I’m Melin, and I’m a multi-hyphenate. For years I thought I had to specialise and stick to one thing, but eventually, it became clear to me that I’m the sort of designer who likes to keep adding to her skills. After 15 years of working in branding, social media, and digital I finally developed my 3 step process. I’m a branding And UX designer with a vast experience in social media and art direction. I am a problem solver, a people person and a mix of cultures.
I was born and raised in Turkey; I moved to the UK to study my dream of graphic design. I began my career in the UK in 2006 by working in a London agency specialising in branding. This is where I fell in love with the craft and gained great experience in branding by working on restaurants and café branding such as Camino, Pret a Manger, and Hoxton Hotel.
After a few years of working in London, I moved back to Turkey to work in advertising, continue my career as an art director, and work on TV ads for both local and global clients. With the experience of designing websites and managing social media accounts at the time, I successfully led the launch of multiple Ferraro products in the Turkish market, both in TV ads and on digital platforms. This was also where I first got a taste of event planning, as my job involved everything from TV ads to Facebook campaigns and events. It was great working with Nutella (and yes, having unlimited access to eating it…).
After 3 years of working in the demanding advertising industry, I returned to Cardiff, working on a variety of projects collaborating with Cardiff creatives and agencies and organising events.
I recently left my role as UX Director at Illustrate Digital (the only WordPress specialist agency in Wales) after 6 years of building and growing the company to what it is now.
I also run the Cardiff chapter of the monthly breakfast lecture series CreativeMornings/Cardiff which has helped me uncover my love and passion for building communities. Check out the next meet-up here, or follow CreativeMornings/Cardiff on Instagram.
In 2019 I also co-organised and ran the Cardiff Design Festival with other kick-ass creatives!
