Worker-owners

What’s a worker-owner?

A worker-owner is a person who is both a worker and a co-owner of the organization. Instead of separating labor from ownership, worker-owners share responsibility, decision-making power, and the outcomes of the work. In a co-op, this usually means members collectively shape direction, care for one another’s livelihoods, and build long-term value for their communities.

  1. I-hao Liao (Mōr) I-hao Liao (Mōr) is a designer, researcher, and educator based in Taiwan, with a long-standing focus on solidarity economy, public participation, and inclusive communities. He is a co-founder of Co-Assembly Design Co-op and teaches at the Department of Design at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, working between the classroom and practice — using courses, projects, and exhibitions to test the possibilities of collective collaboration. For I-hao, design is a long-term commitment within relationships, and the key to practice is a closer connection with society. His work has been recognized by the Red Dot, iF Design, and D&AD awards, and featured in Design 360° and other annuals. He recently contributed to the publication Can Design Reshape the City’s Future? Co-creation Experiments in Taiwanese Urban Aesthetics, and built a community-oriented digital platform for the Taiwan Design Research Institute exploring residents’ power to participate in public policy.
  2. Tzu-Yun Wei Tzu-Yun Wei is an illustrator and designer based in Taipei whose practice combines drawing with fieldwork interviews, turning life writing and community observation into image-and-text work that is accessible and resonant. Recent interviews and writing include the NCAF-supported Printed Matter in Progress: What Makes a Book a Book Taiwan-NZ publication exchange; their articles include Design*: The Asterisk Beside Design After Queer Identity in C-Lab’s Experimental Wave and Home as Refuge: A Conversation with the Lady’s Club in the UK’s Queer East publication. They have long taught zine-making and writing, co-leading the Printing With Purpose summer course with Ugly Duckling Presse at Pratt Institute, and teaching self-writing zine workshops at NTUST and the NTU Arts Centre. As a co-founder of Co-Assembly Design Co-op, they continue to work across design writing, illustration, and community documentation.
  3. Munus Shih Munus Shih is a Hoklo/Hakka creative technologist and designer based in New York. Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute’s MFA Communications Design program, his work spans code, design, and community practice, with a long-standing interest in using digital tools to interrogate identity, decolonial perspectives, and cross-disciplinary connection. As a Co-Assembly co-founder, his work has been exhibited and supported by NEW INC, the Taiwan Hakka Affairs Council, the Processing Foundation, and the Open Source Art Contributors Conference (OSACC). He has also been invited to lecture and lead workshops at NYU, Parsons School of Design, Cooper Union, the School of Visual Arts (SVA), Typographics, and Google Developer Group DevFest.

勞工老闆們

什麼是勞工老闆？

「勞工老闆」指的是同時身為工作者與共同擁有者的人。它不把勞動與所有權分開，而是讓成員一起承擔責任、共同決策，並共享工作的成果。在合作社裡，這通常代表成員一起決定組織方向、互相支持彼此的生計，並為社群累積長期價值。

  1. 廖一豪（Mōr）為現居臺灣的設計師、研究員與教育工作者，長期關注團結經濟、公共參與和包容性社群等相關議題。現為 Co-Assembly Design Co-op 共同創辦人，並任教於 國立臺灣科技大學設計系，持續在教學現場與實務場域之間工作，透過課程、專案與 展覽實驗各種集體合作的可能性。一豪將「設計」視為關係中的長期承諾，並相信實踐的關鍵來自與社會更緊密的連結。作品曾獲紅點設計獎、IF設計獎與D&AD、並收錄於 Design 360°、建築人雜誌等年鑑中。近期參與出版《設計再造城市未來? 探索臺灣城市美學的共創實驗》同時為臺灣設計研究院建立社區性的數位互動平台，以討論居民參與公共政策的權力。
  2. 魏姿芸是一位現居臺北的圖畫師／設計師，擅長將圖畫與實地訪談結合，把生命書寫與社群觀察轉化為易於理解與共感的圖文作品。近其訪談與書寫包括：國藝會支持的〈印物進行中：是什麼讓書成為書〉臺紐書人出版物交流計劃；文章包含發表於 C-Lab《實驗波》的〈Design*：酷兒認同後，設計旁的星號〉、英國Queer East刊物的〈家作為避風港：淑女俱樂部訪談〉。姿長期實踐小誌與書寫教育，曾於紐約普拉特藝術學院與 Ugly Duckling Presse 合作開設〈Printing With Purpose〉暑期課程，並在台科大與台大藝文中心教授自我書寫的小誌工作坊。現為臺灣設計合作社 Co-Assembly 共同創辦人，持續在設計寫作、圖文創作與社群紀錄間耕耘。
  3. 木那斯是一位現居紐約的閩南／客家創意工程師與設計師。現任紐約 Pratt Institute 傳達設計研究所助理教授的他，創作橫跨程式、設計與社群實踐，長期關注以數位工具探問身份認同、去殖民視角與跨域連結等議題。身為 Co-Assembly 共同創辦人，他的作品曾於 NEW INC、臺灣客家委員會、Processing 基金會與開源藝術貢獻者大會(OSACC) 展出並受到支持。他也曾於受邀於紐約大學、帕森設計藝術學院、Cooper Union、紐約視覺藝術學院（SVA）、Typographics 及 Google Developer Group DevFest 等地演講與舉辦工作坊。