Görkem Gör is the Head of Graphic Design & Product Communication at Arcelik Group. As a Team, they are responsible of designing all necessary graphic needs like on product prints, graphic user interfaces (GUI), packaging and user manual visuals for the product range of Arçelik Group brands. (Arçelik, Beko, Voltas Beko, Grundig, Blomberg, Elektrabregenz, Arctic, Defy, Dawlence, Flavel, Leisure, Altus) He graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Fine Arts, specializing in Graphic Art and Design. He has an experience in brand identity, print, packaging, and digital media over 10 years of experience. He experienced working at local agencies and IKEA Turkey organization.
Arecelik Group will be speaking at the 8th Global Packaged Summit in Amsterdam (24 – 25 June, 2019)
Why did you choose a career in Packaging? I have a passion for all kinds of design. That’s why I chose to study Graphic Design at University. While I was studying, there are two main directions to choose for profession (1)Packaging Design (2)Advertisement. I talked with my teachers and asked them to guide me. One of my teachers likened creating a 3D outcome from 2D drawings is like playing a game whilst you are designing a package. As a fan of toy bricks, I’ve found my answer and chose a career in packaging.
What are the main responsibilities in your role?In my current career, I’m responsible for all Graphic Design needs for products of 13 global and local white goods, small domestic appliances and consumer electronic products.
What are the three biggest challenges you face on a daily basis?One of the most challenging parts is keeping up with deadlines. We have lots of products and we need continuously follow technology. That’s why there is always a need for product communication. Another big challenge is production & cost limitations. As a Designer, this can be a very limiting area for all teams’ creativity.
Can you describe one of your biggest ‘success stories’ during your time as a packaging professional? It is difficult to align design language definitions for global brands reaching across different countries. All of the related countries’ needs and expectations could be different. Through great teamwork and consumer surveys, we reached and fully agreed on new packaging design for Beko small domestic appliances with global teams. This was a great experience for me.
What do you think are the main difference in packaging between Turkey and the wider European market? I think there aren’t so many differences between Turkey and wider Europe. For sure there are different expectations for each market. Some of them want to show product size the same as it is, some of them want to show the product with a prop. The problem I always face is main language used. Most countries want their language to be used over other languages.
How do you deal with in-store and online selling and the need to guarantee your brand colour equity is kept within all channels using powerful and digital tools?There are specific departments that deal with in-store and online. We collect inputs before starting a design process from them. Their inputs are very helpful for us while designing but final decisions made by Brand Teams and Design Teams. We have to think global while we are choosing a direction. We don’t want to create different structures for any channel. Otherwise process will be affected.
I have to be honest about color equity. It is not possible to manage color very precisely for different platforms. There are always differences between printed materials and/or digital tools. Every users’ screen capabilities are different and every factory that we are working with has different technologies for printing. As a Designer, I personally believe in visual consistency for the Brand’s communication materials. Color consistency may be one of the most important, among others, but not easy to manage. What we are doing is allocating Designers to different locations where we produce some products to check them instantly and make colors at least similar to each other.
Can you give us a few insights into some of the issues you’ll be covering in your presentation in June?I want to mention about how we deal with so many departments and countries as a Design Team. Also the most interesting part is how many times we need to change the design for just one brand, one product’s package.
Don’t miss Arcelik Group’s session “Designing the Needs” at the
8th Global Packaged Summit! Gorkem Gor will be joined by 25+ expert speakers sharing consumer centric innovations for profitable packaging strategies. Find out more
here.