As an award-winning Creative Director, Kaan Atilla is renowned for his ability to originate new visual styles and conceptual approaches in the service of storytelling and the audience experience.
After being named Icograda’s “International Young Designer of the Year” while still a design student, Kaan joined Motion Theory in its earliest stages, becoming the company’s first Art Director. He served as the creative leader on many of the studio’s best-known projects, including the IBM “Smarter Planet” campaign, the Grammy Award-winning Weezer “Pork and Beans” music video, the Emmy Award-winning NFL Network “Run” spot that premiered during the Super Bowl, and numerous spots and comprehensive branding efforts for IBM, Nike, HP, Lexus, Target, ExxonMobil, and many others.
Kaan’s wide-ranging body of work shares the common DNA of visual intelligence, innovation, elegant movement, and clear meanings expressed beautifully -- with much of his work becoming instrumental in defining the Motion Theory aesthetic, effortlessly combining technology, art, and invisible forces made evocatively visible.
As the senior Creative Director of Mirada, Kaan led the entire creative department, running multiple creative teams on the company’s highest-profile projects, which ranged from commercials and music videos to interactive projects, installations, print and films. Among his notable achievements is the IBM “Think” installation, a year-long creative effort that combined the around-the-world filming of a 10-minute short film and a high-tech interactive installation at the Lincoln Center into an award-winning cornerstone of IBM’s centennial celebration.
In addition to his leadership on Emmy Award and Grammy Award-winning projects, Kaan has also been recognized by international industry organizations such as the Art Director’s Club, AICP, D&AD and AIGA, and by the advertising and design media, including Communication Arts, Creativity and IdN.
Currently, he's a part of the Marcom team at Apple as a freelance creative.
Kaan studied design at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he often returned to teach motion communication classes.
