The Tipping Point

Category

Industrial Design

Furniture

Services

User Research

Concept Development

Product Design

3D CAD models

3D Design & Visualisation

Prototyping (1:1 scale)

Rendering

Year

2025

Role

Developed from concept to production-ready design

Tables today are invisible they blend in, follow rules, and rarely provoke thought. This table breaks from tradition. Inspired by imbalance, gravity, and human curiosity, the design elevates wooden forms using 35mm angled metal dowels, inviting viewers to question reality and stability. It’s not just a piece of furniture; it’s an experience.

Market Research

I started by observing furniture in real homes, stores, and online catalogs. I noted a pattern Everything looked... safe. Functional. Predictable. One shape, repeated endlessly in slightly different tones.

“Every table I saw felt like a photocopy of the one before it.”

This insight became my constraint: No visual familiarity.

So I dropped the idea of tables altogether.

“Every table I saw felt like a photocopy of the one before it.”

This insight became my constraint: No visual familiarity.

So I dropped the idea of tables altogether.

“Every table I saw felt like a photocopy of the one before it.”

This insight became my constraint: No visual familiarity.

So I dropped the idea of tables altogether.

Design Journey

Frustration – Every table I came across felt the same, and I didn’t want to repeat that.

Breaking Away – I started experimenting with whatever I had around me — foam, sticks, even taco shells just to see new shapes appear.
Exploration – These little maquettes became sparks for ideas, leading me toward sketches that carried the same energy.
Iteration – Early builds failed; holes were off, materials collapsed, nothing stood straight but each attempt pushed me forward.
Breakthrough – After many trials, I found a structure that worked, turning the surreal form into a real table.

Observation & Frustration – "Every table was the same."

Rebellion Against Convention – You began experimenting with foam, sticks, taco shells, and more.
Form Exploration – Images of handmade maquettes and odd configurations.
Concept Development – Sketches that push form boundaries.
Failure & Iteration – Angular holes, material instability.
Breakthrough – The final structural strategy that made the surreal form possible.

Observation & Frustration – "Every table was the same."

Rebellion Against Convention – You began experimenting with foam, sticks, taco shells, and more.
Form Exploration – Images of handmade maquettes and odd configurations.
Concept Development – Sketches that push form boundaries.
Failure & Iteration – Angular holes, material instability.
Breakthrough – The final structural strategy that made the surreal form possible.

Exploration

The project began with hands-on exploration creating forms from whatever was at hand. Instead of starting with drawings of tables, I experimented directly with shape, volume, and balance. These raw explorations were about intuition rather than rules, allowing new possibilities to surface without being confined to function too early.

Each form became a provocation, a question: what if furniture could emerge from pure experimentation rather than imitation? This stage built the foundation for the sketches that followed, turning abstract trials into structured ideas.

Sketches

The process began by breaking away from conventional table references and instead exploring raw, instinctive forms. These sketches became the first language of the project a way to capture fleeting ideas and push beyond functional norms. Each line tested balance, proportion, and possibility, gradually shaping abstract explorations into potential structures.

Prototyping

Turning sketches into reality wasn’t straightforward. The unusual forms brought constant challenges:

Angular holes were hard to align and often came out inaccurate.
Material instability the pieces wouldn’t hold together the way they did on paper.
Precision even a small error in cutting or drilling threw the whole structure off balance.
Structural failure many early builds collapsed under their own weight.