Halil İbrahim Çakıroğlu
Product Designer · Istanbul, Turkey
Hello! I'm Halil, an Istanbul-based Product Designer with over 15 years of experience crafting intuitive digital experiences. My journey into design started in the most analog way possible, drawing heavy metal band logos in my school notebooks and creating flip-book animations in the margins, one frame per page.
That obsession with visual creation eventually led me to WordPress and Joomla, where I taught myself web design by building blogs to share my ideas. What started as tinkering with CMS themes evolved into a career spanning online media, fintech, banking, travel, e-commerce, and technology.
Quote
"Design is thinking made visual."
— Saul Bass
What sets me apart?
I'm obsessed with details. My frontend background, years of writing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, means I design with implementation in mind. I don't hand off ideas that can't be built; I create feasible designs that developers actually want to work with. These days, I'm deep into the intersection of AI and design. My current motto is "AI for Design, Design for AI", using AI to enhance the design process while designing experiences that work seamlessly with AI systems.
Why do I build open-source tools?
Building tools that help other designers and developers is one of my greatest passions. I believe the best way to push the industry forward is to share knowledge openly. That's why I maintain open-source projects like Gerillass, Sketchize, and Plainify.
Why "selfishprimate"?
The name comes from two sources that shaped my creative path. "Selfish" is from Damon Albarn's track "The Selfish Giant." "Primate" is a tribute to James Williamson and his blog Simple Primate. James was one of the most talented, intelligent, and genuinely funny web educators I've ever followed, from his Lynda.com days through his writing on HTML, static site generators, and accessibility. He passed away from ALS, but his work continues to inspire me. Carrying a piece of his legacy in my handle feels right.
Skills & Domains
Skills
The disciplines, tools, and approaches I use to bring ideas to life.
Industries
Sectors where I've delivered impactful design solutions.
Beyond Design
When I'm not pushing pixels, I'm probably making noise. I play bass, guitar, and do vocals, until recently with Clickers, a cover rock band that got me on stages playing the music I love. Heavy metal and grunge are my go-to genres, both for listening and playing.
I also sketch regularly on my iPad with Procreate, keeping that original spark alive, the same one that had me drawing band logos in school notebooks all those years ago.