OZLEM TUNA

ANATOLIA 1969.

I was born in the coastal town of Burhaniye in the North Aegean.

My childhood and early youth were intertwined with the Aegean culture and the sea.

There are two important things that remain in my mind from those years:

Garden: MUD and Kitchen: DOUGH

I remember from my childhood shaping clay in the garden and playing with dough in the kitchen at every opportunity.

Years later, I realized that CREATIVE thoughts started to become the center of my life in that small coastal town.

My father was an art teacher who was in love with archaeology and art history. One day, we became university students together. He was a very hardworking person who studied archaeology and wrote 9 books. I cannot forget the years we printed black and white photographs together.

MY MOTHER is a math teacher. She is someone who tries to support all the children around her and anyone in need. She always solved math problems. It didn't matter if the food was burnt or the rice was sticky. She is a woman who is passionate about her job.

I studied cooking in high school. The dream of becoming a COOK was an unusual job for women in Turkey in the early 1980s. My university years continued with CERAMIC and DESIGN education in Istanbul. My father and mother supported me to continue my fine arts education.

My business life started with jewelry design and making and I took a break for a year and a half: to have a CHILD… and I became a mother. I believe that the biggest responsibility in life is to bring a living being into this world. I was 29 years old. I became a mother. A curious, excited and always full of surprises, a lively and beautiful teacher entered my life. Learning about life with my daughter KAPRIS is my greatest chance.

In 2003 , I founded the ÖZLEM TUNA Design company and brand. In the journey that started in Istanbul-Historical Peninsula; I started to learn how to be a company owner, the dynamics of doing business in the culture I live in, how to establish and manage a team. In the beginning, I started to enjoy marketing and sales, which I did with great shame and boredom, in time. I learn through experience that a designer should also be a very good salesman at the end of the day. The 21-year journey flowed with dozens of right and wrong decisions…

And my brother OLCAY TUNA is responsible for finance and exports. Working with a family has its advantages as well as its difficulties… I experience them all individually.

What I have noticed in recent years is that I apply all the design processes I apply when I design products to problems in life. We can apply the stages of the Design methodology in every area of our lives.

DESIGN has become my method of solving the problems I encounter in my work.

And most importantly, it allows me to touch emotions through all the objects I design.