ALL ABOUT MY STORY
Hello, I'm Küntay!
I created this section to share my story with you in chronological order and in as much detail as possible. I hope that those who read it may find inspiration, guidance, or a reflection of their own journey.
With love,
Küntay
Life and Career Art Line
1989
I was born in Bursa, Turkey, in 1989. My ancestors migrated from Granitsa to Istanbul during wartime, and later settled in Bursa. So although my family's journey began elsewhere, Bursa is where I was born and raised.
My childhood was energetic, restless, and full of mischief. As a result, I had the opportunity to meet and be evaluated by many psychologists at a young age. Eventually, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
My father worked in the pharmaceutical industry, and at that time ADHD medication was still relatively new and not yet widely established. After careful consideration, my family and I decided not to pursue medication as a treatment option.
1990's
The 1990s were my primary school years. I attended a private school called İnal Ertekin. Academically, I struggled. My grades were poor, and I often found it difficult to focus on subjects that failed to capture my attention. The one thing that consistently motivated me was drawing.
At the time, my mother worked in television and cinema production. She was the general coordinator of a local TV channel and was involved in producing various programs. One of these programs was called Şeker Cadı (The Sugar Witch). In the show, a witch character would tell stories to children, and in one segment, I would create drawings while the children interpreted what they saw in them.
Looking back, this may have been my first experience of sharing my imagination with an audience. Unfortunately, we have been unable to locate any recordings of the program. These were the days of VHS tapes, and over the years most of the tapes were reused and recorded over, causing the original footage to be lost. Today, those broadcasts exist only in memory.
(Age 6) My mother was a local TV producer who used to have children critique my drawings on her kids' show. She saved those drawings and gave them back to me years later, which is how I uncovered this piece. The original was drawn with a purple marker and had faded over time, so I digitally revitalized its colors. This is where my initial childhood impulse lived.
The very first piece I drew, completely without reason and purely on instinct, right after resigning from the advertising agency and falling into a deep void. Everything I create today started exactly with this drawing and this character!
Bringing together the spirit of the streets and my inner narrative, this specific piece elevated my entire work to a completely different, monumental, and visionary level.
A few more of the childhood drawings my mother preserved over the years. As a little kid, I proudly wrote my name on the back of the page. Frankly, I can't say I was always drawing doodles; out of dozens of saved drawings, this is the only one that resembles my current artistic style.
"Mickey Loves Money"... This artwork marks the exact moment where the art inside me could no longer be confined to digital screens or canvases, spilling outward directly into the raw energy of the streets!
2000's
When I reached middle school age, my family moved to Istanbul. Academically, I continued to struggle. I was constantly searching for something that could hold my attention and channel my energy.
I tried almost everything imaginable: fencing, karate, football, table tennis, boxing, ninjutsu, music, and many other activities. But there was one recurring pattern throughout those years—I could never stay with anything for very long. My curiosity was endless, but my consistency was almost nonexistent.
My energy often exceeded the boundaries of traditional school life. I was restless, impulsive, and frequently found myself at odds with the educational system. As a result, I was asked to leave several schools during those years.
The schools I attended, in chronological order, were İstek Semiha Şakir School, Bilfen, B.E.M. College, and finally Atacan College, from which I graduated.
Looking back, those years were filled with constant movement. I was searching for a place where I belonged, but at the time neither I nor the people around me fully understood what I was actually looking for. The only thing that remained constant throughout all the changes was my need to create, imagine, and draw.
2004-2008
In Turkey, attending university is considered one of the most important steps toward building a career. To get into a university, students take a nationwide entrance exam, and their scores determine which schools and departments they can apply to.
Because I struggled academically, my chances of entering university through traditional exam scores were limited. However, there was another path available to me: talent-based programs. These departments generally required lower academic scores but demanded success in a special aptitude examination.
I managed to achieve the minimum score required to qualify for these exams, which gave me an opportunity I had not expected. I applied to the talent examinations at Bilgi University and Bahçeşehir University. Unfortunately, neither institution felt that my artistic abilities were strong enough at the time to offer me a place.
Determined not to give up, I applied to a university with a more accessible admissions process: Beykent University.
The truth is, I had no clear idea what I wanted to study. I initially chose Interior Architecture simply because it sounded interesting. However, there were no available places left in that department. Instead, I was offered a position in a newly established program called Visual Communication Design.
At the time, I saw it as a compromise. Looking back, it would become one of the most important turning points of my life.
2009-2012
After being accepted into university, I continued searching for something that truly belonged to me.
I tried many different jobs and career paths, but none of them worked out. I failed at most of them. At one point, I even tried acting. Looking back, I am probably the worst actor I have ever met.
What stayed with me throughout those years was a constant feeling of not belonging anywhere. Failure had become deeply embedded in my identity. No matter what I tried, I always felt as though I was standing outside the world everyone else seemed to fit into so naturally.
The only thing I could do with complete freedom was draw.
I drew everywhere—on books, notebooks, test papers, and any empty surface I could find. Since I had never received any formal art training, everything I created came from intuition. I was teaching myself without realizing it.
Eventually, I made a difficult decision: I left university.
I wasn't chasing a dream, because honestly, I didn't have one. I wasn't following a grand plan either. I was simply looking for a place where I might have a better chance of becoming myself.
Through the recommendation of a family friend, I began considering a move to Italy.
The process was far from easy. I had to learn Italian, prepare a portfolio, and start building a future from scratch. It was one of the most challenging periods of my life, but for the first time, I felt I was moving toward something rather than away from something.
After months of preparation, I was accepted into NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) in Milan.
There, I studied Graphic Design and Art Direction within the Faculty of Fine Arts. For the first time in my life, I found myself surrounded by creativity, design, and people who viewed the world differently. It was a completely new environment—one that would profoundly shape the person and artist I would later become.
Eventually, I graduated, carrying with me not only a degree, but a new understanding of who I was and what I wanted to create.
2012-2019
After being accepted into university, I continued searching for something that truly belonged to me. I tried many different jobs and career paths, but none of them worked out. I failed at most of them. At one point, I even tried acting. Looking back, I am probably the worst actor I have ever met. What stayed with me throughout those years was a constant feeling of not belonging anywhere. Failure had become deeply embedded in my identity. No matter what I tried, I always felt as though I was standing outside the world everyone else seemed to fit into so naturally.
The only thing I could do with complete freedom was draw. I drew everywhere—on books, notebooks, test papers, and any empty surface I could find. Since I had never received any formal art training, everything I created came from intuition. I was teaching myself without realizing it. Eventually, I made a difficult decision: I left university. I wasn't chasing a dream, because honestly, I didn't have one. I wasn't following a grand plan either. I was simply looking for a place where I might have a better chance of becoming myself.
Through the recommendation of a family friend, I began considering a move to Italy. The process was far from easy. I had to learn Italian, prepare a portfolio, and start building a future from scratch. It was one of the most challenging periods of my life, but for the first time, I felt I was moving toward something rather than away from something. After months of preparation, I was accepted into NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) in Milan. There, I studied Graphic Design and Art Direction within the Faculty of Fine Arts. For the first time in my life, I found myself surrounded by creativity, design, and people who viewed the world differently. It was a completely new environment—one that would profoundly shape the person and artist I would later become. Eventually, I graduated, carrying with me not only a degree, but a new understanding of who I was and what I wanted to create.
After graduating in 2012, I decided to test my creative impulses in the digital realm by staying in Milan to pursue a 3D animation education, completing a Cinema 4D program at CFP Bauer. To be completely honest, while I was great at conceptualizing ideas, I had distinct weaknesses when it came to execution and technical application. Realizing early on that the 3D world wasn't my true calling, I made the decision to return to Istanbul.
Upon my return, instead of diving straight into the advertising industry, I chose to join my family’s business, Tümay Özokur. As Turkey’s very first and most established talent agency, it was incredibly popular at the time. This was an era when Facebook was the ultimate new trend and social media was just transitioning into a real profession. Seeing the future of digital, I pivoted in that direction; I completed short, semi-master's level courses at BBA (Bilgi Bütünsel Akademisi) in "Brand Marketing Practice Education and Training" alongside social media marketing. For about two years, I managed the digital presences and branding of many of Turkey’s most prominent actors. Yet, that raw, deep-seated urge to create something purely artistic called me back to my studied profession.
The transition back to advertising was far from easy. After cutting my teeth at several small, nameless agencies—the kind I wouldn't even bother putting on my CV today—I knocked on the door of Rafineri in 2015, one of Turkey’s most prestigious advertising agencies. Following an incredibly long and rigorous interview process, I was accepted as an intern and quickly worked my way up to Junior Art Director. During my time at Rafineri, I was in the kitchen crafting both minor and major campaigns for powerhouse brands like Pegasus, Tadım, Profilo, Sahibinden.com, WWF, NetWork, Isuzu, Zubizu, Morhipo, Tepe İnşaat, and Beymen Club.
It was during this period that one of the biggest turning points of my life occurred. Entering Turkey’s grandest advertising awards for the very first time, I swept the entire competition with an original concept I created for Sahibinden.com in the Retail/E-commerce category, titled "Second Hand - Ironing Board." Sweeping the awards was the ultimate validation of my lines and my ideas by the industry's highest standards.
Yet, behind these glittering achievements lay another reality of the corporate machine. The day I resigned from Rafineri in 2017, despite all those magnificent awards, I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and just started drawing to overcome the deep feeling of worthlessness that agency life had inflicted on my soul. Drawing became my sanctuary. It was on that exact day, amidst that corporate breakdown and empty void, that the character 'Tony' was born—the spark that would eventually start everything.
Following my time at Rafineri, I moved to a Brand & Packaging design agency to expand my knowledge of different creative disciplines. Afterwards, I stepped into the role of Art Director at Concept Advertising Agency, driving the creative processes for Vestel and Vestel Venus. Later, I joined the global network Publicis, spending a year as the Art Director for giant accounts like Renault, Dacia, and Axa. From that initial breaking point in 2017 until the moment I permanently resigned from Publicis in 2019, I drew relentlessly, driven by this internal impulse. I even gifted a special series I drew during that period to my colleagues at Publicis as a farewell token.
From the outside looking in, I was a highly successful Art Director at the top of my game, handling massive global brands. Yet, that childhood impulse inside me could no longer be confined by corporate boundaries or corporate briefs. So in 2019, I packed up my desk for the final time and resigned—stepping directly into the vast, exciting void to follow my own lines, completely free. I simply followed an impulse that came from my childhood, and it has taken me to places I could never have imagined. To create, to produce, and to be able to express my own art to people is an indescribable happiness.
A quiet moment captured between projects, turning empty spaces and brief pauses into spontaneous creation.
Drawn at home the exact day I resigned from Rafineri. Surrounded by a massive corporate void, this was the moment Tony was born—and where everything truly began.
Driven by days of sleepless nights to find the perfect concept. This is the final campaign visual for Sahibinden.com—turning a simple ironing board into an unexpected surfboard.
The exact moment of validation. Standing on stage at Turkey’s premier advertising awards, holding the trophy for a concept born entirely from intuition.
An unforgettable day at the Odunpazarı Modern Museum (OMM), leading a massive, high-energy interactive workshop and painting simultaneously with over 100 children.