Mark your calendars for Saturday 30 May 2026! The Now26 conference is happening in the beautiful city of Paris. It’s going to be an epic event, with a mix of inspiring speakers covering a wide range of topics like graphic design, web design, motion design, publishing, visual identity, communication, and type design. If you haven’t already, don’t miss out on the best rates by registering now!
We would like to invite you to explore the profiles of our esteemed guests. Discover the captivating interview of Özge Güven.
Biography Özge Güven, is a visual communication designer based in Istanbul, specializing in identity, campaigns, publications, and experimental design. After years in advertising, she founded her own studio and teaches design research, while running collaborative summer workshops. Her work has won international awards, she has served on major juries, and she is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale.
Interview
What’s your favourite way to kickstart your day?
Özge Güven I wake up very early almost seven days a week. If it’s a working day, I go straight to my desk. Being able to focus while everyone else is still asleep and no one is calling me feels really good. I usually keep working until lunchtime, which is my first meal of the day, because if the weather is nice, I like taking a long lunch break and not missing the sun.
What do you do to evade yourself from work?
Özge Güven For me, the answer to this question is doing things that are completely unplanned. A big part of my professional life revolves around planning and trying to meet deadlines. Of course, activities like exercising or cooking for pleasure help clear my mind, but what helps me the most is doing nothing — stopping, slowing down. I like missing the work I do, missing the act of designing and creating. You don’t eat with real appetite unless you’re hungry! ; )
What’s your favourite kind of music to listen to while working?
Özge Güven When I’m in a state of focus or deep thinking, I rarely listen to music. I mostly prefer silence — even deep silence. But during the execution phase, I’m open to all kinds of music. I enjoy thinking through ideas while walking, and that’s when I listen to music the most.
“I found being a graphic designer — and therefore a communicator — very playful, and I’m still playing that game.”
– Özge Güven
What are your thoughts on social media these days?
Özge Güven Among social media platforms, I only use Instagram, and my presence there is almost entirely work-oriented. Instagram is functional as a tool for following visual culture and staying connected with the creative community. At the same time, if you have clients for whom you produce work specifically for this platform, you need to be a user yourself in order to understand its dynamics. However, when it turns into a constant performance or something driven by algorithms, it can become truly exhausting. I believe social media can help in understanding a community, but only when it’s used consciously. Otherwise, it serves marketing more than genuine interaction. That’s why I try to keep some distance and use it on my own terms.
Do you work best in team or alone?
Özge Güven Throughout my professional life, I’ve always pursued both approaches side by side, and I enjoy them equally. I work in whatever way a project’s scope requires. If realizing the ideas I create for a project calls for different professionals, I find myself — without hesitation — as part of a large team. I enjoy close, hands-on collaboration, and that shared excitement always elevates the work. At other times, quite the opposite, I want to be on my own — if the project allows it. And sometimes, wanting to work with someone can become a nice excuse to generate ideas together : ) For a long time now, I’ve been involved as a project manager in a workshop series called Yahsiworkshops. There, we come together with students and actively practice what it means to work as a team. We explore questions such as: Why do we collaborate? What does working together require? What does it mean to be useful to a team? How do you design a process? I’ve always found it both rewarding and enjoyable to be an individual within a team, while also being its lifeblood.
What measures have you taken to turn things upside down and remain creative?
Özge Güven I always try to step out of my comfort zone. There may be similar projects, similar content, or similar brands on the table, but my motivation is always gronded in creating something unexpected — first and foremost for myself. I need to convince myself that I’ve truly stepped out of my comfort zone before anything else.
Does AI change the way you work?
Özge Güven I actively follow and try to understand the constantly evolving AI capabilities. I can say that it has become part of my daily life, but it hasn’t changed my mindset or perspective as a designer. For now, I see it as a helpful and effective research tool.
“I like missing the work I do, missing the act of designing and creating. You don’t eat with real appetite unless you’re hungry!”
– Özge Güven
As a user of type, are you always on the lookout for new lettering?
Özge Güven Depending on the project, I look for new typefaces, or sometimes I create my own. My habit of searching for new typefaces usually comes from following type foundries and designers I already keep an eye on. I trace my way through those channels.
What are some things that grab your eye the most when you are searching?
Özge Güven When searching for a typeface for a project, after looking for one that is well resolved, well designed, and not ‘trendy,’ my next priority is language support. Turkish characters are often missing in many type families, so language support and the character set are very important to me.
You have carried out several projects around cinema, what do you think is the place of graphic design in this field?
Özge Güven Yes, I frequently produce work especially for theatre and other performing arts. Graphic design is a tool that carries the performing arts beyond the stage — into the street, magazines, social media, in short, across all communication channels. For this reason, even before a performance is seen, graphic design becomes the first and most direct way to express what it might be like and what kind of emotion it carries. It becomes the visual signature of the staged work, one that can be remembered for years.
What are the limits you encounter or are imposed on you by the political situation in Turkey?
Özge Güven In Turkey, communication is either as easy or as difficult as everything else is these days. Openness, flexibility, and even freedom in communication are topics we've been discussing, pushing for, and struggling with lately. We've felt the restriction of social freedom of expression throughout history, in varying degrees in every country. However, our professional skill lies in finding ways to deliver and create the necessary information and message, regardless of the circumstances. Living independently of the political agenda is impossible as a part of the society we live in. I don't find that right either, because we do work that speaks to a society exposed to this political agenda, and we ourselves are figures within this crowd.
Do you remember when you decided to pursue your career in design?
Özge Güven I studied Fine Arts in high school, with a strong focus on painting, and later chose Graphic Design at university. I can’t say it was a fully conscious decision at first, but once I started studying graphic design — at a time when I was a rather introverted student — the idea of creating powerful messages without speaking deeply affected me. I was drawn to the magic of developing new forms of communication and, honestly, I didn’t plan much beyond that. I found being a graphic designer — and therefore a communicator — very playful, and I’m still playing that game.
During your creative process, do you sketch–draw on paper before moving on to the digital workflow?
Özge Güven I always sketch and write. Before moving to the final work, I draft everything by hand. These sketches might live in my sketchbooks, but just as often they end up on whatever is at hand, wherever and whenever an idea comes to me.
Do you have words of wisdom for someone who wants to become a designer?
Özge Güven I would suggest that they trust their senses. Following their interests and appetites would be a good place to start. After tasting, little by little, everything they feel excited to try, they should make their own decisions. Hearing advice is always valuable, but they should make sure to experience things for themselves. For this reason, I sometimes hesitate to give advice based solely on my own experience.
What other speaker wouldn’t you want to miss at Now26?
Özge Güven I’m particularly curious about Astrid Stavro, but I’m looking forward to all the speakers with equal excitement.
Thank you very much Özge Güven!
– Interview by Malo Haffreingue
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