jewelry designer, angry with my bosses, and made an impulsive decision.
While I was trying to grasp the ancient knowledge of the centuries-old structures and production methods in the jewelry sector around the Grand Bazaar and Historical Peninsula in Istanbul, I was also trying to keep up with the rapidly changing world of design. I was constantly asking myself, “What am I doing, how and why?”
Coming to work in the morning and seeing that I could not create meaning in my life increased my discomfort.
What exactly did I want to do? I felt a deep desire to be free. The desire to freely experience and try the city I lived in, business life, the dynamics of trade, human relations, design, production and delivering these to the user was increasing.
The adventure began in April 2013 in a 6 square meter area on the third floor of a building on Divan Yolu Street in the Istanbul Historical Peninsula.
How did 20 years pass?
With courageous attempts, I moved seven times in the center of Istanbul.
I first started designing and producing jewelry under the brand ÖZLEM TUNA. I was both a designer and a manufacturer for a while. During my explorations in and around the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, I realized that I had started designing coffee cups.
Do you know what I wanted to grow up the most when I was a kid? To be able to drink COFFEE like adults...
My passion for the kitchen was added to this. Spending time in the kitchen, cooking, and sharing have always interested me since my childhood. My area of understanding and sharing life has always been the kitchen, around the dining table, and the tables I sat at with my friends. Thus, I started to design products around the culture of food and drink.
In 2013, I established my own porcelain production workshop.
My production journey began with my search for a language and meaning for my designs. Design and production; taking responsibility for a mini-series production line, intensive handmade production... Training team members, making coffee cups with jewelry precision in porcelain production...
Here is a team that cares passionately about every piece they create. Production continues in Istanbul, and we have started to export 80% of our designs and products abroad. Our porcelains have been flown to many cities around the world, including Japan. Japan is one of the countries I want to see, and my designs met with Japanese users before me. Isn't it great? My designs meet with users in 8 different cities around the world.
We are very careful to use local materials and local production facilities. We try to bring my designs to life by combining small and traditional production facilities in Istanbul with technology.
Designs, productions, fairs, exhibitions and exports... When I look at it, it looks like a dazzling, sparkling designer life, doesn't it? But in the background, there are 12-13 hour workdays, tears that I try not to shed too much but sometimes can't, sleepless nights, lots of failures, stubbornness and decisions made with crazy courage every day of the week. You learn that not everything you do is right, but having the courage to try and move forward with what you learn is very valuable.
I work keeping in mind that with every design I make, I am building the roots of tomorrow.
WE ARE DESIGNING THE ROOTS OF TOMORROW...
Now, I question and think about the things I design from three or four different perspectives before deciding to produce them.
As we leave 20 years behind, I observe that our world, our climate, our resources are rapidly changing, depleting, and our responsibilities are increasing. This endless journey of learning and discovery that I have been on for 20 years has prepared me for today.
Amazing! I am so grateful...
In the area where I live, I see the importance of working hard, being patient, never giving up and never losing enthusiasm in order to keep a design firm afloat. And continuing to learn...
I always like to carry the excitement of being an apprentice in life. Listening...To listen to the people around me more carefully and discover how valuable learning is...Not being able to sleep at night because of excitement...Joining the city and life with the first light of the morning...To increase the number of questions...To find solid companions to realize dreams, to try to understand to strengthen communication...
And we are starting our 20th year with a very important innovation. We have renewed our corporate logo. We continue on our way with a logo designed by graphic designer Yeşim Ünal. We have a graphic language that describes the dynamic and strong structure of ÖZLEM TUNA TASARIM, which is determined and knows what it wants.
My future dreams?
New adventures...
Designing objects of use that will make us experience new things in our living spaces... I started to design surprising, fun, colorful, open to experience, emotionally stimulating spaces in our business and home life. I am setting sail for new seas. Lighting, furniture and of course publishing... We dream of making art and design books with the team I have established. Maybe some of these books will inspire new exhibitions. Oh, we have so much to do! Finding answers to the questions we put forward... Creating solutions by designing new ideas for the problems that arise... I love my dreams that keep me alive, young and excited. I am lucky; I move forward with my teammates who believe in me, give me strength and work tirelessly.
Ozlem Tuna