About
The name is the brief.
Two words, each doing work: one about making, one about what making earns over time.
Origin
IO
IO began as a family maker's mark. Earlier work was published under the Korean workshop identity 이오공방 — IO Workshop — where 이오 stood for five members of the Lee family. Written in Latin characters, I and O became the mark itself: a line and a circle, precisely placed.
Patina
Patina is the character a material earns. It is not decoration applied at the end; it is the depth that arrives through time, use, refinement, and care, and it cannot be faked.
IO Patina
The company extends that idea into software: make thoughtfully, refine continuously, and build things intended to remain useful. Software has no surface to oxidise, but it accumulates the same thing — judgement, corrections, and the trust of the people who rely on it.
Company record
The legal and operating details of the company behind our products.
- Legal name
- IO Patina LLC
- Entity type
- Limited liability company
- Jurisdiction
- California, United States
- Chief Executive Officer
- Hyejung Lee
- Website
- iopatina.com
- Research initiative
- MAVA Lab — mavalab.org(opens in a new tab)
- General contact
- hello@iopatina.com
Working together
We take on a small number of engagements alongside our own products.