Alina Derya Yakaboylu combines research and intuition to create culturally rooted design

“My approach to design is influenced by what surrounds me, from everyday observations and the visual languages that emerge within the cities, people, architecture,” says Turkish-German artist Alina Derya Yakaboylu. Based in Augsburg and Munich, the designer and art director specialises in cultural projects, working across book design, exhibition posters and visual identity with a focus on stories about growth, change, history and community.

Her process is concept-driven and always begins with lots of research and plenty of conversation. She dives into questions around an institution’s identity, for example, or the surrounding community, place and collective memory. This is also combined with close observation, intuition and a poetic sensibility.

Each project is distinct. For Alina, design is a communication tool, but also a medium that can evoke emotion and invite new ways of seeing. One recent identity was for Carrying, an exhibition at Museum Brandhorst built around the idea that places carry certain “(hi)stories”. Alina says, “Projects like this allow me to think about graphic design as something that can respond sensitively to a wider cultural and spatial context.” Alongside the identity, Alina also developed a free publication, reflecting her personal mission to make design more accessible and to reach a wider audience.

Alongside independent work, Alina is an art director at the studio Rose Pistola, where she recently worked on a new identity for Sammlung Goetz/Schaufenster. “Moving between independent and studio practice is important to me,” she says. “One offers autonomy and space for intuition, while the other brings exchange, dialogue and collective thinking.”