Oykun Yilmaz - Oykun.com

Video Gamer skills that make a Great Designer

Enjoy your time with video games, do not see it as a waste of time as society thinks. This is YOUR time, use it as you like it. It will make you a better designer.

Saying no to projects with pricing

Don’t undervalue your service and experience, you will be amazed to find out how much some businesses are willing to pay for it.

The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

My recommendation: 9/10 More details and reviews on AmazonThe advice in this book is timeless! No wonder why this book has taken its well-deserved place in the best-ever investment books. The main premise is investing in the companies we know of and believe its value at. Not blindly following

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal

Creating habits by following the 4 step hook model of Trigger → Action → Reward → Investment, However, there is a fine line between creating a positive habit and negative addiction. To stay on the positive side, we need to help users to achieve something they already want.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It - Michale E. Gerber

My key takeaway from this book is creating a business that doesn't depend on us. We should create a system that provides great products and services, and scales well without any input from us...

There are no small design projects

Treat every design project as an opportunity to improve and show your craft, creativity, attention to detail, not as a paycheck. Especially if you are a young designer.

5+ Benefits of Creative Constraints (Restrictions) in Design

Constraints are your clues to a good, accessible, consistent design. Use them for your strength and do your best to express your creativity within these lines. There is so much you can use your Creativity to contribute to your clients' businesses and users' life.

Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future - Peter Thiel

My main takeaways from this book are staying intentionally small, not worrying too much about planning for the long future and creating a product that is at least 10x better than any competition, otherwise, you will be obsolete.

Steal Like an Artist - Austin Kleon

A quick coffee time read with lots of practical tips and common sense stuff for all types of creative people. This book comes as a good reminder of how we should not overthink to take action and how we do not have to worry about being original to be successful...

Why you should NOT Under Promise and Over Deliver as a Designer!

Be honest and estimate a reasonable timeline based on your experience and enable your client to go live earlier than other designers' estimations. That’s what will prove your value as a Designer, not a surprise early delivery.

Letters from a Stoic - Seneca

This is the book that introduced me to Stoicism and it has changed the way I looked at many things in life. I happen to appreciate my family time more, not to worry as much for the things I have no control over, ...

Stop charging hourly! Start charging for the Value!

Ask questions to understand the client, business goals, competition, problems, the VALUE and offer your solution based on that, not on your hour.

How being an introvert makes me a better Designer [6+ strenghts]

Introvert Designers; Educate your managers, colleagues about what introversion really means, that you need your space to be creative, that you need your time to think, that you don't need to change and you are a great value to the team with your introvert qualities.

Easy steps to start investing in the stock market

Invest in long term, Diversify, Don't stress to time the market, Stay calm ... It is not that complicated.

One practical tip to read more books

Replace your smartphone with a book.

Get up when you Wake up

We all have 24 hours in a day. Entrepreneur to 5 products and 4 kids with well balanced life or a single full time employee who struggles to find time to do a simple reading/writing.

Taking new challenges for growth

Don't fear to take new challenges bigger than you've ever dealt with. Remember, we don't grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges.

How do I get my best projects?

It is not What you know but Who!

Heroes over Mentors

We do not need to be in active communication with our heros (which would make them mentors), however we can follow their work, blog, Twitter, etc. to have an understanding of what they are up to, how they are approaching to certain situations and learn from them.

Look Good, Feel Good

An overlooked factor in keeping a good mood while working from home

Emails from cheap vs expensive domains

In the early days of the internet, .com was the king. It was an unconscious extension for any person. It was also an important factor to rate well at search engines. Then with the explosion of websites, finding the domain name with .com has started becoming a nightmare. Countless new

Self-taught with Passion

"Being self-taught is all about working hard yourself on the path of your passion with endless patience and curiosity."

White Space

White spaces in design are not wasted spaces. They clean the environment around the important element and gives better, easier, direct focus