Erhan Ay
Head of Art, HAUS
In 2018, I participated in and won a logo design competition held in honor of Charlie Chaplin’s 130th birthday. As a corporate identity designer, becoming part of the Chaplin world made me very happy.
I had the opportunity to work with the Chaplin Office again in later years. In 2021, I designed the 100th anniversary logo for the film “The Kid” (1921). This year marks the 100th anniversary of another of Chaplin’s most famous films, “The Gold Rush” (1925). For this year’s commemorative logo, I aimed to reinterpret the iconic “bread roll dance” scene in a contemporary visual language.
It was a fortunate encounter for me. Chaplin’s films had left a mark on my memory since I first watched them at a young age on TRT. I have always been intrigued not only by his films but also by his life struggle. Chaplin is one of the greatest masters of entertainment and comedy. Both of his parents were artists. However, after losing his family at a young age, he began a long and serious struggle for survival. He worked for years in traveling troupes. His entry into cinema, fame, move to America, and eventual expulsion from there—none of it could stop him. He never gave up on his critical perspective or silent cinema. The standard types of silent films appear in his works as real characters—ones who never stop trying and who must hold on. There is always a glimpse of hope in his humorous yet serious critiques. At the time I first watched his films, I didn’t know he was also a film score composer. I believe I was deeply inspired by his passion for life and work, and his multifaceted creativity.
For me, design is a whole system of interactions, a movement, and continuity. The eye is constantly trained by what nature offers, academic learning, and the rich, surprising complexity of everyday life. This, I believe, eventually brings the designer to a sense of meaning and integrity. A designer essentially seeks to solve an existing problem. Design is a process of reaching a solution, and the right answer reveals itself through research and discovery.
Naturally, I am also influenced by art. Just as the brain processes what it perceives through the senses, a graphic designer, in producing solutions, processes, blends, and distills various art movements. I follow many movements and styles and interpret them in my own work. As Chaplin once said, “Simplicity is not a simple thing.”
