Being a Designer in a Consume–Instantly–Forget World

This year marks my 25th year in the profession.
From the outside, a designer’s quarter-century journey may look like it’s made only of lines, forms, stones, and metals…
Yet the unseen side carries a heavier weight: discipline, intuition, craftsmanship, time, and stance.

There is one thing I never changed in these 25 years:
I have never produced a single design without giving it its due or by turning to cheap workmanship.
There were times I gifted my work, times I worked without expecting anything in return—but I never compromised on value.

Over the years, the fact that my name was known as the “final stop” was no coincidence.
If true quality is desired—if proportion, craftsmanship, and aesthetic sensitivity matter—the path somehow leads back to my desk.
This is more of a responsibility accumulated through years than a success.

2025, however, has been a completely different year for the sector.
Economic waves shaped not only budgets but also perspectives.
This crisis made a long-existing, silent division much more visible:

The invisible boundary between those who truly understand quality and those who believe everything can be sustained through cheap production.

There is no need to draw this boundary out loud; those who know the craft can already read the difference in silence.

Design may seem easy from the outside.
From university education to workshops, from years spent at the bench to waiting patiently at the polisher’s station…
Each step forms the foundation of this craft.

But the real illusion emerges here:

Even after all the education, sleepless work, and workshop experience, learning a design program—much like learning a language—is its own process, and sometimes even a single program is not enough to become a competent designer.

Yes, technology provides enormous convenience.
Yes, programs give us unprecedented speed.
But true capability does not lie behind the screen;
it lies in the eye’s sense of proportion, the hand’s memory, and the internal mathematics accumulated over years.

This was also the sector’s biggest test this year.
The difference between “fast and cheap” and “quality and lasting” becomes especially clear during times of crisis.
No direct criticism is necessary; time quietly reveals who represents what.

At the end of 2025, I can say this with great clarity:
A crisis does not push quality aside; on the contrary, it makes true quality even more visible.

Cheap workmanship may save the day,
but the future is always built by those who see details, who understand the weight of craftsmanship, and who do not underestimate the value of labor.

This is the true summary of my 25 years.
At no point did I express my value with words, but with my work.
This year was no different.

Being a designer in a consume–instantly–forget era is not easy.
But the bond built with those who understand quality is like a compass that never loses direction, even in the toughest times.

As 2025 closes, I remain exactly where I’ve always been:
Beside art, craft, aesthetics, proportion, and integrity.
And I enter the new year with the same quiet yet powerful determination.