GUNEY SOYKAN
Guney Soykan is Creative Group Head at Turkey’s TBWA\Istanbul. He talks the best creative work, inspirations and his career change from dentist to advertiser.
Image: Guney Soykan
How you got into your profession...
I grew up in a small city in Northwest Turkey. I wasn’t a very bright student, always doodling during the classes. Reading comics and roleplay games were my favorite things back then. After graduating from high school somehow I decided to be a dentist. The plan was to be my own boss and have some spare time for my personal interests.
Carving teeth out of soap bars (in the first year) was the only fun part of my three-and-a-half year education. I felt like a sculptor. When I started to work with real patients, I realised that it wasn’t the job for me. So I quit dentistry to study fine arts. I started my internship in the second year of college and never left the agency life again.
The first thing I do in my day is...
Regret staying up that late the night before.
At the moment I am working on...
The new season look of Anadolu Efes Basketball Team. We recently had a photo shoot with the players and are now working on the design process. It's always exciting to work with sportsmen.
The best piece of creative work around at the moment is...
A video that shows the ageing process of an individual: “Danielle” by Anthony Cerniello. It’s a really strong piece. Seeing the effect of time on a human being in a tangible way is really frightening and inspiring. That reminds me to make the most of the limited time I have.
I am inspired by...
The desire of creating something great and fear of not being able to do it. I love looking at exciting stuff made by other people. Whether it's contemporary art, graffiti or an internet meme. And I have always loved to wonder around big heavy art books.
I’ll be attending...
Cannes Lions for sure and I don’t know when, but want to go to a tasting tour. I think Oktoberfest will be one of my stops.
The next big thing in advertising is going to be...
Ad campaigns that don’t look and feel like ad campaigns. Things that you would love to experience, make a part of your life and live with.
The piece of digital/advertising work I wish I had thought of is...
Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches”. It’s an idea that makes you learn something about yourself, inspires you and makes you feel alive. It is a work that can change the way an individual lives. It feels like a contemporary art piece. And I am really jealous.
In a film about my life, I’d like to be played by...
Donald Duck. He is as clumsy as I am.
My last social media update said...
Nothing but sharing a video. It was about a mechanical sculpture that turns weapons to musical instruments. “Disarm” by Pedro Reyes.
My dream collaboration is...
To work on a project with Quentin Tarantino.
In up and coming talent, I look for...
Something to learn.
A piece of criticism I’ve received was..."
About my relationship with the video games. And the critic was my wife. I think you can guess the conversation.
The last piece of music I listened to was...
“The Here and After” by Jun Miyake.
Video: "Danielle" by Anthony Cerniello
Image: A CNN ad art directed by Guney Soykan which made it as the cover of Archive Vol. 4/2010
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