Professional Organizations

The first professional organization of graphic designers was established in 1968 but did not survive for very long. In 1978, the Turkish Society of Graphic Design, and in 1980 The Illustrators Association was founded. Both of these are still operational today. Since its foundation, the Turkish Society of Graphic Design led the way in its continuous efforts to promote graphic design as a respectable profession in Turkey, to identify and protect designers’ rights, to document and archive the history of graphic design and to introduce Turkish graphic design to the international scene. It has contributed immensely to the development of the design profession in Turkey with its publications, both national and international organizations as well as the annual organization of the Exhibition of Graphic Works (the first of which was held in 1981). The Society has been a member of ICOGRADA since 1995.