To contribute to the professional development of students, a technical field trip was organized to the TURING Centenary Brands Museum within the scope of the “GMS430-Restaurant Design and Management” course, led by Asst. Prof. Emel Çirişoğlu, a faculty member of the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts at Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA). Students participating in the technical trip had the opportunity to closely examine brand history, corporate identity works, and the evolution of design concepts over the years.
During the field trip, students visited the TURING Centenary Brands Museum, which brings together Turkey's deep-rooted corporate history and brand memory, allowing them to observe the historical and cultural dimensions of branding firsthand. The brand heritage of businesses that have existed for over a century was analyzed in detail through old menus, archival documents, period advertisements, packaging designs, and kitchen and service equipment used in past eras displayed in the museum.
During the visit, students experienced that these materials are not merely exhibition objects but powerful elements representing the identities that brands carry from the past to the present through storytelling. Old production tools, service equipment, and original printed materials demonstrated the periodic transformation and sectoral development of brands in a concrete way, helping students grasp the historical context more clearly.
Throughout the technical trip, students had the chance to analyze the sustainability strategies of century-old brands, how they preserve corporate memory, and how they merge this with contemporary brand communication. Thanks to the museum layout, which presents brand stories through a chronological and experiential narrative, students observed that branding is not just about a product, but an integration of culture, identity, and experience.
We would like to express our gratitude to Asst. Prof. Emel Çirişoğlu for this technical field trip, which contributed significantly to expanding our students' sectoral knowledge.
