It is holiday season and so the obligatory question comes up: where are you going?  My answer, as for the last 7 years: Turkey. Then, almost like a Pavlovian reflex, comes the next inevitable question: Antalya? As I was recently quite seriously asked whether Turkey had more than one airport, I spontaneously decided to make Turkey my theme here.

First of all I stay 3 hours drive north of Izmir on the Aegean coast, the so-called Olive Riviera. According to Google Maps it is 600 km from Antalya. Izmir, by the way, has an airport, four universities and a technical university.

But what for me, as a designer, is so exciting about Turkey is that the country is so young and innovative. The average age is 30.1 and children aged between 6 and 18 are miles ahead of children of western nations in mobile communications and the Internet. According to a study of the Supreme Council for Radio and Television in Turkey (RTÜK), Turkish children spend more time on the Internet than watching TV. So while we philosophize about digital natives and Generation Y, here, the 8 year olds are already digital natives. The young generation here has long been accustomed to interactively discussing, commenting and participating. You can also see, looking at fast moving consumer products and the packaging design that consumers are, quite simply, young.

Branded companies such as Coca Cola have registered that. The new Coca Cola Light Moschino Edition, pink with silver hearts, takes up a few meters of shelf space here. My enthusiasm was noticed at the grocery store and I was proudly informed that this edition had already been there for 2 weeks. In Germany, we will not get to see this limited edition at all. Turkey has now become the introduction country for all Coca Cola innovations. When I see how in recent years olive oil bottles of particular manufacturers have become coveted design objects or egg packaging like green ranch looks as cool as in London, my designer heart beats faster. Organic has also become a big trend in Turkey, and it is being creatively implemented very differently.

A young, unique and self-confident design language of its own is being created here. Everything about British design we find cool and trendy is creatively remixed here with the style elements of Turkish culture. It comes out in the form of really pleasurable, involving, breathtaking creativity. It’s fun to go to the supermarkets and to feel the pulse of the young Turkey.

From a design perspective, Turkey is already connected with Europe through an international common language.