Inspired by Colors: 20 Minutes with Şebnem Celepoğlu Dindar

Inspired by Colors: 20 Minutes with Şebnem Celepoğlu Dindar

Casi Paped Founder and Design Director Şebnem Celepoğlu Dindar told her brand story to Büşra Nazlan Üregül for the June 2024 issue of Elle magazine.
Şebnem Celepoğlu Dindar aims to appeal to refined tastes with the Casi Paped brand she created with the motto 'Handmade porcelain for modern life'. We listened to the story of the brand with its designs reflecting the colors of nature.

Interview: Büşra Nazlan Üregül

Being one with soil and nature, giving life to clay and transforming it into a completely different form is one of the most beautiful endeavors that nourishes creativity. Şebnem Celepoğlu Dindar reinforces her love for nature with the Casi Paped brand she founded. For Dindar, art is the right way to express himself. We listen to this journey from her.

How did your story with ceramics begin?

I graduated from Yeditepe University, Department of International Trade and Management. I am the founder and manager of Think'nTalk design agency, which produces solutions in the fields of product, strategy and marketing, where we have been operating in the sector for many years. The endless hustle and bustle of city life takes us away from animals and nature, in short, from all living things. Sometimes we even forget the color and smell of the soil we step on. Yet, since the day man came into existence, he has felt a great need for the soil and animals that energize every drop of his soul. Whether it was my love for the soil or my longing for nature, I felt that I needed a branch of art to find myself, to remember nature, to get lost in the mud. While I initially thought of my ceramic workshop experience as a hobby, after a long learning process, with the influence of my creative process and communication skills in advertising, I decided to think professionally and establish a porcelain design workshop.

How was the Casi Paped brand established?

Establishing a design brand has been a dream of mine for a long time; the idea of working individually, being free and expressing myself through my designs, the idea of the products I design being used by different people, the idea of accompanying different spaces and stories has been my starting point. For me, art is the freest way to express yourself. From there, Casi Paped was born four years ago. The name was inspired by my dear friends who left their mark on my life: my dog Casi, my parrot Pap and my cat Edward. For Casi Paped Design Workshop, the Bebek neighborhood, which hosts many new design workshops and embraces nature and the sea at the same time, was the right address for Istanbul's vibrant life dynamics. Every design is the result of our imagination. We express our dreams with colors and shapes. We take the energy of the sun and combine it with the freedom of the blue. By adding functionality to our colorful stance, we create designs that you will enjoy using and that show their color. From the first idea to small-scale mass production, our process starts with the creation of 3D printing prototypes of the designs we imagine and ends with the patenting of the products after their production is realized. With an environment and people-oriented approach, with a small but large team of people who do what they love and love what they do, we produce a limited number of products, each of which is shaped by hand labor and consists of natural ingredients, within the framework of ethical values.

Ceramic is a material that changes according to the conditions... It feels emotional and human to me in that way. A form you make with your own hands turns into a different object when it meets other things. How do you integrate your inner world and ceramics?

When we think of ceramics, we think of soil. Earth is a mobile element. I'm a person who likes to move like the earth. When my wife and I make our travel plans, we turn our route to places with ecological values and nature parks around the world. I can even give the examples of Tanzania and Japan, which were our last stops. The meditative world of ceramics gives me sweet surprises, allowing me to discover new things in every design process. This brings me closer to ceramics, excites me and encourages me to take a more professional approach to my brand, which I initially thought of as a hobby.

Everything made by hand is a craft. You're a craftsman too. How much does your emotional world reflect in your work?

I believe that every work done by hand comes from our emotional identity. I think everyone has an artistic side. We just have different ways of perceiving and interpreting it. We differ only in that some of us have higher sensory and emotional perception. The higher these perceptions are, the more we shine. Back to myself; I continue to design and shape in line with my creativity. With these feelings, being able to meet and connect with people you have never met with the products you have created is the greatest gift and happiness! I find ceramics very close to me because it is shaped with creativity in women's hands, in women's grace.

What decorates your moodboard when you are working on a new collection?

The most important theme of my moodboard is ecology and colors. I care a lot about protecting and promoting nature. The cities I discover while traveling always inspire me. Based on Moodboard, our colors in products change according to warm and cold tones, just like the turning of the seasons in nature.

What advice would you give to women entrepreneurs who are still at the start-up stage?

It is a pleasant but sometimes challenging journey from the design stage to becoming unique, from choosing the right sales channels to meeting the people who love your products and style. I think it's nourishing to get feedback on products from people with different perspectives, people whose opinions you value. It is very important to update the brand in line with these ideas without being too fixed and to keep up with the times, so to speak.