We would like to tell you more about the brands at maison KOOS, about the people and the story behind these labels. We previously wrote an article about Charlotte Wooning , now it is the turn of design studio mo man tai. The beautiful items from mo man tai have been in the assortment of maison KOOS for a long time and fit perfectly with our principle of choosing products of good quality that you can enjoy for a long time.
ulrike & paul
mo man tai was founded in 2000 by Ulrike Jurklies. After training as a carpenter and studying industrial design, she worked at a design agency in Hong Kong where she contributed to projects with local manufacturers. This collaboration led her to start her own brand. A few years later she moved to the Netherlands and since 2005 the company is based in Eindhoven. 
Just a few years ago, Paul Bas joined the studio. Paul has years of experience in user experience design and product design. He is also an enthusiastic advocate of sustainability and a circular economy. All of this naturally benefits every mo man tai project.
product design and sustainability
Mo man tai design makes colorful products that often make you smile. These items are often created by connections between new and old (production) techniques or by the properties of materials. A nice example of this are the gradient candles. Inspired by the gradient trend, but handmade in a traditional candle factory in the Netherlands.
Sustainability is a leading aspect in every product and project… local production or the most economical use of (residual) materials as well as simple, sustainable packaging. A large part of their products are made from acrylic waste collected by PyraSied Xtreme Acrylic. Think of the cheerful smileys and DIY rainbows. But also the individual shapes of the DIY mobile are laser cut from 3mm sheets of residual acrylic, without creating waste.
projects
In addition to all those beautiful products, once a year they let go of all (commercial) considerations and present – for Dutch Design Week – a project with a personal starting point. Such as the " Come Closer " project as a positive response to social distancing during the corona pandemic. Or " Face (Y)our Bright Future ", a seemingly beautiful globe made of - there you have it again - pieces of leftover acrylic. But if you look closely you will see a QR code that you can scan to then end up with a photo that shows the actual (and often not beautiful) situation of that piece of earth.
The items of mo man tai are a beautiful addition to your interior but because of their often beautiful underlying message also very nice to give as a gift or to send as a letterbox gift. I am a fan in any case and you can find all that beauty here. www.maisonkoos.nl/nl/brands/mo-man-tai/
photos: mo man tai
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About the author - Kirsten OosterwaalKirsten is the face behind maison KOOS . Together with her husband and 2 children she lives in Brabantse Waalwijk. She likes to share tips and ideas about interior and sustainability. She loves coffee, yoga, reading, snowboarding, Nintendo and nice (out)food or drinks with friends & family ♡ |
