Ufuk Baris Mutlu is a young Turkish multidisciplinary designer, media artist, and new People of Print Member based in Istanbul. Growing up in Istanbul’s culturally diverse environment provided Mutlu with a medley of colours, patterns, historic artefacts and materials to be inspired from during his childhood. “I still remember how fascinating it was to wander around in the National Carpet Museum and sketching Anatolian patterns that I observed. A pen and a sketchbook became my tools of the trade” says Mutlu.
During his high school education, Mutlu developed considerable interest towards different mediums and mechanical structures. After being accepted to the Visual Communication Design Department in Istanbul Bilgi University for his Bachelor’s Degree by the virtue of his portfolio packed with traditional illustrations, his works began to take shape. His passion for illustration and mechanics merged into digital graphic design and traditional printmaking. Whilst his interest for physics, materials and optical illusions transformed into producing kinetic sculptures in the field of new media arts.
Occasionally, Mutlu likes to experiment and merg industrial machines with printmaking. Laser engraved woodblocks, machine embroidered textile posters, UV printing on plywood and photopolymer silicone stamps to name a few.
After his graduation, Mutlu started to work as a designer for a multidisciplinary Istanbul studio, ATÖLYE where he worked with local and international clients, focusing on brand identity and spatial design. As of 2018, he is currently studying for his Interactive Media Design masters degree at Yıldız Technical University and conducting commercial graphic, branding, product and architectural installation design projects under the roof of his studio: UBM Studioworks.
An example of his work includes “Balta, makas, çekiç” (Tr. “Axe, scissors, hammer), a design typology book about three traditional hand tools from Anatolian region; a study, intended to identify and classify local hand tools for future reproduction. Each chapter contains hand-drawn and true-to-scale specimen illustrations, form, function and tool anatomy information, morphological comparisons, typological outputs and their downloadable 3D models. A limited run of offset printed copies of the 82 page book is available in few bookstores in Istanbul.
To finish up, Mutlu’s personal and collective works have been displayed on a number of festivals and venues such as Contemporary Istanbul, Corridor Project Space Amsterdam, Gaia Gallery, Mamut Art Project, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Studio-X Istanbul, Sónar Festival, Zorlu Performing Arts Center and whiteBOX München. In 2017, he collaborated with 11 local artists and Squidsoup (UK) for the AltCity Istanbul artist residency program co-held by British Council, Digilogue and Zorlu Holding. Check out all of his works via the links below!
Want to become a People of Print Member? APPLY HERE.
ubarismutlu.com
Instagram: @ubarismutlu
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