SEOUL, REPUBLIC OF KOREA

WOOD: HARD MAPLE

Taiho Shin is the founder of M. 0, a material-driven design company that develops new materials for designing products. After graduating with a MA in Design Products at the RCA in 2019, Shin started his own business in Korea. He had previously been working for Hyundai as a senior designer for 5 years. He believes that experiment-driven projects can contribute to shaping our future, and can lead to many innovative outcomes. On the basis of these beliefs, he created projects ranging from paper-based furniture to a service design for public transportation, receiving several prominent recognitions such as iF, Reddot and Blueprint awards.

‘I wanted to give people their humanity back. We’ve been communicating on screens but we need touch. That was the thought I had when I saw the brief from AHEC,’ Shin says. ‘I thought it was time for designers to do something for the people who face this unusual situation because the pandemic has driven a dramatic change. I think we can help people become more stable or comfortable. It’s an opportunity for the industry to do something.’