You chose to focus on graphic design and advertisement in the 70s; the two things that could not reach the place that they deserve even now. Do you remember what you had in mind when you made your choice, and how your family and friends reacted?

Zıp Zıp Magazine, comic books (Ten Ten, Red Kit, Tommix, Texas, Tex, Spirou), national flags in the world atlas, boxes and labels of my father's cigars, any kind of wrapping, foreign country bars in İzmir fair and the handouts I collected there, book covers when I started reading in high school, foreign album covers, Milliyet Sant magazine and the Polish graphic I saw there, Mengü Ertel, Yurdaer Altıntaş, Sait Maden…These are all the reasons that I decided to study graphics when I was in high school. I entered both the Academy and the applied exams, I was ranked the 9th in both. I chose the Academy (frankly because it had a huge port). My family never opposed, they supported me because I was very eager and determined. The family circles and the neighbors thought that graphics was demonstrating companies' profit-loss tables or population growth tables. They learned what it meant later.

You entered the graphics program of Fine Arts Academy in 1976, you graduated from the same program in Mimar Sinan University 7 years later. We can state that you lived through two disciplines when the academy changed its name to "Mimar Sinan University" in 1982. Do you think that the concept of "academy" disappeared with this name change? How do you evaluate the art education and the challenges that await the candidate students?

The academy was very important to me because a lot of disciplines were interrelated. We all studied together for two years, in the second year we all went to our own programs, but thanks to the first two years I had friends from sculpture, painting, music and ceramics. I lived with painting, sculpture, architecture because of the class structure and I think that they helped a lot in my formation today. Besides the academy had a very independent atmosphere prior to the coup d'état in September 12, 1980. I was the student representative for 2 years. I attended the senate meetings of the academy and I had a say there. Of course this atmosphere was ruined in the post September 12 era. I rarely went to school the last three years because I had a job. As a result, I could not observe the changes after it became a university.

In our times, the academy was both good and bad for someone who studied graphics. The reason was that we were being raised as artists. When I was entering the academy, our definition was already "graphicers". This changed in years; it became "graphic artist". After my graduation, it became "graphic designers"…

You published a magazine named "White" with Turgay Özen and Ahmet Soysal through 1982 to 1990. A few years later you appeared in the team of FOL Magazine which is one of the most anticipated and organized culture-art magazines in the country. Unfortunately the life of this magazine lasted for 9 issues at the end of 1998. Can you tell us about your experiences as a publisher and the reasons that FOL magazine cannot be carried to our day?

I am interested in everything printed. I love to read and I love to touch the books. I am not very keen on writing, so I guess I tried to cover for it by attempts in publishing. "White" was a youth attempt. It was rebellious, diverse, frustrated and succeeded in building its reputation back then. My contribution was on the format, paging and layouts. FOL, on the other hand, came out of the desire to publish something that some people would like to read and look themselves. The council of publishers consisted of Samih Rifat, Nevzat Sayın, Mehmet Ulusel, Serhan Ada and Enis Batur. Gön Deri and Engin Altaş financed the magazine. There was a different understanding of TELİF- good amounts were paid to texts and photographs- and so the magazine was expensive to publish. When you add the printing costs, it became unnecessary to go on without the help of a sponsor. When we had a hard time in finding a sponsor, we decided to end it. In its time, it received a lot of criticism because of its dimensions. But there were some people who thought that the dimensions were the best indicators of its different content.

Foreign partnerships attract attention in nearly all the top companies in the advertisement sector. Ultra Agency for which you execute the co-presidency and creative director position is one of the major agencies that do not follow this way. Is there a special reason behind this? What do you think about the positive and the negative effects of the foreign marriages to Turkish advertisement sector?

Foreign partnership is a must. These kinds of partnerships are necessary for the companies to survive and enlarge in the parameters of today's economy. For Ultra, this idea came to the table several times. However; in those days' conditions we thought that it would not be efficient for Ultra or for us. At the moment, we can develop without a partner. Foreign partners have advantages without a doubt. Like information exchange, easy access to foreign markets, reaching international clients.

We observe that computer technology controls many branches of visual arts including graphic design. As someone who did the same job before the exposure to this technology, what do you think about the latest developments?

To revise the past with sentences starting with "In our times…", to compare it with today and to brag about the challenges that you face are the sole indicators of getting old. Of course, I lined texts with letraset, I drew frames on milimetric papers with rapido, I went into the dark room to enlarge or narrow the headlines, I took trases, I did sketches with my hand; and I enjoyed them all. If I was to start the profession now, I would be using computers and I am sure that I would enjoy it too. I think the worst thing about the computer is that it caused laziness of thought. It destroyed pencil and paper, so it also destroyed imagination, feeling a design before it is done and envisioning it down to its typography… This paved the way to the emergence of computer opportunities and the resemblance of designers with each other. It pushed creativity back and pulled application to the front.

You say that; "in a low budget campaign, your frequency is affected not your creativity." Can you explain this expression?

First of all, the biggest complaint of young creators is the lack of budget. They think of what they could have done with a budget. But creativity is very simple and pure. Low budget cannot be an excuse for not producing.

We see Hakkı Mısırlıoğlu signature in the book covers of many acclaimed writers like Orhan Pamuk, Gündüz Vassaf and Emre Yılmaz. Can you tell us about your methods in designing book covers?

I have to like the writer in the first place. Then I have to read the book (despite the fact that I hate to read a book on A4 print outs) Then I think of a brief visual idea that will from the feeling of the book. This self-creates itself while reading anyway. After I finish reading, if the visual idea could still not be formed, I have to give it up. Fortunately, it never happened until now. The second thing is about the appearance of the book cover on the shelf. I aim to be first one to be noticed among numerous covers.

We know that you are also interested in one of the most magical and glorious branches of visual arts; cinema. You ran the Photography and the Cinema clubs in college, you worked as a director and actor in the theater club, and you received two awards with your 8 mm semi-documentary which you shot when you were only 20. You also won the Yunus Nadi Award with your 35 mm short film "Onlarla Pek Sık Görüşemedik" that you shot in 1990. Along with these you directed several commercials.

Who are the directors - from Turkey or worldwide- that you find closest to yourself in terms of visual comprehension? Are you planning on shooting a movie in the near future as being one of the rare names of commercial aesthetics in Turkey?

One of the pluses that the academy gave me was the issue of movies. I saw the classics that I could never have the chance to see if it wasn't for the Cinema- TV Institute: Bunuel, Fellini, Buster Keaton, Antonioni, Godard, Szabo, Pasolini, Tarkovsky, Wajda etc. I came across hundreds of others in Cinema Days which was the early version of İstanbul Film Festival. I was always interested in theater and cinema. I prefer the experimental in theater, but I like both the classical and the experimental in cinema. I am interested in Tarantino, von Trier, Guy Ritchie and Nuri Bilge Ceylan at the same time.

But, I gave up on the thought of shooting a long-film.

Which designers do you find impressive and follow?

The star names no longer exist in graphic design. There are still some names in industrial and interior design but graphic design does not bring any names to my mind today. But there is someone in Turkey, and he is the only name: Bülent Erkmen.

Our theme in the fifth issue of Bak Magazine is "Game". Today; kids spend hours in front of computers, have fun with simulations with amazingly real visuals. Unfortunately they grow up with war and power demonstrations instead of friendship and peace. Which games do you remember from your childhood? What do you see when you compare today's children with yesterday's?

My childhood was full of comic books, playing cowboy and Indian games. I always had hand made arrows, swords, slings and guns. I read a lot of comic books (I still do and I have a collection). We built tents among the trees in the golf field in Levent, and we made drills by turning the kids into soldiers. This was happening when I was 8-10. Once we stole the rifle, the gun, the binoculars, the compass, the map bag of my friend's father's who was a retired general. We went dragging to the nearby education camp near the golf course and we did it in an excitement between game and reality. Aside from that, I liked to spend time alone at home. I even played with buttons, placing them on the rug as military football players. I painted, kicked the ball every now and then etc.. But like every kid, I was into guns, military and wars.

I would love the Play Stations if I were a kid now. I do not think the problem is with the computers. It is that you cannot go on the streets; it is the disappearance of neighborhoods. But the main problem is - it was there when I was a child and it will always be there- violence within the family, violence within the community and real wars. Once you add the imbalances in the distribution of wealth, then violence is inevitable.