Mathias Hahn

London based Mathias Hahn was born in 1977 in Germany and graduated from Essen University in 2004. Two years later he received a MA degree from the Design Products course at the Royal College of Art under Ron Arad. During his studies in Germany, he gained experience in the Product Design department of Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. Since his move to London he has worked as a freelance designer for Tom Dixon and, in 2006, became one of the founding members of Okay studio. He has been working on diverse projects in the industrial sector for clients like Marset, Ligne Roset, Kvadrat, Kohler, Magazin and Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin. As part of YDMI, organized by the German Design Council, Mathias became Young Professional 2008, and received the 2010 German Design Newcomer Prize. Based on his background in Industrial Design, working according to production and manufacturing processes, Mathias has a natural desire for designing for functionality. He pictures his work as having two sides: One is based on the idea of creating objects that have a place in everyday life and solve a particular problem, while the other one is more playful and related to the narrative side of the design process which often functions as a starting point. Depending on the project, these two aspects come together and form useful commodities that show a slight layer of humor, social context or even naivety.