Happy International Women's Day to all the wonderful women I know, especially 8 Fingers business owners! Here are a few pictures of the menu I recently designed for them. If you are in Istanbul and happen to be around the area, don't forget to show them love and support. They offer great food and a cozy ambience.

This is going to be my first custom-made item for sale on my Etsy shop. See it at etsy.com/shop/salihk (Currently sold-out)

Just got my designer copy of the 2017 letterpress calendar from my great friend Fabian Mr-Cup. So happy to be part of a project that gets better and more exciting every year! Grab your copy on mr-cup.com before it sells out if you are interested!

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It’s been a great year for the studio. Thanks everyone for the support throughout 2016!

Here are some of my personal favorite projects for the 2016:

1- Huel Bag 2- Sans Bakery 3- North Coast 4- Milkfloat 5- Pact 6- Bushwick Tea 7- First Place 8- Badrumsfixaren 9- Byronbay

Letterpress Calendar 2017 Cover

Really stoked to be part of my great friend Fabian Barral’s latest letterpress calendar project for 2017. The project is now live and available for pre-order on Kickstarter. Go back it to get some great artwork from myself and other designer friends! This year’s cover design by the talented Kevin Cantrell.

AIGA Eye on design

Such an honor to see my identity design for Huel featured on AIGA's design blog Eye on Design. Below is an extract about my work from the article.

Huel (Human + Fuel) founder Julian Hearn says, “We wanted a modern but timeless identity system that needed to represent the brand’s ethos to help simplify life. We felt that too often food packaging is overly colorful and busy, so instead of shouting louder we took the opposite approach, less is more.” The Huel team worked with designer Salih Kucukaga to develop their packaging, who’s visual references ranged from “Epcot logos, to religious iconography in Pisa, to the Latvian god of the harvest Jumis. But eventually they were whittled down to the Swiss style, and a few specific brands such Rapha and Blue Bottle Coffee.”

I asked Hearn why he thinks capital-M Minimalist Modern has become the go-to aesthetic for Complete Food systems. He says it’s all about getting back to basics. “As a population we have made food so delicious that we crave it, get addicted to it, and over consume it. The fact that Complete Food goes against the norm in terms of focusing on the primary purpose of food, e.g. nutrition rather than exclusively taste, has attracted similar founders. I believe the common goal is to strip away the unnecessary additives, flavors, packaging, and preparation. The result is the minimalist aesthetic you see in many of the brands in this space.”

Read the whole article on AIGA.org

Creative-South-Columbus-GA

I am in Columbus, Georgia for Creative South! So excited to see everyone! Check back the blog soon. Lots of photos will be added here!

Super stoked to have been able to work on this custom font for my good friends over at I mean it Creative. It’s part of a branding project for the city of Gaziantep that is designed and developed by I mean it. It's been such an honor and a pleasure to develop the official font for the project with Emrah Yucel and his team. Check out the full project on imeanit.com and to download the font.

Pretty pumped to see these three logos published in the LogoLounge book, Vol. 9! Many thanks to Bill Gardner and the judges! And thanks to Kasia Majchrowska for helping me out with the Modmods logo. Brr, it's cold out here! ‪#‎Istanbul‬ 

It’s been a pretty great year. Maybe it hasn’t been the greatest in some ways but that’s a victory in and of itself. Here are a few things I learned in 2015.

• Always have music with you. While you work, while you walk, while you travel. Premium Spotify is really awesome.
• Don’t get too attached to what you think you know about yourself.
• Gaudi is freaking amazing.
• Pakistani Taxi drivers are the kindest in Barcelona.
• Fearlessly be yourself. Those who appreciate you, will appreciate you. Ignore the rest.
• Have less, think more and do more.
• If you think you can do it, you can really do it. Period.
• Do it as soon as you can, it’s really great.
• Trust the universe. It’s got your back.
• Be humble. Be grounded. Be grateful for every moment you have and enjoy every jump, every single one.
• A little stone could change your life. How? Read my post here
• You are who you associate yourself with.
• There's beauty in the struggle and ugliness in the success.
• Fun fact: You can get stung by a bee while you sleep. "sigh"
• Say no to people who don’t know the meaning of real friendship.
• Say no to NDAs. They are stupid.
• Fun fact: Watch something funny before you start and end your day.
• Things that you consume do not matter, what you create matters the most. Create more in 2016.
• Take design advice from a designer. Tax advice from an accountant. But don't take business advice from an attorney.

Screw it. Here’s to learning more in 2016!