“…Theoretically, everyone may be creative, but in practice; design is to achieve the goals in limited time, within the limited budgets…”ProfileBorn in Istanbul 1973, Erdem Akan is an award winning designer (2012 Elle Décor Designer of the year) and design director with senior level local and international experiences gained from diverse industries. In spite of his broad educational background, he believes in his self-taught design spirit. Blending cultures and disciplines, his unique design approach is both user-experience oriented and style conscious. Design PhilosophyLike his homecity Istanbul, where throughly modern ideas and traditional practices exist side-by-side with, Erdem’s design philosophy is based on tension between all opposites: fabricated vs. hand-made; natural vs. artificial; new vs old; tradition vs. avant-garde; craftsmanships vs. technology; but especially between eastern culture and western culture. For him design supposed to balance or amplify this tension. Erdem blends cultures and disciplines; and rather than a style, he is driven by ideas and creativity. He likes playing with cliches and he is inspired by provocation.