Articles by

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

41 Posts

The Secret to Great Design

Concept

The Secret to Great Design

IDEO cofounder Bill Moggridge – known for coining the term "interaction design" – once said that "the only way to experience an experience is to experience it." On that note, I feel like the topic of today is best suited for a face-to-face discussion. I'll let you find out over at YouTube, or perhaps the podcast. Enjoy. Books That Inspired This Episode * The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin * Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever * Build: An Unorthodox Guide

Podcast
Video

Mar 14, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Platform Update: March 2023

Meta

Platform Update: March 2023

Our regular readers may have noticed, what drew me into the world of design was a love for objects. From my interview with Anthony Hobday: Finally, when I was in high school, my parents bought our first home. With the new home, came new furniture. Some of this furniture was more interesting. It was more expensive. It received more care. I was instructed to be careful with it... I remember asking my mom, “Why is this stuff more important?” She

Mar 4, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Reviewing the Cosmos Landing Page

Masterclass

Reviewing the Cosmos Landing Page

Our second Masterclass reviews the landing page of Cosmos, a "Pinterest alternative" for creatives. Starting from how I first encountered Cosmos on the website of another designer, we journey through the experience of visiting their landing page. Cosmos' website offers us many lessons in layout, typography, animation, and interaction design on the web. Highlights * "Cosmic Design" – painting with light on a black canvas * First impression of a new startup – how we discover new design tool

Video

Feb 20, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

How to Design Like Visualize Value

Concept

How to Design Like Visualize Value

Jack Butcher's design tools explained

Article
Video

Feb 13, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

How To Find Your Way as a Designer

Meta

How To Find Your Way as a Designer

Introducing Design Navigator

Article
Video

Feb 3, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Platform Update: January 2023

Meta

Platform Update: January 2023

We're back to our regular posting schedule, after a brief intermission to take in the new year. Even though we haven't released any new articles, videos, or podcast episodes, we have been busy during the last few weeks. We just launched our new collection of Offerings: a set of products and services by designers, for designers, to upgrade your creative work and navigate your future with ease. We previously offered an Advisory Service where we helped students, creatives, and innovators

Article

Jan 27, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Human After All at ATÖLYE with Guest Speaker Timmy Ghiurau

Event

Human After All at ATÖLYE with Guest Speaker Timmy Ghiurau

Human After All is a new event series hosted by ATÖLYE and Design Disciplin. The series explores the present state of the art as well as visions for the future around human-computer interaction, interaction design, and experience design with digital materials. Human After All brings an international cohort of experts and pioneers into ATÖLYE's IRL space in Istanbul, creating opportunities to engage and participate in meaningful dialogues. The first convening of Human After All  focuses on the

Jan 3, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Editor's Choice: Profound Books I Read in 2022

Roundup

Editor's Choice: Profound Books I Read in 2022

I believe I'm extremely fortunate, because every morning I spend at least half an hour reading books. Every morning, one chapter, and I start the day feeling blessed – because I have the time and space to do this, and because I can afford to own books. As you might imagine, I end up reading a lot of books this way. I don't keep track of it very well, but this year I must have finished at least 20, and abandoned

Article

Dec 30, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

On the Pursuit of Visual Design with Anthony Hobday

Conversation

On the Pursuit of Visual Design with Anthony Hobday

Usually on Design Disciplin, we ask the questions. This time, our guest is the interviewer. Designer Anthony Hobday asked the questions, and I answered. We spoke about the place of visual design in modern, technology-centered design education – UX and interaction design. Anthony is a generalist product designer, particularly interested in interaction and visual design. He is an explorer in the world of design, through his many side projects, blog posts, books, and tweets. You can find other

Article

Dec 20, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Ron Wakkary: Beyond Human-Centered Design

Conversation

Ron Wakkary: Beyond Human-Centered Design

Ron Wakkary is a professor of design at Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology in Canada. He is also a professor, holding the Chair of Design for More Than Human-Centered Worlds, in the industrial design department at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. Ron is the founder of the design research studio Everyday Design Studio (EDS). At EDS, he works with Will Odom and an evolving cast of students to produce multi-disciplinary design research that

Article
Podcast
Video

Dec 16, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

The Best Modern Books on Layouts and Grid Systems

Roundup

The Best Modern Books on Layouts and Grid Systems

Grid systems are a mainstay for all design disciplines – graphics, architecture, industrial products, UI, textiles, and more. It's no accident we find Josef Müller-Brockmann's classic book on the subject – the aptly titled Grid Systems in Graphic Design – in every designer's library. First published 1981, Müller-Brockmann's work was an innovative resource that taught a highly systematic approach to designers worldwide. A pinnacle of design learning in the 20th century, this is the fountain tha

Article

Dec 9, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Decentralized Design Business: 6 Companies Building the New Paradigm

Roundup

Decentralized Design Business: 6 Companies Building the New Paradigm

To make a living as designers, we must do the "dirty work" of a service business: marketing, advertising, courting clients, devising proposals, contracts and accounting, chasing unpaid bills, keeping people happy even when we don't agree... So many famous designers – think Michael Bierut, Virgil Abloh, Dieter Rams, Jony Ive, Diane von Fürstenberg... – owe their success not to talent alone, but to mastering the business and social worlds around them. Designers who create fashion, cars, and arch

Article

Dec 2, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş,  Mohammed Yarroum

Fonts, Ferrari, and Frameworks

Roundup

Fonts, Ferrari, and Frameworks

The Design Disciplin Community Discord Server is home to our #inspiration channel with a constant torrent of cool things – tools, resources, and ideas shared by our team and members from all over the internet. Here's our selection of 5 of the coolest things for designers from the #inspiration board, all shared within the last couple of weeks. Join our Community to access the entire #inspiration channel and share your discoveries with us. Ferrari's Ex-Design Director Reviews the New Purosangu

Article

Nov 25, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

The UX Designer's Guide to NFTs

Concept

The UX Designer's Guide to NFTs

It seems that we have moved on from the massive hype around NFTs. We're ready to have a sober look at them from a UX design perspective. The NFT phenomenon reveals timeless and practical insights in culture, technology, and economics that we can leverage for all kinds of design work. Because of how they build on timeless human rituals, we believe that NFTs are here to stay, and ripe with fantastic opportunities for UX design. The "UX design perspective" means

Article

Nov 22, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Lessons from Lazy's Landing Page and Brand

Masterclass

Lessons from Lazy's Landing Page and Brand

Our first Masterclass takes a look at Lazy, a new note-taking software startup. We analyze the entire UX flow of meeting the product for the first time and signing up. Highlights * How Lazy implemented classic graphic design knowledge to create a compelling modern landing page design * The 8 Typographic Systems and how they are used in web design * Good design for competitive advantage: effective information delivery * How Lazy uses animations keep attention * Where and how to use (and

Video

Nov 13, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Platform Update

Meta

Platform Update

My first vision for Design Disciplin was a content play: a blog, podcast, and YouTube channel. It was meant to be a resource – to read, watch, and listen to. Today we reach 1,500 subscribers on YouTube, and 1,200 monthly website visitors. Though this volume is minuscule by internet standards, having come this far in a year is validating and encouraging. The time has come to think about the next level, and build the steps to take us there.

Article

Nov 5, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Irmak Nur Sunal Lutkin

Conversation

Irmak Nur Sunal Lutkin

Born in Turkey and educated in the UK, Irmak Nur Sunal Lutkin is currently based in London, serving as Director of Digital Design at Reuters. She looks after a design team that contributes across Reuters News products and services. Previously she has worked with Atlantic Records, Sony Music, Puma, Adidas, CNN International, The Wall Street Journal, and XOXO Magazine. She cultivated more than 10 years of experience and insights in the design industry across the worlds of branded content, editori

Article
Podcast
Video

Sep 5, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

The Origin and Purpose of Research through Design

Concept

The Origin and Purpose of Research through Design

Research through Design is a way of producing "research" that comes with opportunities to practice the craft of design. It's a way of expressing and materializing knowledge and insights, acquired based on hands-on design work, packaged into a scientific format. Research through Design is something you might hear about if you study design at the graduate level. It's especially popular among interaction designers and human-computer interaction people. The appeal of it, if you're involved in acade

Article
Podcast
Video

Jul 8, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Carlos Calva and Timmy Ghiurau

Conversation

Carlos Calva and Timmy Ghiurau

Timmy Ghiurau is an innovation leader at Volvo Cars, and Carlos Calva is an AI and augmented reality entrepreneur. Both of them are experts in virtual reality, augmented reality, game engines, and other 3D interactive technologies, with experiences spanning design, engineering, and business. Timmy originates from the worlds music, fashion, and culture; while Carlos has been building projects for clients that include NASA and multiple branches of the US military. We had this conversation in fron

Article
Podcast
Video

Mar 23, 2022

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Crash Course in Research through Design

Concept

Crash Course in Research through Design

On December 1, 2021, I gave a talk on Research through Design at a meetup organized by Got UX (IxDA Gothenburg Chapter), in collaboration with Design Disciplin and Recorded Future. The audience was mostly professional UX designers and researchers, and a few graduate students. This article has been adapted from the talk. Abstract: Research through Design is a way of materializing knowledge and insights based on hands-on design work. It’s an exciting world where designers can do scientific resear

Article

Dec 8, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

OP.™ | Office of Possibilities

Conversation

OP.™ | Office of Possibilities

OP.™ – short for Office of Possibilities – is a multi-disciplinary design studio that creates objects and spaces based on well-informed strategic ideas. Their competences span architecture, art direction, exhibition design, industrial design, brand strategy, graphic design and innovation strategy. I've been following them since they moved into their Gothenburg studio, in the same building where I was living at the time. Since then, they have built a formidable portfolio of projects involving br

Article
Podcast
Video

Nov 28, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Meetup: Research through Design

Event

Meetup: Research through Design

Design Disciplin proudly presents: our first IRL event in collaboration with Got UX (IxDA Gothenburg Chapter), hosted by Recorded Future. Got UX meetups are a pillar of the design community in Sweden. In this edition, we'll be talking about "Research through Design" – a way of materializing knowledge based on design work. With Research through Design, designers can take part in scientific research and advanced education through creative work. This is the breeding ground for ideas and methods i

Nov 22, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

April Dunford

Conversation

April Dunford

April Dunford spent 25 years running marketing, product, and sales teams as a startup executive. Creating a systematic way of positioning tech products and companies became her life's work, informing her consulting practice where she has advised 100+ companies. Her best-selling book Obviously Awesome offers a methodology that any leader or entrepreneur can follow. I found great value in April's positioning methodology as I figure out directions for my own projects, including Design Disciplin.

Article
Podcast
Video

Oct 1, 2021

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Recommended

The Secret to Great Design

Concept

The Secret to Great Design

IDEO cofounder Bill Moggridge – known for coining the term "interaction design" – once said that "the only way to experience an experience is to experience it." On that note, I feel like the topic of today is best suited for a face-to-face discussion. I'll let you find out over at YouTube, or perhaps the podcast. Enjoy. Books That Inspired This Episode * The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin * Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever * Build: An Unorthodox Guide

Podcast
Video

Mar 14, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş

Reviewing the Cosmos Landing Page

Masterclass

Reviewing the Cosmos Landing Page

Our second Masterclass reviews the landing page of Cosmos, a "Pinterest alternative" for creatives. Starting from how I first encountered Cosmos on the website of another designer, we journey through the experience of visiting their landing page. Cosmos' website offers us many lessons in layout, typography, animation, and interaction design on the web. Highlights * "Cosmic Design" – painting with light on a black canvas * First impression of a new startup – how we discover new design tool

Video

Feb 20, 2023

Mehmet Aydın Baytaş